Incorporating Safety and Security Issues in Urban Transportation Planning

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century specifically mentions safety and security as making up one of the seven factors to be considered as metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) develop their transportation plans and programs. In order to assess the current practice, visits were made to several MPOs and transit districts around the country to learn how safety and security were being addressed in both the long-range and short-range transportation planning processes. Although safety and security were reflected in planning policies and goals and short-range project selection and programming incorporated measures of safety and security, there were few instances in which long-range planning incorporated these issues. In many cases the lack of data and limited analysis tools resulted in a reliance on subjective assessments of safety and security issues. The findings from the case study-oriented project are documented.