Staff recommends the Planning Board (PB) forward a recommendation of approval of the Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan (CTSP) to the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC). The PCC is scheduled to take final action on the study at it's meeting on January 17, 2023.

The Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is presenting the Billings Community Transportation Plan (CTSP) to the Planning Board (PB) with the intent to have the Planning Board forward a recommendation of approval to the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC). The PB reviewed the Plan and conducted a public hearing on the Plan at its meeting on November 22.

The MPO hired Dowl through a competitive process to develop the CTSP. The MPO initiated the process to update the CTSP that was developed and adopted in 2016. The original plan was a collaborative effort between the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and the MPO. This update also included coordination with MDT. The ongoing purpose of the CTSP is to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes in the Billings area. Both the original CTSP and this update followed the same methodology as Montana's Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan (CHSP). This process, like the CHSP, used a coordinated, comprehensive, data-driven process with emphasis on collaboration between safety programs and partners representing the 4Es of transportation safety: education, enforcement, emergency medical services, and engineering. This approach was used to identify safety issues and determine areas in need of increased emphasis and strategies to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries.

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

• Unrestrained Occupants
• Impaired Driving
• Inattentive Driving and Speeding

In addition, the AC is recommending a focus on young drivers within each of the emphasis areas.

A list of all emphasis areas, strategies and action steps are located on page 39 of the plan.

The project team developed a robust public involvement process to collect public and stakeholder input that included a website that featured and interactive map, a half-day summit, and a public meeting. These activities were supplemented with paid and earned media, email, and social media promotion. The CTSP website, www.billingslrtp.com provided stakeholders and the public an opportunity to learn about and participate in the project.

The Safety Summit included over 60 safety-oriented stakeholders who gathered to support and contribute to the CTSP update. The event included:

• Collection of stakeholder input;
• Discussion of comprehensive crash data analysis;
• Consideration of existing community safety programs;
• Identification of safety management strategies to meet the unique needs of the Billings community.

A full listing of public involvement work on this project is located in Appendix B of the plan.

On November 22, the Planning Board received a presentation by Lisa Olmsted of Dowl on the Plan components and recommendations. In addition to the presentation, the PB conducted a public hearing to gather public testimony on the Plan. There was no public testimony. There were a few comments and questions from the Board. The first asked about Montana getting a primary seatbelt law. Lora Mattox reported that this has been attempted in the past, but it has never made it out of committee for further consideration. Another question asked was how this plan would target reckless and careless drivers. Lora stated that the AC included emphasis on young drivers to hopefully curb some bad driving behavior in the future. A question was asked about why the crash data wasn't looked at on a per capita level instead of straight numbers. Doug Enderson of Dowl stated that this was a topic of discussion with the committee and the state, however, since Vision Zero was the adopted goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries, per capita numbers would not be as impactful. Finally, the board asked about School District 2 involvement with the plan. Lora informed the board that the District was contacted, and although they were not able to actively participate, there is focus on young driver education and the hope is that the implementation of the plan will provide additional resources to the district.

The Planning Board may recommend to PCC:

• Recommend approval of the CSTP as presented; or
• Recommend amendments; or
• Recommend Denial.

The Planning Board president will carry forward the recommendation to the Policy Coordinating Committee.

There is no fiscal effect to adopting this plan. Implementing the plan will not require direct City or County funds because the implementation strategies include education and enforcement programs that already exist or are readily available at no cost. However, if the City or County determine that a paid education campaign is desirable, funding will have to be secured through a variety of sources including materials provided through MDT safety, grants, or local contributions that could include city or county funds.

The Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan outlines an action plan and strategies to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries in the Billings MPO area. The Plan through review of crash data, input from an Advisory Committee, local safety partners and the public developed a vision, goal, strategies and action plan to combat area crashes and the impact of those crashes on families and the community.