Have you ever been tasked with an assignment and didn’t know where to start? Maybe you’re a junior engineer responsible for conducting traffic impact assessments, and your boss asks you to assess the safety performance of an intersection while you are completing the TIA. Maybe you are a county engineer and you receive a request from the State DOT for a list of your priority locations for safety improvement. Maybe you are a city transportation manager and the city council has asked you to provide recommendations to enhance safety management capabilities. The FHWA Roadway Safety Data and Analysis Toolbox is a great place to start.
The last two decades have brought significant advancements in data-driven decision-making, including numerous safety data and analysis tools. For many, this transition to data-driven decision-making represents a change in how they do business. While the new safety data and analysis tools support data-driven decision-making, identifying and selecting an appropriate tool can be a daunting task, particularly for those new to quantitative safety analysis.
The Toolbox fulfills the need for a centralized source of information about safety data and analysis tools. Its web-based interface helps users identify appropriate tools based on self-identified needs, capabilities, and resources. The target audience is a transportation professional in search of a safety data or analysis tool to support data-driven decision-making.
An online
Primer serves as a support document for users of the Toolbox. The
Primer will help all users, particularly novice users, understand the scope and functions of the Toolbox as well as the roles, responsibilities, and tasks supported by tools in the Toolbox. The
Primer guides users through a step wise process to identify an appropriate tool to support a given task based on their needs and capabilities.