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Free Traffic Safety Evaluations for California CommunitiesTech Transfer has offered evaluations to California cities and counties for more than 20 years. The primary objective of a Traffic Safety Evaluation (TSE) is to improve traffic safety in a city or county. Improved local enforcement and engineering practices and programs can reduce traffic collisions that cause injury, death, and property damage. To achieve these objectives, Tech Transfer provides free Traffic Safety Evaluations, in which evaluators will review your city or county's traffic safety conditions, programs, and needs, and suggest new strategies to improve local traffic safety. Any city or county public works department or police department in California can request a TSE. If the agency is selected for a TSE, Tech Transfer will assign a team of two traffic safety experts, one traffic engineer and one traffic enforcement expert, to conduct the TSE. The evaluators will begin with a thorough interview of local agency staff and then schedule a one-day visit to the city or county to observe conditions in the field. Following the visit, the TSE team will prepare a report presenting their findings and suggestions to improve traffic safety and traffic operations in the city or county. Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. What kinds of safety issues can the evaluation address?Engineering topics that communities have asked our evaluators to address include the following:
Enforcement topics that communities have asked our evaluators to address include the following:
How is the evaluation conducted?A team of two traffic safety experts reviews available safety data such as Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWITRS) and Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) ranking. Based on the available collision data and discussions with city and county staff, a list of intersections and roadway segments with the highest rates of collision is proposed for the evaluation. The team meets with key police and engineering staff to identify local issues, and then performs a site review of roadway safety conditions. After a second meeting with police and engineering staff, the team prepares a written report to document findings, suggestions for improvement, and other relevant information. Who can request a Traffic Safety Evaluation?Any agency within a city or community in California may request a Traffic Safety Evaluation from Tech Transfer. However, the number of evaluations we can do each year is limited by funding from OTS. Priority is given to applicants with significant traffic safety issues based on OTS collision rankings. Communities with the highest collision rates (top ten) for their population group are given priority. Communities with populations over 25,000 that appear in the top ten lists for OTS collision rankings are given the highest priority. Agencies can review their OTS collision ranking online. How can I request a Traffic Safety Evaluation?To learn more about Traffic Safety Evaluations and to request one for your city, e-mail tse-info@techtransfer.berkeley.edu. A limited number of evaluations are available each year, so send in your request early. Who performs the Traffic Safety Evaluation?Each evaluation is conducted by a team of one traffic engineer and one traffic enforcement expert, as assigned by Tech Transfer. Our team of evaluators includes: Michelle DeRobertis, PE, is Senior Transportation Planner and Bicycle Program Manager for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Ms. DeRobertis is an experienced transportation engineer specializing in bicycle, pedestrian, and bus transportation. She has extensive experience working as a consultant in bicycle planning and design, and was project manager for numerous major bicycle facility design studies for California cities and counties. Nazir Lalani, PE, is the President of Traffex Engineers, Inc., a transportation consulting firm that provides consulting services to local agencies ranging from the complete responsibilities of traffic engineering functions to specialized operations such as synchronized signal systems and studies designed to improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Nazir is currently the Contract City Traffic Engineer for the Cities of La Quinta and Indian Wells in Southern California. In 2009, Nazir completed ten years of service with the County of Ventura, where he was the Deputy Director of the Transportation Department in charge of the Traffic and Transportation Division in the Transportation Department of the Ventura County Public Works Agency. Nazir has also held local government positions with the City of Ventura, Santa Barbara County, the City of Lakewood, Colorado, the City of Phoenix, Arizona, and the Greater London Council in England. John Turner retired from the Ventura Police Department as a Sergeant. He supervised motor officers and the collision investigation units. He was the designated expert for the city attorney on collision related claims and he served on the city's Traffic Safety Board and Collision Review Committee. He has extensive experience in traffic enforcement, collision investigation, and innovative traffic safety programs. He has worked as a police officer in Santa Barbara and as a collision reconstruction and vehicle code application consultant in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. He has won numerous awards for police work since 1984. He is now a Principal at his own company, Turner Accident Reconstruction. Don Uelmen has 34 years of traffic safety and traffic enforcement experience at the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office. At the CHP, he worked at the Headquarters office in Sacramento, San Francisco Area Office, and Contra Costa Office. His other positions included work in traffic enforcement and safety at NHTSA and working as a safety consultant. He worked part-time with the California Office of Traffic Safety as the California Seat Belt Compliance Campaign Coordinator. He also served as a consultant with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). What have other agencies said about thier Traffic Safety Evaluations?"The evaluators were very professional. They met the city personnel and listened to our issues. They responded accordingly and did not present any information which was non-relevant. Their report was presented in an efficient format." "The team did a great job in first understanding what the city's main areas of concern were. Once they had a list of areas, they went out and evaluated the locations. Their comments provided us with an additional perspective on areas that we could improve in order to increase safety. Overall, they exceeded our expectations." "My overall perception of the work performed by the TSE team is one of great satisfaction. Their report was very thorough and addressed the traffic safety concerns we had." For more information, refer to How a Traffic Safety Evaluation Can Help Improve Your Roads from Tech Transfer's Spring 2009 Newsletter. Additional resourcesFor general information on traffic safety issues and suggested improvement measures, refer to:
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