What’s the Plan – Profile: Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan

Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Task Force meeting at SEMCOG’s office.

A version of this article was originally featured in SEMCOG’s Putting Safety First. It illuminates regional data that underscores the gravity of fatal and serious crashes in Southeast Michigan. As we reflect on the many lives impacted by preventable tragedies, it becomes evident that concerted action is imperative. SEMCOG’s Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan identifies key safety needs and guides investment decisions to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries for all road users.

The Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan identifies the region’s key safety needs and guides investment decisions to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways for all road users, while promoting safe travel for all modes. This plan builds upon the 2015 Southeast Michigan Traffic Safety Plan and provides a comprehensive and aspirational framework for eliminating fatalities and serious injuries on Southeast Michigan roadways by 2050 using the Safe System Approach.

Who: Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Task Force

Chairperson: William Miller, III, Commissioner, Oakland County (right)

Vice Chair: Michelle Nard, Commissioner, Macomb County (left)

Led by Commissioners Miller and Nard, a task force of more than 80 experts, leaders, and stakeholders developed the Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan. Representatives from counties, municipalities, transportation and transit service agencies, the State of Michigan, Federal Highway Administration, community/advocacy organizations, and auto insurance provided perspectives from their expertise on safety challenges and solutions.

What: The Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan identifies the region’s key safety needs and provides guidance on investment decisions that will reduce fatalities and serious injuries.

Where: All Southeast Michigan communities and transportation environments are within the scope of this plan. To enable decisions that will reduce the most serious crashes, SEMCOG has tools, such as the High Injury Network map, to help identify locations within the transportation system where the greatest safety challenges/ opportunities exist.

When: This plan was adopted in June of 2023. Since the adoption of Southeast Michigan’s first transportation safety plan in 2015, fatal crashes have increased by 10%.

Why: Even one preventable fatality in our transportation system is too many. Transportation safety means ensuring all people reach their destination safely, whether driving, riding, walking, rolling, or catching a bus or train.

Navigating the Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan Appendix

The Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan – Appendix contains various sections addressing key aspects of transportation safety in the region. It includes acknowledgments to stakeholders involved in its development and supplements information in the Safety Plan. It comprises the following components:

1. Public Input Results and Toolkit
2. Performance Measure Target Methodology
3. County Profiles
4. Additional Emphasis Area Analyses
5. Engineering Countermeasures
6. Additional Resources

SEMCOG utilizes the Safe System Approach, a holistic and comprehensive approach that provides a guiding framework to make places safer for people, adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.