The Texas Transportation Commission announced Tuesday that it had created a task force to identify and fund safety projects for the state’s metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), as a way to reduce traffic deaths in the state.
The task force, a response to a 2019 directive from the Commission to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to reduce by half the number of highway fatalities by 2035, will be comprised of TxDOT representatives and representatives of the state’s 23 MPOs. Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., said reaching the Commissions goal of zero highway fatalities by 2050 would require the TxDOT and MPOs to work closely with one another.
“This will allow us to work with MPOs to effectively direct unspent funding from Categories 5, 7, and 8 to critical safety projects that will improve our roadways and ultimately help reduce the number of deadly crashes,” Bugg said. “We know this goal is achievable and this new task force is yet another key component to getting there.”
The task force will be co-chaired by commissioners Laura Ryan and Alvin New, and will include representatives from across the state.
“There is not a moment to waste to ramp up our collective efforts and do all that we can to save lives,” Ryan said. “The trend in roadway fatalities is going in the wrong direction, and not a single death is acceptable. These numbers represent real people and real losses. We must do more, and it takes all of us working together.”
Over the initial two-year term, the Task Force will develop a short-term plan to invest funding on current ongoing safety initiatives, such as rumble strips, cable barriers, shoulder widenings and four-lane divided roadways, among other measures. Additionally, the Task Force will create a long-term plan to identify funding sources, establish metrics to measure effectiveness, and describe incentives for partnerships.
“Ending the streak of daily deaths on Texas roadways is a responsibility shared by every Texan,” TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams said. “The TxDOT/MPO Safety Task Force will help bolster the partnership we have with local leaders, allowing us to better focus our efforts, our ideas and our funding on saving lives.”