Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources (2018)

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72 Several key terms that pertain to the scope of the synthesis are defined below. Additional terms are defined within the context of their relevant sections. All Road Network of Linear Referenced Data (ARNOLD). Expanded HPMS requirement that state departments of transportation submit their linear referencing system to include all public roads. ARNOLD was announced by FHWA on August 7, 2012. Data and Analysis Technical Assistance. Program of the FHWA Office of Safety that provides customized, hands-on technical assistance to individual agencies or disciplines, whether state or local in scope, on the basis of the needs of the requesting agency. Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri). International supplier of GIS software, web GIS, and geodatabase management applications. Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). Legislation signed into law by President Obama on December 4, 2015. It is the first law enacted in more than 10 years that provides long-term funding certainty for surface transportation, meaning states and local governments can move forward with critical transportation projects such as new highways and transit lines, with the confidence that they will have a federal partner over the long term. functional classification. Process by which streets and highways are grouped into classes, or systems, according to the character of traffic service they are intended to provide. FHWA’s HPMS specifies seven categories: Interstate (Code 1), Other Freeways or Expressways (Code 2), Other Principal Arterial (Code 3), Minor Arterial (Code 4), Major Collector (Code 5), Minor Collector (Code 6), and Local (Code 7). fundamental data elements (FDEs). Subset of MIRE established as part of the HSIP Final Rule changes to 23 CFR Part 924, effective April 14, 2016. The FDEs are a recommended set of 37 roadway and traffic elements that include roadway segment, intersection, and ramp/ interchange data that are needed to conduct enhanced safety analyses. geographic coordinates linear referencing method. Geospatial coordinates such as latitude and longitude or state plane coordinates. geographic information system (GIS). Computerized data management system designed to capture, store, retrieve, analyze, and display geographically referenced information; also defined as a system of hardware, software, and data for collecting, storing, analyzing, and disseminating information about areas of the Earth. For HPMS purposes, GIS is defined as a highway network (spatial data that graphically represent the geometry of the highways— an electronic map) and its geographically referenced component attributes (HPMS section data, bridge data, and other data, including socioeconomic data), which are integrated through GIS Glossary

Glossary 73 technology to perform analyses. GIS can display attributes and analyze results electronically in map form. Global Positioning System (GPS). Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that provides location and time information in all weather conditions anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). National-level highway information system that includes data on the extent, condition, performance, use, and operating charac- teristics of the nation’s highways. Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). Core Federal-aid program with the purpose of significantly reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-state-owned public roads and roads on tribal lands. The HSIP, which was continued as a core Federal-aid program by the MAP-21, which went into effect on October 1, 2012, requires a data-driven, strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public roads that focuses on performance. light detection and ranging (lidar). Surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with a laser light. Lidar is popularly used to collect high-resolution data. linear referencing system (LRS). Referencing system that defines a known starting point and references locations of objects at a linear distance from that point. linear referencing method (LRM). Mechanism for finding and stating the location of an unknown point by referencing it to a known point. local public agency (LPA). Any agency that receives federal transportation funds. These funds are administered by FHWA and passed through the state DOT to local agency applicants for the purpose of improving infrastructure or other transportation services. Each agency that receives these funds has a designated local LPA coordinator who is responsible for ensuring compliance with all state and Federal-aid regulations related to the delivery process of locally administered projects. Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP). FHWA technology transfer program that pro- vides technical assistance and training to local highway departments in the United States. The program transfers knowledge of innovative transportation technology to both urban and rural local communities in the United States and to American Indian tribal governments. The program is a partnership effort with funding provided from federal, state, and local agency resources with support from universities and the private sector. Each center is funded by a 50:50 match of state and federal funds, although some states choose to provide more than the minimum required amount. maintenance. Program activities related to an agency’s capability of providing dedicated staff to manage and review (for quality) periodic data updates to the roadway safety database. metropolitan planning organization (MPO). Designated local decision-making body respon- sible for carrying out the metropolitan transportation planning process, per federal transpor- tation legislation [23 USC 134(b) and 49 USC 5303(c)]. An MPO must be designated for each urban area with a population of more than 50,000 people. Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE). Recommended list of roadway inventory and traffic elements related to safety management. MIRE is intended as a guideline to help trans- portation agencies improve their roadway and traffic data inventories. It provides a basis for a standard of what can be considered a good or robust data inventory and helps agencies move toward the use of performance measures to assess data quality.

74 Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources performance measurement. Use of statistical evidence to determine progress toward specific defined organizational objectives. This includes both evidence of actual fact, such as measure- ment of pavement surface smoothness, and measurement of customer perception, such as would be accomplished through a customer satisfaction survey. regional planning organization (RPO). Organization that performs planning for multi- jurisdictional areas. MPOs, regional councils, economic development associations, and rural transportation associations are examples of RPOs. These organizations are also sometimes referred to as “regional transportation planning authorities” (RTPAs), “regional planning affiliations” (RPAs), or other similar designations. Roadway Data Improvement Program. FHWA technical assistance program that focuses on helping with an agency’s process and practices for collecting, managing, and utilizing its roadway data. shapefile. Esri vector data storage format for storing the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features. A shapefile is stored as a set of related files and contains one feature class. Shapefiles often contain large features with a lot of associated data and historically have been used in GIS desktop applications such as ArcMap. Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). Statewide-coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing highway fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. An SHSP is a major component and requirement of the HSIP (23 U.S.C. § 148) and identifies a state’s key safety needs and guides investment decisions toward the strategies and countermeasures with the most potential to save lives and prevent injuries. SHSPs were first required under SAFETEA-LU, which established the HSIP as a core federal program. MAP-21 continued the HSIP as a core Federal-aid program and maintained the requirement that states develop, implement, evaluate, and update an SHSP that identifies and analyzes highway safety problems and opportunities on all public roads. Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP). Program responsible for providing transporta- tion assistance to American Indians that includes, but is not limited to, circuit rider programs, providing training on intergovernmental transportation planning and project selection, and tourism recreation travel.