Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The FHWA defines a Strategic Highway (Transportation) Safety Plan as a statewide-coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. FHWA requires that a State identify its key safety needs and then guide investment decisions towards strategies and countermeasures with the highest potential to save lives and prevent injuries.

The STSP establishes a collaborative and shared vision and mission for transportation safety in Colorado. It relies on the premise that every agency and jurisdiction has a role in enhancing transportation safety to the benefit of our citizens and travelers for every transportation mode and facility in Colorado through policy, planning, funding, design and construction, operations, and maintenance.

The plan defines the most effective target areas and strategies. This strategic approach defines the 15 most effective strategies and accompanying actions that will actually reduce crashes and reverse Colorado’s trend of increasing fatalities—with the goal of zero deaths on the Colorado transportation system. The STSP focuses on proven countermeasures and more targeted and effective deployment, incorporates local agency safety planning and implementation (where 39% of Colorado’s fatalities occur), and reflects current innovations and technologies that are proven to reduce fatalities effectively. 

All local, state and federal agencies with funding and leadership resources. Colorado wants to be more effective in promoting safe transportation behavior and providing a safe transportation network around our state. This strategic plan and its implementation are critical to mapping out how all stakeholders in Colorado are addressing this disturbing trend in transportation. Colorado wants to ensure this is not just a “highway” safety plan given that every road, every mode, every agency and jurisdiction in Colorado has a role in transportation safety.

Outreach conducted through the Statewide Plan development process will inform the STSP. The strategic plan will review findings from Your Transportation Plan meetings and feedback related to safety and incorporate them into the final STSP. It will also review other Colorado and national safety efforts to identify best practices to develop innovative strategies while finding opportunities to collaborate with other organizations.

CDOT is going region to region across the state to engage local jurisdictions, safety officials, police and sheriff departments, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and other safety/education related entities. From these stakeholder meetings, Emphasis Area teams will be formed to develop goals and strategies that will be incorporated in the final STSP.

Director of Traffic and Safety Engineering at CDOT.