Roadway Safety Data Interoperability Between Local and State Agencies (2014)

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56 NCHRP TOPIC 44-05 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE—FOR LOCAL AGENCIES The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is preparing a synthesis on Roadway, Traffic and Crash Data Interoperability Between Local and State Agencies Relative to Roadway Safety (Topic 44-05). This is being done for NCHRP, under the sponsorship of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). In order to utilize the evolving safety analysis tools and methodologies to more efficiently and effectively address road- way safety issues and meet the MAP-21 requirements, agencies will be looking to improve their data for safety—particularly roadway, traffic, and crash data—on all public roads. The largest challenge will be the collection, storage, maintenance, and integration of safety data for local (non-state) maintained roadways. As agencies move toward improving quality of data on the local roads, they will be looking for examples from other agencies that have been successful in doing so. The results of this survey will help local and state agencies looking to improve their safety data interoperability. For any multiple choice ques- tions, please choose the answers that best represent your agency’s practices. This questionnaire is being sent to local agencies across the U.S. responsible for managing the transportation system in their municipality. Your cooperation in completing the questionnaire will ensure the success of this effort. If you are not the appropriate person at your agency to complete this questionnaire, please forward it to the correct person. Thank you very much for your time and expertise. Please complete and submit this survey by 03/15/2013. We estimate that it should take less than 30 minutes to complete. If you have any questions, please contact our principal investigator Nancy Lefler by phone: (919)334-5604 or e-mail: nlefler@ vhb.com. Any supporting materials can be sent directly to Nancy Lefler by e-mail or at the postal address shown at the end of the survey. The following definitions are used in this questionnaire: Basemap: A basemap provides geospatial information on the roadway network. Site specific countermeasures. Countermeasures that are identified for individual locations based on the risk factors at that specific location. Systemic countermeasures: Countermeasures implemented at multiple locations with similar risk characteristics. Safety Performance Functions (SPF): A statistical model used to estimate the average crash frequency for a specific site type (with specified base conditions), based on traffic volume and roadway segment length. Road Safety Audits (RSA): Formal safety performance examination of an existing or future road or intersection by an inde- pendent, multidisciplinary team. It qualitatively estimates and reports on potential road safety issues and identifies opportuni- ties for improvements in safety for all road users. Segments—Data pertaining to the physical and locational attributes of a section of roadway; includes location/linkage ele- ments, classification, cross section, and roadside descriptors. Curves—Data pertaining to the physical and location attributes of vertical and horizontal curves (e.g., curve degree, curve radius, percent of gradient). APPENDIX B Local Questionnaire

57 Intersections—Data pertaining to the physical and locational attributes of intersections, including general intersection descriptors (e.g., number of legs, traffic control) and intersection approach descriptors (e.g., number of right turn lanes, length of right turn lanes). Interchanges/Ramps—Data pertaining to the physical and locational attributes of interchanges and ramps (e.g., type of interchange, ramp length, number of ramp lanes). Traffic data—Data on the traffic volume and operations of roadways and intersections. Segment traffic flow data—Data pertaining to the traffic volume on roadway segments [e.g., annual average daily traffic (AADT)]. Segment traffic operations/control data—Data pertaining to the operations and control of roadway segments (e.g., speed limits, one-/two-way operations, parking presence). Intersection turning movement counts—Data pertaining to the turning movements at intersections (e.g., left turn volume, right turn volume). Ramp counts—Data pertaining to the traffic volume on interchange ramps (e.g., ramp AADT). Please enter the date: Please identify your contact information. Your contact information will be kept confidential and only be used for the pur- poses of this project. In case of follow-up questions and for NCHRP to send you a link to the Final Report, please provide phone number and e-mail address. First Name: Last Name: Position/Title: Agency: Address: City: State: Zip Code: E-mail Address: Phone Number: General 1. How many miles of roadway does your agency maintain? 2. Does your agency have a basemap of the roadway network? a. Yes, based on a linear referencing system. b. Yes, based on GIS c. Yes, based on link/node. d. Yes, other (please describe): e. No If no, skip to question 4. 3. What percentage of roads in your jurisdiction is included in the basemap?

58 Crash Data 4. Does your agency store records of crashes that occur in your jurisdiction? a. Yes, paper only. b. Yes, electronic. c. No. If yes, paper only, skip to question #7. If no, skip to question #11. 5. Are the crashes located to your basemap (if you maintain one)? a. Yes, all. b. Yes, most. c. Yes, some. d. No. 6. What format are the data in? a. Microsoft Excel or Access. b. Geographic Information Systems (GIS). c. SQL. d. Oracle. e. Other format, please describe: 7. Does your agency have staff dedicated to managing the crash data? a. Yes, it is their sole responsibility. b. Yes, but it is only part of their responsibilities. c. No, but we need to/would like to. d. No, but we contract these services. e. No, we do not need to. 8. Are crash data accessible/available for use for legal or liability concerns? a. Yes, the crash data are available to lawyers and other legal professionals upon request. b. No, we do not provide access to crash records to lawyers and other legal professionals. Please feel free to provide any additional feedback on this question. 9. What type of support does your agency receive on the collection or management of the crash data? (check all that apply) a. Funding. b. Training. c. Data dictionaries. d. Format requirements. e. Guidebooks. f. Software/tools. g. Other, please describe: If your agency does not receive any support, skip to question #11. 10. Who provides this support? (check all that apply) a. State Department of Transportation. b. State Department of Public Safety. c. Universities. d. Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP). e. Others please describe:

59 11. If you receive crash data from the state, how easily are the data merged/interoperable with your local data? a. Very easily, the state’s data are provided in the same format as our data. b. Easily, the state’s data are provided in a format that can be easily transformed to be in the same format as our data. c. Moderately, the state’s data require some manual labor to get them into a useable format. d. Difficult, the state’s data require extensive manual labor to get them into a useable format. e. Not at all, the state’s data are unusable in the current format they are submitted in and cannot be transformed into a useable format. f. We do not receive crash data from the state. 12. Do you have the ability to access the state crash database in addition to any locally maintained data? (Select the situa- tion that best applies.) a. Yes, the state provides us a copy of their electronic database on a regular (e.g., annual) basis. b. Yes, the state will provide their electronic database upon request. c. Yes, we have web-based access to the state data. d. We do not have access to the database but the state will provide reports or other outputs (e.g., crash maps) of the data either on a regular interval or on request. e. There is no access to any of the crash data maintained by the state. f. Other, please describe: 13. Does your agency engage in safety for your roadways; i.e., implement countermeasures/treatments on your roadways for the purpose of improving safety? a. Yes. b. No. If no, skip to question #21. 14. How are the countermeasures/improvements predominantly implemented? a. Site specific. b. Systemic. c. Some of both. 15. How are safety improvements funded? a. The state provides all of the funding through their HSIP program or similar. b. Our agency funds the entire improvement. c. The funding is split between the state and our agency. d. Other, please describe: 16. For each of the different types of safety analysis, please indicate how they are conducted at your agency (check all that apply): Level of State Support Location/Project Identification Project Prioritization Countermeasure Selection Countermeasure Evaluation State conducts and pro- vides results State provides assis- tance to our agency We conduct our own analysis and would like to continue doing so We conduct our own analysis but would like assistance from the state

60 17. If you conduct your own analysis for location identification, what methods do you use to identify locations? (check all that apply) a. Crash-based analysis of frequency, rate, or similar. b. Crash-based comparison of expected crashes to observed using Safety Performance Functions or similar methods. c. Risk-based method that considers the location (e.g., intersection, segment, curve, etc.) characteristics instead of crashes such as an intersection index or risk score. d. Road safety audits or other proactive review of a location. e. Concerns of citizens, law enforcement, or other members of the community. f. Other method, please describe: 18. What software, tools, resources are used in these analyses? (check all that apply) a. Geographic Information System (GIS). b. Highway Safety Manual. c. State provided tools, please describe: d. Other, please describe: 19. If you indicated in the previous question #16 that the state provides assistance in safety analysis, how would you char- acterize that assistance (check all that apply): a. Guidance. b. Funding. c. Staff. d. Training. e. Software. f. Other, please describe: 20. Does your agency have staff dedicated to conducting safety analysis/implementing safety improvements? a. Yes, it is their sole responsibility. b. Yes, but it is only part of their responsibilities. c. No, but we contract these services. d. No, but we need to/would like to. e. No, we do not need to. Roadway 21. Do you maintain a database of any of these roadway elements? If so, please indicate what data are available, and who (local agency or state) conducted the collection. (check all that apply) If none, there are no further questions in this section. Roadway Elements Agency Collects Only for Internal Use Agency Collects and Provides to the State State Collects and Provides to Agency on Regular Basis Roadway Segment Descriptors Segment Location/Linkage Elements Segment Roadway Classification Segment Cross Section Roadside Descriptors Roadway Alignment Descriptors Horizontal Curve Data Vertical Grade Data Roadway Junction Descriptors At-Grade Intersection/Junctions Interchange and Ramp Descriptors

61 Roadway Elements Agency Collects Only for Internal Use Agency Collects and Provides to the State State Collects and Provides to Agency on Regular Basis Supplemental Datasets Signs Signals Pavement Pedestrians and/or Bicycles Safety Improvements Other, please describe: 22. If you provide roadway data to the state, does the state perform quality assurance/quality control and return the cleaned data back to you? a. Yes. b. No. 23. If you receive roadway data from the state, are the data easily merged/interoperable with your local data? a. Very easily, the data are provided in the same format as our data. b. Easily, the data are provided in a format that can be easily transformed to be in the same format as our data. c. Moderately, the data require some manual labor to get them into a useable format. d. Difficult, the data require extensive manual labor to get them into a useable format. e. Not at all, the data are unuseable in the current format they are submitted in and cannot be transformed into a use- able format. f. We do not receive roadway data from the state. 24. If you do not receive roadway data directly from the state on a regular basis, do you have the ability to access the state roadway database in addition to any locally maintained data? (Select the situation that best applies.) a. Yes, the state will provide their electronic database upon request. b. Yes, we have web-based access to the state data. c. There is no access to any of the roadway data maintained by the state. 25. Does your agency have staff dedicated to managing the roadway data? a. Yes, it is their sole responsibility. b. Yes, but it is only part of their responsibilities. c. No, but we contract these services. d. No, but we need to/would like to. e. No, we do not need to. 26. Which of the datasets are readily linkable with the crash data? (check all that apply) a. Segments. b. Curves. c. Intersections. d. Interchanges/Ramps. e. Curves. f. Supplemental data. g. None. 27. Do you use roadway data in safety analysis? a. Yes. b. No. 28. Would guidance/training on how to use roadway data in safety analysis be helpful? a. Yes. b. No.

62 Traffic 29. Do you maintain a database of any of these types of traffic data? If so, please indicate what data are available, and who (local agency or state) conducted the collection. (check all that apply) If none, there are no further questions. Traffic Elements Agency Collects Only for Internal Use Agency Collects and Provides to the State State Collects and Provides to Agency on Regular Basis Segments Segment Traffic Flow Data Segment Traffic Operations/ Control Data Junction Counts Turning Movement Counts Ramp Counts Supplemental Counts Pedestrian Counts Bicycle Counts Other, please describe: 30. If you provide any traffic data to the state, does the state perform quality assurance/quality control and provide the cleaned data back to the agency? a. Yes. b. No. 31. If you receive traffic data from the state, are the data easily merged/interoperable with your local data? a. Very easily, the data are provided in the same format as our data. b. Easily, the data are provided in a format that can be easily transformed to be in the same format as our data. c. Moderately, the data require some manual labor to get them into a useable format. d. Difficult, the data require extensive manual labor to get them into a useable format. e. Not at all, the data are unusable in the current format they are submitted in and cannot be transformed into a useable format. f. We do not receive roadway data from the state. 32. If you do not receive traffic data directly from the state on a regular basis, do you have the ability to access the state traffic database in addition to any locally maintained data? (Select the situation that best applies.) a. Yes, the state will provide their electronic database upon request. b. Yes, we have web-based access to the state data. c. There is no access to any of the traffic data maintained by the state. 33. Does your agency have staff dedicated to managing the traffic data? a. Yes, it is their sole responsibility. b. Yes, but it is only part of their responsibilities. c. No, but we contract these services. d. No, but we need to/would like to. e. No, we do not need to.

63 34. Which of the traffic datasets are readily linkable with the crash data? (check all that apply) a. Segments. b. Intersections. c. Ramps. d. Supplemental data. e. None. 35. Do you use traffic data in conducting safety analysis? a. Yes. b. No. 36. Would guidance/training on how to use traffic data in safety analysis be helpful? a. Yes. b. No. Thank you for taking our survey. Your response is very important to us!