Regional Traffic Safety Initiatives in Tampa Bay - 2014

Peter Hsu, P.E.FDOT District Seven Safety Office

National Recognition – FHWA Public Roads3E’s of Traffic Safety InitiativesPedestrian, Bicycle & Motorcycle ActionsCorridor Study ActionsWrong Way Driving ActionsLocal Road Safety ActionsSuccessful 3E Safety Improvement Samples

Presentation Overview

Congratulations to all of us

D7 Safety Focus Areas

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Bicyclists &Pedestrians

Motorcyclists Lane Departure IntersectionCrashes

Fatality Rates by Safety Emphasis Area (2006-2012)

State Highways Local Roads

Source: Florida Department of Transportation Crash Analysis Reporting System

Both state roads & local roads need help!

The 3 E’s of Traffic Safety:

District-wide Safety Efforts

ENGINEERING EDUCATION ENFORCEMENT

Motorcycle Safety Actions

Dangerous by Design 20144 Metro Areas in FL called out for badpedestrian safety record – Tampa is #2

New FDOT Polices for ped/bike safetyFDOT Complete Streets Policy adopted in September.Opens the door for revisions to statewide standards & guidance documents. FDOT will be the “leader” in bike-pedsafety “culture change.”

New FDOT Polices for ped/bike safetyExample7-ft Buffered Bike LanesLane Elimination Policy (a.k.a. Road Diet) Pedestrian channelizationIntersection Lighting

Tampa Bay Pedestrian Safety Facts

Specific engineering, education and enforcement action items and time-sensitive goals for improving ped safety.Working with MPOs to Update PSAPs – to be done in 2015

Adopted 9/9/09 Adopted April 2010

Pedestrian Safety Action Plans -- Update

Adopted Jan. 2012

Pasco CountywidePasco Countywide PPPEDESTRIAN SAFETY ACTION PLANEDESTRIAN PLAN FINAL REPORT January 2012

“Targeted Corridor” ApproachTarget high-crash corridors with 3E support:Walk Wise Bike Smart Education outreachCorridor “sweeps,” surveys, presentationsHigh Visibility Law EnforcementWarnings & citationsBold & Innovative Engineering TreatmentsNew pedestrian crosswalksSmart signal operations

“Targeted Corridor” ApproachNext: East Hillsborough Avenue Ped Safety5 additional pedestrian crosswalks to be installed between March & September

BS1

Slide 13

BS1 Benson, Stephen, 1/9/2015

Traffic Safety & Land Development

Partnering with local agencies to review land development impact to ped/bike safety D7 Safety Office, D7 Access Management OfficeMerge planning and engineering to address

traffic safety

Proactive Mid-Block Crossing StudyDetailed evaluation of each potential crossing location.Revised TEM 3.8 standards – consider senior or young population walkers

Location #1:US 41B / Florida Avenue

from Bird St to Waters Ave

District-wide Ped Safety Efforts: Mid Block

Cyclovia – Kennedy Blvd in Tampa

D7 Secretary’s Innovative Pilot Projects(coming soon)

Corridor with High Nighttime Crashes

Corridor Street Lighting LevelMore than 400 highway miles data were collected

LED Street Lighting Level Study

Currently studying effectiveness to address lighting issues & generate cost-savings for M&E

Standard LED

LED Street Lighting Hillsborough Avenue from Nebraska to 50th Street

HPS

LED

Transit Ped/Bike Study Corridors

Identify traffic safety and mobility improvements Proactive approach:

Locations prioritized based on a range of criteria: high ped. activity high transit

ridership high crash areas,

etc.

Access Management Safety Study Corridors

Teen Traffic Safety Outreach & RSAPresentations tailored to the “teen” perspectiveDriver’s Education courses in public high schoolsLocal school safety expert: Gary TaitVisited 31 High Schools in 2014 --Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco

Law Enforcement Overtime Funding for pedestrian/bicycle related enforcementEnforcement strategy: Warnings first, then citationsTarget unlawful risky behaviors of all road users: Motorists,

cyclists & pedestriansTampa Bay received $515K of SW budget for 9 LE agencies Temple Terrace PD, Largo PD, Clearwater PD, St Pete PD, New Port Richey PD, Pinellas Park PD, Tampa PD, Pinellas

SO, Pasco SO.

Law Enforcement High Visibility Enforcement

Training to Law Enforcement Agencies Ped/Bike Safety Roll Call Videos

Signal Retiming Corridors

3R Road Safety Audit Corridors

Work Zone Operation Safety Review Corridors

Wrong Way Driving Actions

Two sisters and a man died Sept. 7 in one of a string of recent wrong-way crashes along the same stretch of Interstate 275.

Local Road Curve Safety Improvements

$2.7+ Million to address 148 rural & suburban local highway curve segments in Citrus (68), Hernando (44), Pasco (13) and Pinellas (23) Counties – under construction.

FDOT identified, designed & constructed (through Design Build Push Button contract) safety improvements – with agreement from local agencies to maintain.

Local Agency Traffic Safety Academy (training)

Training for local agencies Monthly webinar series on all aspects

of traffic safety information including… innovative strategies funding opportunities technical assistance national and state programs

Next series rolling out on 1/28/15

Registration & Recorded Topics @ www.d7safetysummit.org

Education & Enforcement Outreach

FREE bike lights for targeted outreach purposes: 40,000+ distributed so far Have $ for additional lights Positive PR tool for law enforcement & elected officialsThe “best” tool to save bike lives.

Monthly meetings to address traffic safety issues in Tampa Bay Engineering Education Enforcement

All local agencies should attend!

Visit www.d7ctst.org to see meeting times and

locations!

Successful 3E ActionsFletcher Avenue Complete Streets

Early data indicates crashes are going down.

Lane Departure Safety Performance

Making Tampa Bay safer for all Road Users