Safer by Design

Safer by Design tools

Rural Highways

Urban Intersections

Urban Safer by Design

DES emails and memos

Manuals

TxDOT's Council on System Safety is tasked to develop scoring tools to assist designers in evaluating potential safety enhancements during project development and design. At this time, three Excel-based tools are available, one for Two-Lane Rural, another for Multi-Lane Rural facilities, and the third for Urban Intersections (considered applicable projects, as referenced below).

TxDOT and Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) developed the Safer By Design (SBD) tool (formerly known as Safety Scoring Tool or SST) to provide Transportation Engineers with a simple and straightforward methodology that directly incorporates data-driven safety considerations into the roadway design process. The ultimate goal is to prevent crashes, reduce fatalities and injuries as a result of crashes on Texas roadways. 

Purpose

To assist designers in making safety-driven decisions during the project development and design process.

Tool elements

Based on the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) and crash modification factor (CMF) methodology, each tool is spreadsheet-based and easy to use. The tools consider safety effects across three categories, including geometric design, traffic control, and roadside conditions.

Application/use

Effective November 26, 2019, the scoring tools were made ready for use on applicable projects. Use of the tools should begin during the project scoping process to evaluate the safety impacts of design decisions. Districts are required to document the initial and final safety score, for applicable projects, on the Form 1002, which are required with interim and final PS&E submissions starting with the April 2020 letting. Scoring information is summarized and reported monthly to Administration and Commission as a measure of how TxDOT is improving system safety. The reporting for applicable projects requires;

• A summary of the primary factors that are increasing safety along that roadway and
• A justification on the constraints towards reaching an optimal score, including an explanation of the constraint and a high-level estimate of the additional cost and time that would be needed to mitigate the constraint.

The safety scoring results for each letting month is summarized and posted on Design Division's Safety Scoring Tool SharePoint Site.

Training

• Training Videos (TTI webinar recordings)
• Training ppt
• Step by step Instruction

Additional safety analysis resources and tools

• Safety Scoring Tool Sharepoint site
  
• FHWA – Zero Deaths and Safe Systems
  
• Traffic Simulation & Safety Analysis – Safety Analysis