Caltrans Wins U.S. DOT 2011 National Roadway Safety Award

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Caltrans with a 2011 National Roadway Safety Award for developing an innovative safety software program that makes it easier for local transportation agencies to prioritize safety projects. The application determines which projects offer the greatest potential of reducing fatalities and injuries on California’s local roads. These projects will save lives and provide a projected $743 million in safety benefits as a result of fewer vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities on local roads.

“We strive to be the leader in roadway safety,” said Acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “Safety is our highest priority and an essential component of every one of our state and local projects. This award for our Highway Safety Improvement Program drives us to continue efforts on innovative solutions that improve the safety of California’s roads for everyone.”

The software, known as “California’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) Application and Evaluation Tool for Local Roadways,” also provides Caltrans a better way to analyze safety projects submitted by local agencies and award funding to those projects that will increase roadway safety the most.

Under Caltrans’ direction, the University of California Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center also contributed to the creation of the HSIP Tool.

The National Roadway Safety Awards is a biennial competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Roadway Safety Foundation to recognize roadway safety achievements that move the nation “toward zero deaths” on highways and local roads.

With the assistance of the HSIP tool, Caltrans awarded $75 million in federal funding to
179 safety projects statewide in Fiscal Year 2010-11. For more information about these projects, please visit: https://dot.ca.gov/docs/ApprovedprojectlistHSIP.pdf