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Section 2: State Highway Safety Plan

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Introduction

The Highway Safety Plan (HSP) is developed annually by the Traffic Operations Division’s Traffic Safety Section (TRF-TS). The HSP is intergovernmental in nature, functioning, either directly or indirectly, through grant agreements, contracts, service purchase orders, requisitions, and work orders.

State and local sources analyze data to identify traffic safety problems by identifying specific causes of vehicular traffic crashes (see Section 3 of this chapter). They then submit proposals to TRF-TS for grants to address the problems (see Section 5 of this chapter).

TRF-TS processes grant agreements and contracts for local jurisdictions, other state agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and private contractors. TRF-TS develops the HSP using those proposals approved for funding. TRF-TS then submits the annual HSP to the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) for approval. After TTC approval, an approved project list is issued to the district traffic safety specialists for local distribution to the subgrantees, and TRF issues the list to all statewide subgrantees.

NOTE: Unless otherwise indicated, all references to “grants” include both traffic safety grants and interagency cooperation contracts (IACs). Likewise, all references to “subgrantees” include recipients of both traffic safety grants and IACs.

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Program Areas

The HSP is divided into 14 program areas, as follows:

Highway Safety Program Areas

Program Area # / Title (NHTSA Accounting Code)

01

Planning and Administration (PA)

02

Alcohol (AL)

03

Emergency Medical Services (EM)

04

Motorcycle Safety (MC)

05

Occupant Protection (OP)

06

Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety (PS)

07

Police Traffic Services (PT)

08

Speed Control (SC)

09

Traffic Records (TR)

10

Driver Education (DE)

11

Railroad-Highway Crossings (RH)

12

Roadway Safety (RS)

13

Safe Communities (SA)

14

School Bus Safety (SB)


NOTE: Several of the program areas have been designated as “priority program areas” by federal regulation. TxDOT has designated additional priority program areas as eligible for funding, based on needs assessments and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) approval.

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Program Funding

Funding of the project within the 14 program areas comes from state and federal (NHTSA) sources, and from local cost sharing by subgrantees.

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Development Process

The Highway Safety Planning process consists of six stages:

  1. Planning to select or review program strategies and performance goals and measures
  2. Problem identification
  3. Issuance of request for proposals
  4. Internal coordination
  5. Review, comment, and approval
  6. Implementation

Explanations of each of these stages follow under separate subheadings.

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Planning, Problem Identification, and Request for Proposals (Stages 1, 2, & 3)

Planning and Problem Identification or Request for Proposals, the first two stages of the HSP process, include the steps shown in the following table.

NOTE: Dates shown are approximate, and deadlines may vary from year to year.

(1) Planning, (2) Problem Identification, and (3) Request for Proposal Process for HSP Development

Step

Responsible Party

Action

Approx. Date
1

TRF

Hosts a strategic planning meeting every 2 to 3 years to review performance goals and strategies for the Performance Plan.

June–July
2

TxDOT

Develops and submits annual Performance Plan, HS-217, and Certifications and Assurances to NHTSA.

August
3

TRF-TS

Announces Highway Safety Planning process, posts it on the TxDOT web site, and publishes it in the Texas Register.

October
4

TRF-TS and districts

Perform statewide and local problem identification.

Oct.–Dec.
5

TRF-TS and districts

Contact state and local government agencies regarding project ideas and proposals for the traffic safety program.

Oct.–Dec.

See Section 3 of this chapter for more information on “Problem Identification.”

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Internal Coordination (Stage 4)

Internal Coordination, the third stage of the HSP process, includes the steps shown in the following table.

NOTE: Dates shown are approximate, and deadlines may vary from year to year.

(4) Internal Coordination Process for HSP Development

Step

Responsible Party

Action

Approx. Date
1

Local & state agencies

Submit project proposals to TxDOT.

January
2

TRF-TS

Collects project proposals.

February
3

TRF-TS and districts

Review and score all project proposals.

February
4

TRF-TS

Shares proposal scores with agencies.

March

Local community-based proposals are normally submitted to the district traffic safety specialist. State agencies and other organizations also submit their project proposals to TRF-TS. All project proposals are submitted to a review and scoring team. When all projects have been scored, the results are presented to TRF for incorporation into a recommended project list. Based on this list, TRF-TS prepares the program area module narratives to include the project task descriptions for the HSP.

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Review, Comment, and Approval (Stage 5)

Review, Comment, and Approval, the fifth stage of the HSP process, includes the steps shown in the following table.

NOTE: Dates shown are approximate, and deadlines may vary from year to year.

(5) Review, Comment, and Approval Process for HSP Development

Step

Responsible Party

Action