The City-County Planning Division is presenting to the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) the Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan (CTSP) for the PCC to take final action.
 
 

The development of the Billings Community Transportation Safety 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.  Implementing the plan will not require additional City funds because the implementation strategies include education and enforcement programs that already exist or have been used before. The CTSP will document these programs and bring together multiple organizations to collaborate. Grant funding
will be applied for in the case of a special event or project. If local match funds are required for grants, it would be identified prior to applying.

The Planning Board at its meeting on November 9, 2016, heard information regarding the Plan and conducted a public hearing to receive public testimony.  No testimony was received.  The Planning Board voted to send a recommendation of approval to PCC to approve the study.  The Billings City Council and Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners also voted to send a recommendation of approval to the PCC.
 
Based on the recommendations of the governing bodies and the Planning Board, staff is requesting a vote of approval by the PCC on the Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan.