Recommendation
Improve travel safety

Perhaps the most fundamental duty of any transportation provider is to protect the safety of those in the public right of way. Traffic deaths are preventable. NHTSA identified driver behavior as a factor in 94 percent of crashes nationally, and in the Chicago region, it is the most often-cited primary cause of fatal and serious injury crashes. The region should embrace a full range of strategies to eliminate all traffic related fatalities by 2050. Strategies that improve safety can also reduce congestion and improve the reliability of the transportation network.

After declining for several decades, traffic fatality rates in the region began creeping upward in 2010 and spiked in 2016. This increase is likely due to a combination of factors, including increased commuting due to a sustained economic recovery, as well as increased use of devices while driving. New vehicle safety technologies -- including crash avoidance, lane keeping, and potentially even fully connected and automated vehicles -- can have a substantive impact on roadway safety, even at relatively low fleet penetrations of these technologies. But the recent uptick in fatalities demonstrates the need to continue investing in other strategies under the control of local communities, including leveraging technology to improve incident detection and management.

Profile

Parker and Katie Thompson live in the suburbs without a car, relying only on their bicycles to get around with their two sons. They hope their community will be a safe place for their family to ride in the future.

Read Parker and Katie's story

 

The most effective safety strategy for reducing fatalities is changing roadway design to reduce speeding and protect pedestrians and cyclists, who are the most vulnerable users of the transportation network. Higher speeds increase the likelihood of serious injuries or deaths, especially in the case of pedestrian and bicycle crashes. Data suggests that bicycle and pedestrian serious crash rates are increasing faster than those for vehicle occupants. National and statewide analyses also indicate that areas with higher concentrations of people of color, low income, and senior populations have higher serious and fatal crash rates than other areas. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America, blacks in Illinois constitute 14.2 percent of the population and 24.1 percent of pedestrian deaths.

Communities with safe bicycle and pedestrian facilities that connect residents to desired destinations provide residents with additional options to meet their daily needs. Active modes of transportation represent a growing share of trips to work in the city of Chicago, but there has been a slight decline in suburban areas. Unfortunately, data is not available on other kinds of trips, which often are of shorter distance and more conducive for active transportation.

Enforcement plays a role in changing driver behavior and improving safety. However, enforcement programs need to be designed carefully and with significant community input, particularly in low income and minority communities. The disproportionately high rates of serious injuries and fatalities in these areas must be addressed, as must community concerns about racial profiling, use of force, and disproportionate impacts of traffic fines.

The following describes strategies and associated actions to implement this recommendation.

Continue to update roadway designs to reduce speeding and crashes

To significantly reduce the number of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities, CMAP and partners should prioritize areas that would benefit most from improved infrastructure that includes design interventions and reduced speed limits. Such areas may have high crash rates, concentrated destinations, many people walking or biking, and lower rates of vehicle ownership. Some road designs, including roundabouts, access management strategies, and grade separations can reduce conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians and reduce the delay caused by turning vehicles. A few examples of these designs have been constructed in the CMAP region, but their implementation could be broadened, while still assuring that the designs are appropriate for a given site.

Pedestrian countdown signals, better road markings, protected left turn phases, designs that reduce left turn speeds, traffic calming treatments, and accessible pedestrian signals will all improve the safety of pedestrians at intersections. Engineering can also make driving safer for older drivers, who are anticipated to be on the roads in larger numbers by 2050. Where appropriate, roadway redesigns or “right-sizing” that decrease vehicle speeds and allocate space to pedestrians and bicyclists can maintain appropriate levels of vehicular throughput while making roads safer for all users. CMAP preliminarily identified road segments in the region that could be candidates for right-sizing. This is a planning-level analysis and more thorough engineering study would be needed before implementation.

Invest in safe bike and pedestrian pathways to desired destinations

Walkable communities and safe, connected networks for bicycling can reduce the number of automobile trips, reduce vehicle miles traveled, and improve the overall performance of the transportation system. Although significant progress has been made in building out the regional greenway and trails network, most destinations for shorter, functional trips, such as to work, shopping, and social gatherings, are not accessible by off-street paths alone.

While on-street facilities can put cyclists in conflict with motorists, recent improvements in design and engineering can reduce these conflicts and respect local character. Complete Streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated, and maintained to enable safe, convenient, and comfortable travel and access for all anticipated roadway users, regardless of their age, abilities, or mode of travel. Complete Streets can improve quality of life in a variety of ways. For example, many aspects of Complete Streets are beneficial for seniors or people with disabilities, as long as those amenities are designed with care to ensure that they do not obstruct pathways. The State of Illinois was one of the first states to adopt a Complete Streets policy in 2007, and now 37 governments and agencies in our region have adopted such a policy. CMAP has also developed a Complete Streets Toolkit with guidance for local governments interested in adopting a policy. Many of the region’s roadways that could be safest and most attractive to cyclists are also under municipal or county jurisdiction. These local governments should adopt Complete Streets policies as a first step to increasing options for active transportation and making public rights of way accessible to all users.

Improve incident detection and management

The region, working with system operators and municipal, county, and state police, should establish a goal and develop strategies to reduce the amount of time roads are closed due to crash investigations. Improving incident management is a high priority because it improves safety and reduces congestion. Some serious highway incidents require hours to clear. Nationwide, approximately 20 percent of all incidents are secondary ones caused by the congestion and disruption of a previous incident. Shortening their duration reduces the potential for additional incidents. Each incident presents an opportunity to reduce congestion through earlier detection and verification, faster response, and adherence to quick clearance principles. Unlike other highway operations activities, incident management is largely managed by a public safety agency, with the transportation agency playing a supporting role. While much of the work to improve performance falls upon the public safety agencies, transportation agencies can also take steps such as implementing automated incident detection methods, either with traffic cameras or real-time GPS probe data. These technologies can be and are being incorporated as part of broader traffic operations projects (see the Coordinate traffic operations region-wide strategy). For example, the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) has been reconstructed to include flexible infrastructure to enable the Tollway to add new “smart” features, such as roadway cameras that enhance the Tollway’s ability to respond to traffic and weather incidents and enable transit to bypass incidents using the flex lane.