Earlier this month, CMAP's MPO Policy Committee adopted the annual roadway safety targets. CMAP, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Transportation, is required by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to report on five roadway safety metrics each year:
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Total traffic fatalities
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Rate of traffic fatalities per vehicle-mile traveled
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Total serious injuries
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Rate of serious injuries per vehicle-mile-traveled
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Combined number of fatalities and serious injuries among pedestrians and bicyclists.
The safety targets program is intended to help agencies like CMAP recognize and address traffic safety priorities.
Since the FHWA's Safety Performance Management program began in 2016, Illinois has not met its targets related to traffic fatalities. The United States has seen a growing number of traffic fatalities. This alarming upward trend began in 2014 and has spiked further since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic changed travel patterns so dramatically. The same is true for Illinois and the northeastern Illinois region.
CMAP's Safe Travel for All Roadmap (STAR) program has the goal of reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our region's roadways.
Read about this and more in the latest transportation newsletter.