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(wind noise)
♫ music playing ♫
Roger Millar: "We're looking to be stewards of a system that's facing pressure
from growth and that's also facing pressure from limited resources.
So, we're moving from a kind of standards-based
one-size-fits-all approach to project development
to performance-based planning that is really looking at safety and system performance.
We're making that a part of everything we do."
The Washington State Department of Transportation is taking a new approach to safety analysis
throughout their organization.
This new approach is called Data-Driven Safety Analysis, and it's allowing the agency to
make more informed decisions, better-target their investments and reduce fatal and serious
injury crashes on their roadways.
Data-Driven Safety Analysis is the application of the latest generation of tools for analyzing
crash and roadway data.
The tools predict the safety impacts of decisions throughout the project development process,
so agencies can deliver projects with more confidence.
(highway construction noise)
Kevin Dayton: "Data-driven safety analysis is critical in our development of projects,
and we at WashDOT have closely aligned that with
a very practical approach in all of our policies and procedures. Really, gone are the days
where we apply a standard to the project in hopes that it will give us the benefit.
We have to be much more strategic today in how we do that."
(car passing)
(digital tone)
John Milton: "From our perspective, you start wrong,
you're going to end wrong. So, the ability to bring the safety data analysis
right in the very beginning helps you to identify
the right planning level solutions, and by identifying those planning level solutions,
you can bring it throughout the project development process."
Jared Cassidy: "The Highway Safety Manual and other Data-Driven Safety Analysis
tools let you look at the whole picture and model a location
to evaluate the safety performance on more than just how
many crashes have occurred at that spot."
John Tevis: "It's more like, what's the best thing
to do in that situation? And so, you could fine-tune things.
This is what we want to do, but if we did something a little bit differently, it would
be safer by this many crashes."
(digital tone)
Jennene Ring: "We always used standards.
And that was good, because it allowed us to do things consistently across the state.
But we really need to be using more tailored approaches and get the most bang for the buck."
Dina Swires: "So, we like to start at a practical level,
start down at the base, use our tools to see
what the ultimate configuration should be, without
compromising safety or the motorist's experience."
Charlene Kay: "The ability to be able to target solutions allows you to come out
with practical solutions, solutions that are relevant, that are meaningful,
to address what you are actually faced with as far as crashes along a corridor."
(truck passing)
(digital tone)
Mike Dornfeld: "We're a Target Zero state. Our safety plan is Target Zero,
with a goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.
And so, people are recognizing that there's a shift that's needed to take
place, and I think our use of data is helping them get there."
Ida Van Schalkwyk: "Working in safety is very special,
because it's very personal. It impacts all our families.
And so, my job is to do whatever I can to bring people safely home.
And data is my tool because I can't use my gut.
I can't use perception.
I need to rely on data and methods and science."
Roger Millar: "This isn't simple. It's hard work,
but what we do as agencies is hard work.
This hard work is paying off for the Washington State DOT."
Olivia Aikala "My question to someone who would oppose it is,
'Why not? It's just such a useful tool
in helping you make the most informed decisions,
spending the public's money in the best way possible,
it's not going to hinder your design in any way. This is another
quantitative tool that you have moving forward,
and it should be at the forefront of everyone's mind."
♫ music ♫