Strategic Investment Decisions on Highway Improvement Projects, University Transportation Center (Role: PI, 2018–19, CTEDD)
Quantitative safety is now being recognized as an essential element in the project selection process at the planning phase. Quantitative evaluation of safety performance of particular roadway facilities, for example, segments and intersections, is critical to understand where the safety concerns need to be addressed on a priority basis. A process that provides guidance to agencies for implementing appropriate safety improvements to a prioritized set of locations is critical to safety programing based on a systemic approach. This paper documents the development of such a process, programmed in MS excel spreadsheet, as a tool – (Strategic Investment Decisions for Highway Improvement Projects) HiImPct. The key features of this tool include alignment with the agency’s strategic highway safety plan, customizability, and incorporation of state of the art from safety management research. The tool incorporates historical crash data, roadway inventory data, estimates for unit cost of improvements, and high-quality crash modification factors (from the CMF clearinghouse). Emphasis areas identified in the Florida Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and roadway functional classification are used to organize the output and support better-informed decision making. This tool – HiImPct is expected to support a more strategic application of limited funding. The tool is customizable to support the decision-making process at the state, local, and regional agencies with different safety emphasis areas.