DEPARTMENT: Transportation & Capital Improvements
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Mike Frisbie, P.E.
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT: TxDOT Traffic Safety Grant
SUMMARY:
An ordinance authorizing the acceptance of $166,400.00 in grant funds awarded and administered by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) under the Texas Traffic Safety Grant Program for training and education to bring awareness about traffic safety and Vision Zero, specifically focused on reducing intersection related crashes.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Transportation & Capital Improvements (TCI) submitted an application in December 2016 for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Traffic Safety Grant Program and was awarded a grant in August 2017. The goal of this grant opportunity, in partnership with the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), is to provide direct education through additional training materials to San Antonio Police Officers as part of a public education campaign to bring awareness about traffic safety and Vision Zero. SAPD is a key member of the Vision Zero task force with whom TCI has been partnering with since 2015 as part of the implementation of Vision Zero.
The City of San Antonio began its Vision Zero initiative in 2015 which focuses on the Five E’s of intervention tactics: Education, Encouragement, Engineering, Enforcement, and Evaluation. By employing the Five E’s, the City will continue to work towards a goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways.
The grant will be used to reduce crashes by educating police officers, having officers enhance education to the public, and evaluating locations of severe injury crashes. These resources and efforts will enhance collaboration and support for Vision Zero. This grant opportunity is focused on reducing intersection related crashes.
ISSUE:
This ordinance authorizes the acceptance of $166,400.00 in grant funds awarded and administered by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) under the Traffic Safety Grant Program for training and education to bring awareness about traffic safety and Vision Zero, specifically focused on reducing intersection related crashes.
Through this grant, Transportation & Capital Improvements (TCI) will increase the enforcement and education to bring awareness to enhance the safety of multimodal transportation, particularly at intersections. The grant requires intersections to be a focal area since they pose many potential conflict points for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
The grant will focus on two main areas of education, the first of which is an education effort that will include specific training for SAPD officers. This education will focus on intersection-related crashes and the goal of Vision Zero for people driving, walking, or bicycling. Training will also include the importance of proper, more detailed incident reporting to ensure relevant data is collected for the Evaluation of crash factors and trends by location or type of incident.
The second part of the education effort will include the creation and distribution of informational brochures for the general public. A general brochure will be prepared as well as a specific brochure to distribute at traffic stops when citations and warnings are issued. In some cases, the distribution of the information will be the warning. Basic safety reminders and refreshers will include common traffic issues such as speeding, blocking intersections, obeying signals, and looking out for others on the road - especially people walking and riding bikes. Enforcement will be targeted at high crash intersections and corridors with a high occurrence of severe injuries.
Grant recipients were announced August 17, 2017 for use of funds in FY 2018. The expenditures within the grant are for contractual services. As required by the grant, approximately one half of the funds are allocated to the education strategy, materials development, and implementation. Funds may not be used for the purchase of paid media. The other half of the funds are for the required analysis to determine the key location of intersection crashes for all modes and conduct pre- and post- data assessments at the areas where the public education materials are disseminated. The breakdown of expenditures is as follows:
|
Expenditures |
Amount |
|
Education Strategy and Implementation |
$80,000 |
|
Education Materials |
$20,000 |
|
Crash Analysis and Evaluation |
$100,000 |
|
Attendance at LifeSavers Conference (required) |
$8,000 |
ALTERNATIVES:
City Council could choose to not authorize any or all of the projects in this submittal for grant funding acceptance. However, the City would miss an opportunity to leverage funding dedicated specifically to safety enforcement and education. This is an opportunity to enhance the safety of multimodal transportation and continue the implementation of Vision Zero.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This action authorizes acceptance of $166,400.00 from TxDOT for the Traffic Safety Grant Program and requires a local cash match of 20% in an amount not to exceed $41,600.00. Funding is available within the Pedestrian Safety Vision Zero project, as approved in the Fiscal Year 2018 Capital and Operating Budget.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff Recommends approval of an ordinance authorizing the acceptance of the grant funds awarded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Traffic Safety Grant Program.