Each fiscal year, at the beginning of the HSP development process, traffic safety planners consider a number of factors in determining project priorities and areas of emphasis. These factors include:

Other influences can be federal and state legislative bodies, community-based organizations, local and national interest groups, state and local traffic safety related non-profit organizations, and local governments. Projects can be proposed directly or indirectly by members of any of these organizations. The key goal is to assure that all projects in the Texas HSP are data driven and not solely responses to political or community pressures.

From time to time, Congress designates or earmarks federal highway safety funds for specific purposes and uses. Projects developed in response to these earmarked funds must be data driven as well, with the earmarked funds dedicated to the areas of the state with the greatest threat to public safety.

The HSP is intergovernmental in nature, functioning either directly or indirectly, through grant agreements, contracts, service purchase orders, and requisitions. State and local sources analyze data to identify traffic safety problems by identifying specific causes of motor vehicle crashes (see “Problem Identification and Community Assessment” in Section 3 of this chapter). They then submit proposals to TxDOT TRF-BTS for grants to address the problems (see Chapter 3 of this manual for more information on Traffic Safety Project Proposals).

A strong problem identification statement by an organization requesting a grant defines the nature and magnitude of the problem to be addressed, and is supported by verifiable and sourced data. Grant requests also identify specific traffic safety problems through archived and collected data from various sources, including community assessments, traffic analyses, local speed and occupant restraint use surveys, local law enforcement agencies, and hospital and emergency room reports. The proposals must provide specifics on site location (city, county, roadway section, statewide, etc.), population data, target audience, and over or under-representation comparisons (i.e., either over or under state or federal level crash data, or over or under the standard safety belt usage rate at the local level).

It is through the analysis and synthesis of the data described above, and the stringent requirements placed on potential subgrantees and contractors, that the State’s traffic safety problems are identified and prioritized for inclusion in the annual Texas HSP.

TRF-BTS processes grant agreements and contracts for local jurisdictions, other state agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations, and develops the HSP using the proposals approved for funding. TRF-BTS then submits the proposed funding amounts for the annual HSP to the Texas Transportation Commission for approval. After Commission approval, an approved project list is issued.