Learn how Mendocino County reduced road crashes 42 percent
by Gib Peaslee, Coordinator, NLTAPA Product Demonstration Showcase Program
The Mendocino County, California, Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is responsible for just over 1,000 centerline miles of roadway and serves a population of 87,000 people inhabiting an area of 3,510 square miles. By implementing a simple yet thoughtful program, they have achieved a 42 percent reduction in low-volume road crashes.
While this figure may appear to be beyond the realm of believability to many safety professionals, let's stretch plausibility even further by mentioning this program has been delivering this benefit for more than 10 years and the program cost is within every county's reach, including even the most sparsely populated farm-to-market county, parish, or township.
Learn how they did it
You and your road safety management team are invited to experience the entire MCDOT process start to finish at the Mendocino County Road System Traffic Safety Review (RSTSR) Showcase in Ukiah, Calif., on September 28–29, 2004.
At this showcase, MCDOT staff will share every detail including all the start-up, roadway selection, field review, and deficiency correction processes as well as their subsequent treatment evaluation, treatment selection methodology, and cost-benefit measurement process details.
An integral part of this showcase experience will be guided visits to previously improved field sites. Each field site will be clearly defined showing the previous condition factors and the corrective measure implemented. Participants, as a group, will review and evaluate prior conditions and the applied corrective action. Upon returning to the showcase auditorium, each team will share reports and their proposed corrective actions, and we will all discuss the potential solutions.
This showcase is committed to provide all the information and post-showcase support agency personnel will need in order to return home and immediately begin implementing an RSTSR program. To meet that commitment, these key additional support items will be included:
- A post-showcase support group will be available to all participating agency teams for "on call" assistance throughout their entire implementation process.
- An easy to use Sign Management System (SMS) software package, developed by the New Hampshire LTAP Center, will be demonstrated and distributed at no cost to interested participants. Post-showcase user support is available through the New Hampshire LTAP Center.
- An Asset Management software package, developed by the Utah LTAP Center, will be demonstrated and distributed to interested agency participants. Post-showcase user support is available through the Utah LTAP Center.
- Michigan LTAP will explain how local agencies in Michigan banded together to fund and develop a Crash Analysis and Reporting System that is integrated with their local agency Road Surface, Sign, Guardrail, and Pavement Marking management systems.
- A grant resource specialist will be available during the showcase to discuss potential grant sources such as HES Sign Replacement Programs and others. Each participating agency team will be able to schedule a one-on-one meeting with this specialist.
- A Travel Stipend Program is available for rural agencies with populations under 50,000 (see sidebar).
Hats off to the program developers
We tip our hats to Stephen H. Ford with MCDOT for developing and setting this program in motion and to Eugene Calvert, P.E., former MCDOT director, for guiding the development of the TRB award-winning paper calling national attention to this program.
A heartfelt thank you is due the MCDOT management team and the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors for their willingness to share their valuable public safety program with the rest of the nation.
Travel Stipend Program
Travel Stipend Program (TSP) scholarships are available for two rural agency teams per state or TTAP. TSPs will cover air travel, overnight accommodations, and motor coach transportation fees directly related to this showcase. Priority will be given to agencies meeting the following criteria:
- Serve populations under 50,000.
- Have extensive low-volume road miles or high crash rates on low-volume roads.
- Have a restricted travel policy.
Upon registering, qualifying agencies will be provided further travel scholarship program details. For more details, please e-mail or call Jim Grothaus at Minnesota LTAP, 612-625-8373, e-mail jgrothaus@cts.umn.edu.
Showcase registration fees are not included in the Travel Stipend Program. LTAP
Registration information
The showcase will convene at the Mendocino College in Ukiah, Calif. The registration fee is $125 per person for the two-day event. To register or for more details, please visit www.pdshowcase.org or call Chris Ritch at the Florida LTAP Center, 352-392-2371 ext. 223, e-mail chris@ce.ufl.edu, or Daiana Mathis at the California LTAP Center, 510-231-5672, e-mail daianam@berkeley.edu.
Other showcases
The Mendocino showcase is just one in a series of Product Demonstration Showcases (PDS). The PDS Program is a national effort to give agencies hands-on experience with promising new products and services. Each showcase must include a neutral sponsor (such as an LTAP center), a user agency host, an industry/contractor/consultant, in-use site visits, and a complete live demonstration. For more about the program, including other completed showcases, visit www.pdshowcase.org.
All showcase handout material is available on loan from the Showcase Coordinating Center at the Florida LTAP Center, University of Florida, P.O. Box 116587, Gainesville, FL 32611-6587. You may order by phone (325-392-2371 ext. 237) or fax (352-392-3224), or visit the Web sites above.