Data Impacts of Transportation Reauthorization: Data Communitys Plans and Strategies

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Data Impacts of Transportation
ReauthorizationData Communitys 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

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Reauthorization of Transportation Bill

• October 2002 USDOTs 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

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

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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

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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

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Safety data requirements in House bill (continued)

• Section 4025 Motor Carrier Safety Data
  Improvement Program
• Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to
  improve SafeStats (motor carrier safety data)
• Accuracy
• Timeliness
• Completeness

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Safety data requirements in Senate bill

• Motor Carrier Safety
• SafeStat Program
• Crash Causation Study
• Commercial drivers license program
• Hazardous material transportation
• A unified safety database to reduce data
  collection costs and to facilitate data sharing

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Safety data requirements in Administrations
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

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AASHTOs 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!

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Background/Motivations of the Workshop
TRB Data Requirement 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

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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.

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Workshop Objectives
TRB Data Requirement Workshop

• 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.

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Organizing Committee
TRB Data Requirement Workshop

• 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 Plannings Data
  Task Force

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Workshop participants were diverse
TRB Data Requirement Workshop

• 23 Federal Agencies
• 9 State Agencies
• 5 MPO and Transit
• 14 Private Sector
• 8 Universities and Research
• 3 Congressional Staff
• 62 Total

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Workshop discussion summary
TRB Data Requirement Workshop

• 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)

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Workshop discussion summary(Contd)
TRB Data Requirement Workshop

• Post-authorization conference agenda will be
  built around the matrix

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Safety Data Trackof 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

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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

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Input to
Dick Paddock Traffic Safety Analysis Systems
Services, Inc. [phone] rpaddock_at_tsass.com
Pat Hu Oak Ridge National Laboratory [phone]
Hups_at_ornl.gov