Draft MTP/SCS Comments Received - sacog

The effort was funded by the Resource Legacy Fund.
Metrics chosen needed to be: measurable over time; evidence-based; geographically
scale-able (measured at various scales, like local and regional, and at scales useful to
those using them); understandable and accessible to policy-makers; stratifiable by race,
ethnicity, place, income; relevant to health and equity; and, of course, relevant to the
Sustainable Communities Strategy.
The metrics are the result of an intensive 2-month collaboration with the above groups.
The metrics will not apply equally to every region, particularly the more rural regions. It
is our hope that in each region, local public health agencies and advocates will work with
transportation agencies and advocates to adapt the metrics to fit their region. Human
Impact Partners and other organizations involved are available to assist those efforts
(see “How to Use Health and Equity Metrics” at the end of this document).
This document does not provide recommendations of benchmarks for each metric.
While we do provide standards, it is again our hope that agencies and advocates
concerned about health and equity will take this document and use it to craft
recommendations specific to their region and the politics that exist locally.
Finally, any prioritization process cannot necessarily include all of the metrics. There
were metrics that participants felt were important but did not make the final list. Some
of the metrics, listed in the appendix below, were recommended for further study by the
MPOs.
The structure of the document includes the thirteen metrics and with each metric we
provide the evidence that connects that metric to health and equity, a suggested
methodology for measuring the metric, resources to help if the methodology is
unfamiliar, limitations of the methodology if there are any, and some standards that exist
around the metric.
SAFETY
METRICS: SAFETY
1. Map annual number of pedestrian and bicycle collisions (and severity of injury/fatality):
per capita, per geographic area, by daytime population
2. Total number of vehicle, bike and pedestrian collisions per capita, broken down by
severity: fatalities and injuries
EVIDENCE BASE
Health Impacts
Number of collisions is directly tied to injuries and fatalities. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading
cause of death among those ages 5-34 in the U.S. ii Areas with high levels of vehicle miles traveled per
capita tend to have higher collision and injury rates. More time in a car means higher exposure to the
perils of driving, including collisions. iii There is a statistically significant relationship between traffic
31
Page 67 of 165