Citation

Avelar RE, Dixon K, Ashraf S, Jhamb A, Dadashova B. U.S. D.O.T. Federal Highway Administration. McLean, VA, USA: U.S. D.O.T. Federal Highway Administration, 2021.

Copyright

(Copyright 2021, U.S. D.O.T. Federal Highway Administration)

The full document is available online.

Abstract

This evaluation assessed the potential of the safety-improvement strategy (i.e., adding bicycle lanes while reducing shoulder and lane widths) to reduce crashes in terms of total, fatal and injury, property-damage only (PDO), and bicycle crash frequencies. The study’s intent is to develop crash modification factors (CMFs) and benefit–cost (B/C) ratios for the evaluated safety improvement. Practitioners can use these CMFs and B/C ratios when deciding on project development and safety-planning processes

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Development of Crash Modification Factors (DCMF) program was established in 2012 to address highway-safety research needs for evaluating new and innovative safety strategies (e.g., improvements) by developing reliable quantitative estimates of their effectiveness in reducing crashes.

Forty-one State departments of transportation provide technical feedback on safety improvements to the DCMF program and implement new safety improvements to facilitate evaluations. These States are members of the Evaluation of Low-Cost Safety Improvements Pooled Fund Study (ELCSI-PFS) that functions under the DCMF program.This project valuated the addition of bicycle lanes achieved by reducing lane and shoulder widths as a safety improvement strategy (e.g., safety intervention). The ELCSI-PFS Technical Advisory Committee selected this evaluation as one of the priorities within its purview.

Study Objectives
This evaluation assessed the potential of the safety-improvement strategy (i.e., adding bicycle lanes while reducing shoulder and lane widths) to reduce crashes in terms of total, fatal and injury,property-damage only (PDO), and bicycle crash frequencies. The study’s intent is to develop crash modification factors (CMFs) and benefit–cost (B/C) ratios for the evaluated safety improvement. Practitioners can use these CMFs and B/C ratios when deciding on project development and safety-planning processes