The Planning Division is presenting to the Planning Board the Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan.  The Billings-Yellowstone County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) applied for and received assistance from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to develop a Community Transportation Safety Plan (CTSP) to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes in the Billings area. A CTSP follows the same methodology as Montana’s Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan (CHSP). Similar to the CHSP, this process uses a data-driven approach to identify safety issues and determine areas in need of increased emphasis and strategies to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries.

The Planning Board will receive information regarding this plan at its October 25, 2016 meeting.  At the November 9, 2016 meeting, the Planning Board will conduct a public hearing and take action on the plan to forward a recommendation to PCC. The PCC is scheduled to meet on December 20, 2016.

 

The development of this plan was led by a Transportation Safety Advisory Committee (AC) consisting of the Billings MPO, City of Billings, Yellowstone County, local safety partners, and MDT staff members as technical support. This advisory committee elected to adopt Vision Zero, Montana’s initiative to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on the state’s public roadways. The vision statement for the Billings CTSP was defined as follows.

The Billings community will achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries through a culture of safety for all travelers.
 
The goal for the plan is to reduce fatalities and serious injuries by 20% from 70 in 2014 to 56 by 2020 based on a five-year rolling average calculation.
 
The group evaluated crash data and considered public survey results and the input of local safety partners to identify the following three emphasis areas with the greatest potential for reducing fatalities and serious injuries:  1) Unrestrained Occupants; 2) Impaired Driving; and 3) Inattentive Driving/Speeding.

After reviewing public comment collected through an online survey tool and conducting a half-day safety summit with community members and safety partners, a set of safety strategies and action steps were developed to assist the Billings MPO in achieving the established goal. Each emphasis area will be championed by a local stakeholder with assistance from local safety partners.  The plan vision, goal, emphasis areas, and strategies are summarized as follows:

Vision Statement	The Billings community will achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries through a culture of safety for all travelers.
Goal	Based on a 5-year rolling average, reduce fatalities and serious injuries by 20% from 70 in 2014 to 56 by 2020.
Emphasis Areas   and   Strategies	Unrestrained Occupants Support and enhance enforcement of seat belt and child safety seat laws. Increase youth and adult education to reinforce the importance of wearing a seat belt during every motor trip. Strengthen and support occupant protection laws to increase compliance.
	Impaired Driving Expand awareness and access to safe ride options to decrease impaired driving. Reduce impaired driving through prevention education and training. Establish communication lines with safety partners to identify opportunities and increase probability of earlier intervention.
	Inattentive Driving/Speeding Increase law enforcement staff to proactively enforce speed limits and current distracted driving laws. Reduce speeding and distractive driving crashes through enhanced education. Encourage the development of a statewide law banning the use of electronic devices while driving.

 

There should be no direct financial impact from the adoption of this plan. However, implementation of the strategies associated with the Three Emphasis Areas will assist with reduction of the personal and financial impacts resulting from fatal and serious crashes. 
 

Staff recommends that the Planning Board review the study, conduct a public hearing on November 9, 2016, and recommend approval of the Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan to the PCC at its meeting on December 20, 2016.