External link: http://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/downloads/mpc15-291.pdf
Publication date: November 1, 2015
Capsule summary: This paper seeks to explore causes of high risk roads and highways in Indian Reservations and the methods of dealing with these problems.
Author(s): Shinstine, D.; Ksaibati, K.
Publisher(s): U.S. Department of Transportation
Definition: Governmental agency focused on transportation
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Description: Tribal safety has been a huge concern for the federal government because the statistics show that there is a much higher fatality rate on the Tribal roadway systems than the national rate. There are many causes of this high fatality rate, including the poor condition of infrastructure, automobile users ignoring roadway regulations, etc. The federal government sees improving safety conditions on such Tribal land as a high priority.
Objectives: This research project aimed to analyze the crash statistics on Indian Reservations in order to find best low cost measures to improve highway safety. A secondary motive for the case study is to explore possible methods to bridge the road and overall transportation data gap in Indian Reservations for future use. The research also seeks to create a crash analysis model with different highway systems (including the systems of the Indian Reservations) to compare and identify safety and infrastructure gaps between the different systems in order to effectively plan the next steps. The overall goal of this project is to put the discussion of transportation safety, preservation, maintenance, and future work plans into the context of the needs and limitations of the Indian culture and sovereign Indian Land.
Findings: The study concluded that safety improvement on Indian Reservation requires changes in physical infrastructure, regulations, as well as some behavioral changes. The first step was to collect crash data to conduct a thorough analysis and identify the problems. This analysis led to a five- step method to address the problem, how to implement the methods, and how to integrate it into the society there.
Recommendations: The case study recommends that there be a continued effort to bridge the data gap in Indian Reservations and try to get around the obstacles that block the data from being collected thoroughly. The study recommends that the Indian Reservation Safety Program be integrated in Reservations throughout the nation. The paper also suggests that after implementation, there be a regular review of implementation and a cost- benefit analysis to ensure that there is a positive impact, as well as creating statistical models. The paper recommends that Reservation leaders across the nation integrate the Strategic Highway Safety Pan and integrate the society and their voices in making these changes.
Research Theme:
Community Type: City, Rural, Small City
Transportation Mode:
Planning Scope:
Organization Type: DOT
Planning Subject: Analysis, Evaluation, Evaluation and Assessment, Planning Methods, Strategic Planning