TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM

 

DATE:   February 6, 2025

TO:       Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

FROM:  Sam Taylor

RE:       Roadway Safety Targets, Calendar Year 2025

 

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) requires states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) to establish annual targets for federally required roadway safety performance measures, which pertain to fatalities and serious injuries from motor vehicle crashes. The Boston Region MPO has voted to support the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ federally required annual targets for these roadway safety performance measures each year from 2018 through 2024, since the inception of Roadway Safety performance measures into Transportation Performance Management. The Commonwealth has set its roadway safety targets for calendar year (CY) 2025, and the MPO is required to establish its CY 2025 targets by February 27, 2025, by either agreeing to support the Commonwealth’s targets or setting its own. MPO staff recommends that the MPO vote to support the Commonwealth’s CY 2025 targets for these federally required measures and requests that the MPO vote to do so at its February 6, 2025, meeting.

 

1         OVERVIEW

The National Performance Management Measures: Highway Safety Improvement Program rule identifies five performance measures related to crashes involving motor vehicles for which targets must be set.

 

1.     Number of fatalities

2.     Rate of fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled (VMT)

3.     Number of serious injuries

4.     Rate of serious injuries per 100 million VMT

5.     Number of nonmotorized fatalities and nonmotorized serious injuries

 

The USDOT requires states to establish and report targets for these measures for the next calendar year by August 31 each year. After August 31, MPOs have 180 days to establish their own targets using one of the following methods:

 

·       Supporting state targets. Should the MPO select this option, it would agree to plan and program projects so that they contribute to accomplishing the Commonwealth’s targets.

·       Setting quantifiable targets specific to the MPO region. Should the MPO select this option, it would use the Commonwealth’s VMT calculation for all public roads in the Boston region and report the methods used to produce those estimates.

 

In either case, the MPO will need to coordinate with the Commonwealth when setting targets. It will also need to incorporate goals, objectives, measures, and targets from the Commonwealth’s safety plans and processes into the MPO’s planning processes.

 

2         Massachusetts CY 2025 Performance Targets

Table 1 shows the Commonwealth’s CY 2025 roadway safety performance targets for the federally required performance measures. The table also notes the Commonwealth’s long-term target of zero fatalities and serious injuries on Massachusetts roadways. Like the Commonwealth, the Boston Region MPO has a long-term goal of achieving zero transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries,[1] and is currently working on a Vision Zero Action Plan to reach this goal. The Commonwealth adopted these targets in August 2024, at which time the actual outcomes for CY 2024 were unknown.

 

The targets in Table 1 reflect five-year rolling annual averages, as required by USDOT. There are three sets of targets: a near-term target of rolling averages for the years 2021–25, a medium-term target of rolling averages for the years 2023–27, and long-term targets of zero for all measures.

 

Table 1
Massachusetts Proposed Roadway Safety Targets

Performance Measure	CY 2021–25	CY 2023–27	Long-Term Target
Number of Fatalities	365	315	0
Rate of Fatalities per 100 million VMT	0.58	0.48	0
Number of Serious Injuries	2,622	2,258	0
Rate of Serious Injuries per 100 million VMT	4.17	3.48	0
Number of Nonmotorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries	497	445	0

Notes: All values are expressed as five-year rolling averages.

CY = Calendar Year. VMT = Vehicle-Miles Traveled.

Sources: Federal Highway Administration, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Boston Region MPO Staff.

 

For more information and context about how the Commonwealth and MPO set roadway safety performance targets, see Appendix A.

 

3         Next Steps and Requested Actions

MPO staff recommends that the Boston Region MPO vote to support the Commonwealth’s CY 2025 roadway safety performance targets. This option would satisfy federal requirements and would reflect the way the MPO will need to collaborate with the Commonwealth on safety strategies to reduce fatalities and injuries in the Boston region. Staff requests that the MPO vote to do so at its February 6, 2025, meeting. Should the MPO adopt this target-setting approach, staff will present and describe these targets in the performance chapters of the federal fiscal year 2026–30 Transportation Improvement Program. The targets adopted by the MPO will inform the planning and investment activities that will support improvements in roadway safety outcomes.

 

Over the course of CY 2025, MPO staff will continue to engage stakeholders, including municipalities in the region, to collect recommendations for components of its Vision Zero Action Plan. Such recommendations will be used to finalize safety analysis, policy recommendations, fatality-reducing strategy, and project prioritization and selection for MPO investment programs. In accordance with Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program requirements, the plan will also include goals and targets that work toward zero fatalities and serious injuries in the region. Given the plan’s target-setting content, in CY 2026 MPO staff will aim to develop recommendations for MPO regional safety targets that support achieving Vision Zero, separate though consistent with the Commonwealth’s targets.