LTAP TRB Meeting

LTAP TRB Meeting

NLTAPA Safety Work Group Conference Call

Monday, August 24, 2009

1:00pmEST

ATTENDEES:

Renée Koller – CO LTAP

Marie Walsh – LA LTAP

Dan Cady & Don Neary – NE LTAP

Matthew Enders – WA LTAP

John Dewar - FHWA Office of Safety

Khaled Ksaibati & Bart Evans – WY LTAP

Janet Leli – NJ LTAP

Susan Monahan – LTAP/TTAP Clearinghouse

Rosemarie Anderson – FHWA Office of Safety

Kevin Burke – IL LTAP

  • 2010 ATTSA Conference
  • “Highway Safety Improvements for Local Public Agencies" is the session topic that was decided at the NLTAPA conference and sent to ATSSA.
  • Jim Allen, Illinois DOT is one speaker that will present.
  • Howard at TEEX suggested 2 topics they could also present at the conference: Safe Practices for Traffic Incident Responders, Bridge Maintenance Programs, or Signs and Pavement Markings.
  • Jim Allen could speak on the following aspects: How can federal funding be used, what’s being done, and outline successful programs. He can also highlight IL rural sign upgrade program.
  • It was decided to cover:Application process for HSIP and similar programs, Data, and Rural Sign Upgrade. Marie will also follow up with Howard on their suggestedtopics.
  • Donna Clark, ATSSA has requested a session description and speaker names as soon as possible.
  • FHWA Guidebook Technical Working Groups
  • FHWA is looking for LTAP volunteers to join Technical Oversight Work Groups (TOWG)that the Office of Safetyis coordinating for the review of the guidebooks being developed for LTAP/TTAP use. (Handout of details emailed.) They have 3 new project topics:
  • “Best Practices Policy Guide for Rural Road Safety Improvement”
  • Matthew Enders, WA LTAP
  • “Local Road Owners Technical Guides”
  • Data
  • Roadside Departures
  • Tom McDonald, IA LTAP
  • Ben Colucci and Alberto Figuueroa, Puerto Rico LTAP
  • Intersections
  • Bob Sperry, IA LTAP Safety Liaison
  • “Mainstreaming Safety Train-the-Trainer Workshop”
  • Develop training sessions that can be put on (by LTAPs) addressing how safety can be incorporated into projects from start to finish, as opposed to being an afterthought.
  • Don Neary, NE LTAP
  • Local Road Safety Domestic Scan
  • PARTICIPANTS NEEDED– It is imperative that we get some LTAP people involved in this process.
  • AL, GA, MI, IL, MN, NJ,and WA have been chosen by FHWA to receive the scans. FHWA will send a team to each state consisting of reps from FHWA, State, locals, LTAP, NACE, etc.) These states may be broken up into 4 trips total spread out between October-November. For example, visits to MI, IL, MN would probably be grouped together in one week.
  • LTAP could suggest 2 differentpeople to participate based on region, but FHWA encourages consistency in participation throughout the process.
  • In each State, the team will evaluate: How the State delivers Safety programs, How does the state assist in local technical assistance, How does the State assist locals in delivering their projects, How do they get funding down to locals, etc.
  • FHWA will fund Scan related travel for the LTAP representative(s), and they will document the process and publish a report afterward.
  • FHWA intends to start the week of October 5th, wrapping up before the November Thanksgiving holiday.
  • This is a great opportunity for the LTAP community to participate. Interested participants with strong communication and leadership skills are encouraged to submit an email of interest to the Safety Work Group.
  • AASHTO Safety Management Subcommittee Meeting
  • Savannah, GA, Sept 2-3, 2009
  • Marie and Dan will be attending. Dan will represent NLTAPA atthe Governors Highway Safety GHSA meeting; and Marie will attend the AASHTO Strategic Planning Meeting.
  • Marie spoke with Tom Welsh on the Safety Subcommittee. He is supportive of a Local Road focus, but mentioned that the economic situation and adding another aspect of local roads may be too much for States to take on.
  • Kelly Hardy will also be invited to the NLTAPA EC meeting in DC in September.
  • National 2009 Safety Performance Function Summit
  • Tom Buckley from Louisiana attended, and said it maybe too complicated for the locals.
  • Tom McDonald found it interesting, there will be tools coming out soon - Safety Analyst and the new Highway Safety Manual. There were a lot of good applications for States, but maybe not for locals. It is very technical, but the main problem will be lack of crash data to use the tools effectively. Safety Analyst says it will be able to be used for low volume roads, but the expertise needed to operatethe system may be the inhibiting factor.
  • We’ve asked the two attendees (Tom McDonald & Tom Buckley) to write something up for the group.
  • Iowa Safety Study
  • Support by State Departments of Transportation for Local Agency Safety Initiatives
  • Developed from an idea Tom Welsh had to use a listserve of State Safety Engineers across country, to get responses on quick and dirty safety topics.
  • One example: How much support do States give locals in the Safety area? They received 10 responses. They learned there is much variance in funding and assistance States provide. States were asked to reply within 2 weeks, but it was extended to 1 month.
  • The group discussed: How do we get this info out to everyone? Through T2All? Should the Safety Work Group go through Region reps?
  • New Business
  • Safety Circuit Riders vs. Circuits Riders
  • Renée emailed FHWA Office of Safety and asked if those that worked on the Safety Circuit Rider Best Practices Guide had stats on how many states did have Safety Circuit Riders, or even general Circuit Riders.
  • See handout that was emailed for their detailed response.
  • Beth Alicandrisent the weblink to State SHSP info:

  • Marie will be able to attend the next HSPV Meeting in DCwhile she is attending the EC Meeting in September.
  • The group needs to really consider what the best method is for getting the important safety information out to everyone without info just getting lost in the inboxes. Is through region reps the best way?
  • Dan suggested a “Social Media” Safety page
  • Janet and Internal Communications was also suggested.
  • Next Meeting
  • Conference Call, Monday, September 14, 1:00pm EDT
  • ACTION ITEMS
  • Kevin will contact Jim Allen, Marie will contact Howard McCann regarding their session descriptions to get to ATSSA as soon as possible.
  • Important to getLTAPers involved in the Safety Scans.
  • Still taking interested participants for FHWA’s technical working groups for their new guidebooks & projects.
  • Tom McDonald & Tom Buckley will provide a wrap up of their attendance at the Safety Performance Function Summit.
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