New Mexico Safety Corridors Identification and Creation Processes Sandra Martinez Annaliese Mayette

Background  Request from Community  US 82 Pilot  Legislation Enacted  Traffic Safety Summit  12 Corridors Statewide

Demographics  Demographics  5 th Largest State  2002 Population= 1,884,617  MVM=  2002 MVM/ 100k Pop=  2002 Licenses Drivers= 1,240,000  Licensed Drivers/Pop >15yo= 84.6%  Road Miles=State Roadways about10,000 miles

US 82 Pilot

Participation  Community  Law Enforcement  District Engineer  FHWA  Political Entities  Advocacy groups  Media  Emergency Responders (Fire & EMS)

Criteria  3 to 5 Year History on serious injury and fatality crashes.  Crash Investigation Unit  Review of existing initiatives  Review by NMDOT District Engineer  Media Campaign  Equipment and signage review

Process of Location Selection  Criteria set for initial analysis from TSB  Statistical analysis using a sliding window methodology  Potential locations are refined  Description of refined locations  Selection of 2 locations per district based on input of local partners and program goals for that district

 This is an iterative process which begins and ends with program goals for each district. Process is based on Program Goals

Parallel processes of statistical and programmatic analysis Statistical Analysis Preliminary data analysis Initial analysis based solely on criteria Additional analysis based on refined locations provided by program managers Program Analysis Set initial criteria Initial review of locations identified in statistical analysis Refine locations based on geography, and community input Selection of 2 locations for each district

Statistical Analysis  Based on criteria  Sliding window methodology finds segments  Segments can be longer than 5 miles if criteria continue to be met over a longer stretch of road

Goal, Objective and Measures  Goal - Identify areas of high crash risk and take corrective action  Objective - Develop a formula for effectively addressing crash problem areas  Performance Measures – 10 to 20% reduction

Results For Pilot (US82) 18 months of the corridor preliminary analysis shows a 33% reduction of Fatal and Serious Injury crashes compared to the 18 months prior to establishing the corridor.

Planned Analysis  The performance measure is percent change in crashes.  This percent change can be compared to the statewide change and to the district-wide change.  This percent change can also be compared to the system-wide change,and to the system change for that district.

Re-Evaluation  After 3 years of data collection, corridor is re- evaluated to determine if an impact was made.

Challenges  Lack of Resources  Funding  Equipment  Enforcement  Political Issues  Geography

Contact Information  Sandra Martinez Traffic Safety Bureau Transportation Programs Division Department of Transportation State of New Mexico P.O. Box 1149 Santa Fe, New Mexico  Annaliese Mayette Division of Government Research 1920 Lomas NE University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131