Data Impacts of Transportation Reauthorization: Data Community’s Plans and Strategies Pat Hu Chair, TRB National Transportation Data Requirements and Programs Committee and Director, Center for Transportation Analysis Oak Ridge National Llaboratory 30th International Traffic Records Forum July 26, 2004

Reauthorization of Transportation Bill October 2002 – USDOT’s recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget February 2003 – Presidents’ budget & reauthorization proposal to Congress September 30, 2003 – TEA-21 expired October 2003 – New legislation was to have been enacted November 2003 – TRB Workshop on Data Requirements in Transportation Reauthorization Legislation July 2004 – TEA-21 has expired for 300 days, extended four times, and no new bill

SAFETY is the top priority of the New Bill - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005 (SAFETEA)

Safety data requirements in House bill Section 1401 – Highway Safety Improvement Program This program is to build around a data-driven, statewide safety plan Use data to prioritize infrastructure safety needs and behavior safety needs Require states to improve records for traffic data collection, analysis and integration with other safety data sources

Safety data requirements in House bill (continued) Section 1403 – High Risk Rural Safety Improvement Program Program is for high-risk rural roads “High-risk” is defined by accident rates (fatalities and incapacitating injuries) Data requirements: No. of fatalities No. of incapacitating injuries VMT Rural population

Safety data requirements in House bill (continued) Section 2004 – State Traffic Safety Information System Improvement Grants will be available to states to adopt and implement effective programs to improve safety data in their: Timeliness Accuracy Completeness Uniformity Integration, and Accessibility

Safety data requirements in House bill (continued) Section 4025 – Motor Carrier Safety Data Improvement Program Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to improve SafeStat’s (motor carrier safety data) Accuracy Timeliness Completeness

Safety data requirements in Senate bill Motor Carrier Safety SafeStat Program Crash Causation Study Commercial driver’s license program Hazardous material transportation A unified safety database to reduce data collection costs and to facilitate data sharing

Safety data requirements in Administration’s proposal Highway Safety Improvement Program A program to build around a data-driven, statewide safety plan 1st key component is to use real data to prioritize infrastructure safety needs and behavior safety needs 2nd key component is to require states to improve records for traffic data collection, analysis, and integration with other safety data sources Focuses on roadside obstacles, rail-highway crossings, bicycle and pedestrian problems

AASHTO’s Summary of State DOT concerns Unfunded mandates Timeliness Coordination with multiple levels of government and agencies Data collection, storage, and analysis methods Competition with other state priorities Coordination and Resources!

Background/Motivations of the Workshop TRB Data Requirement Workshop Background/Motivations of the Workshop In the past, data community reacted to mandates and regulations under severe fiscal pressure States, MPOs, transit agencies, and other transportation agencies are still grappling with the data requirements in the previous legislations (ISTEA and TEA-21). The data community recognizes that a more proactive involvement would be more effective and efficient. A TRB workshop on November 2003 among stakeholders

Transportation Research Board (TRB) A division of the National Research Council Its mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research Engaging more than 8,000+ engineers, scientists, and practitioners from private and public sectors and academia Supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies, and others.

Workshop Objectives Identify data issues TRB Data Requirement Workshop Workshop Objectives Identify data issues Inform State and MPO data communities of potential new responsibilities Investigate opportunities for cross-program collaboration Identify time frames and resource needs to meet new data mandates Develop a collaborative coalition approach to address data needs, data provision, quality, and use.

Organizing Committee Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation Committee TRB Data Requirement Workshop Organizing Committee Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation Committee National Transportation Data Requirements and Programs Committee Urban Transportation Data and Information System Committee Statewide Transportation Data and Information Systems AASHTO Standing Committee on Planning’s Data Task Force

Workshop participants were diverse TRB Data Requirement Workshop Workshop participants were diverse 23 Federal Agencies 9 State Agencies 5 MPO and Transit 14 Private Sector 8 Universities and Research 3 Congressional Staff 62 Total

Workshop discussion summary TRB Data Requirement Workshop Workshop discussion summary Propose a post-authorization conference to deal collectively with data initiatives in the final reauthorization legislation. Information sharing vs. recommendations Broad participation, including regulation writers and Congressional staff Attention to data system interoperability Timing: soon after reauthorization (tentatively scheduled for December 2005)

Workshop discussion summary (Cont’d) TRB Data Requirement Workshop Workshop discussion summary (Cont’d) Post-authorization conference agenda will be built around the matrix Goal of data Modified data needs Additional data needs All new data needs Safety Security Planning/Policy Operations Finance/revenue …

Safety Data Track of the Post-Authorization Conference Dick Paddock is the organizer Focuses on addressing potential impacts on state and local safety data systems, depending on the final content of the reauthorization Views from different perspectives will be presented: FMCSA NHTSA FHWA State and local

Reauthorization of Transportation Bill February 2003 – Presidents’ budget & reauthorization proposal to Congress September 30, 2003 – TEA-21 expired October 2003 – New legislation was to have been enacted November 2003 – TRB Workshop on Data Requirements in Transportation Reauthorization Legislation July 2004 – TEA-21 has expired for 300 days, extended four times, and no new bill December 2005 – Post-Authorization Conference

Input to Dick Paddock Traffic Safety Analysis Systems & Services, Inc. (614)539-4100 rpaddock@tsass.com Pat Hu Oak Ridge National Laboratory (865)946-1349 Hups@ornl.gov