Using Safe Systems Approach to Assess Traffic Impact and Land Development

Little attention has been paid in research or in current practices to the direct impacts of traffic impact analysis (TIA) on road safety or its potential role in shaping Safe Systems. Our objective is to develop product innovation—namely a Safe Systems-infused approach to TIA. This research would be a first step toward a much needed bridge between research and practice. By demonstrating how the development review process can be used to promote safety rather than produce the negative outcomes of an auto-oriented planning approach, this project would show the role of land use and development review in safety and provide safety performance metrics that can provide meaningful, realistic, feasible outputs of TIAs. In this research the project team aims to demonstrate that safety can be achieved in addition to mobility benefits through the nexus between development review practices and Safe Systems, evaluate the shortcomings of existing procedures to demonstrate the gaps Safe Systems can fill, and return to communities to find implementable solutions. This research will also establish a framework for future projects. After the project team has identified the limitations of existing TIA practice and developed a framework for integrating Safe Systems into development review, they can assist local jurisdictions with safety projections. It is our intent that developers and municipalities use the proposed framework in their own local contexts to project long-term benefits from integrating Safe Systems so that these goals can be planned and achieved. The project team hopes that improving the TIA process can ultimately aid developers in reducing death and serious injuries.

• Record URL:
  https://www.roadsafety.unc.edu/research/projects/2021r35/
• Supplemental Notes:
  • CSCRS2021R35

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $94701
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747113

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27514
• Project Managers:

  Sandt, Laura

• Performing Organizations:

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  UNC-CH New East Building
  Campus Box #3140
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina  United States  27599-3140
• Principal Investigators:

  Combs, Tabitha

  Kumfer, Wesley

• Start Date: 20210510
• Expected Completion Date: 20220930
• Actual Completion Date: 20220630
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Development; Forecasting; Highway safety; Impacts; Innovation; Land use; Procedures; Traffic volume
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01771198
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747113
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: May 4 2021 9:41AM