The number and rate of traffic fatalities and serious injuries are critical performance measures in the evaluation of the safety of our roadway network. For the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one life lost on our roadways or altered by a serious injury is unacceptable. In accordance with MAP-21, the FAST Act, and Federal Highway Administration’s guidance, MassDOT reports 5-year rolling average data for the following safety performance measures*:
- Total Fatalities
- Rate of Fatalities per 100 million Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT)
- Number of Serious Injuries
- Rate of Serious Injuries Per 100 million VMT
- Number of Fatal and Serious Injuries for Non-Motorists
In addition to the required measures, MassDOT reports the following measures (annual values and 5-year rolling average) specifically for Tracker:
- Roadway Work Zone Fatalities
- Motorcycle Fatalities
- Pedestrian Fatalities
- Bicycle Fatalities
Fatalities and Serious Injuries
Bicycle and Pedestrian Fatalities
In 2021, MassDOT updated its 2019 Statewide Bicycle Transportation Plan and Statewide Pedestrian Plan, which provide roadmaps for making biking and walking safe, convenient, and comfortable for short trips and everyday travel. Safety is critical to improving the experiences of people who walk and bike, and the statewide plans focus on improving safety through infrastructure, maintenance, education, and capacity-building for municipalities. The plans are actionable and measurable, and each plan strategy has metrics associated with it. In the coming years, Tracker will include additional detail on the bicyclist and pedestrian crashes. Efforts are underway to improve data collection and data quality for bicyclist and pedestrian modes, and Tracker will incorporate additional safety related performance measures in the future.
*Data prior to CY21 comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Safety data for CY22 comes from the MassDOT Highway Division IMPACT Crash Data Portal.
Performance Goal | Performance Measure | Current Performance (CY22) | CY21 | 2024 Target | 2026 Target | Long Term Target |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Safety | Fatalities in Roadway Work Zones (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 5.4 | 5.4 | towards zero | towards zero | 0 | Number of Bicycle Fatalities (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 6.6 | 7.2 | towards zero | towards zero | 0 | Number of Fatalities (Actual) | 439 | 415 | towards zero | towards zero | 0 | Number of Fatalities (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 378 | 359 | 377 | 362 | 0 | Number of Motorcycle Fatalities (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 60 | 58 | towards zero | towards zero | 0 | Number of Non-Motorist Serious Injuries and Fatalities (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 480 | 468 | 445 | 435 | 0 | Number of Pedestrian Fatalities (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 76 | 70 | towards zero | towards zero | 0 | Number of Serious Injuries (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 2,708 | 2,625 | 2,708 | 2,603 | 0 | Rate of Fatalities per 100 Million VMT (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 0.62 | 0.59 | 0.61 | 0.54 | 0 | Rate of Serious Injuries per 100 Million VMT (Five-Year Rolling Average) | 4.42 | 4.3 | 4.36 | 3.91 | 0 |