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Maryland Nears Completion on Two Key Transportation Plans
The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has announced the near completion of a pair of plans, including the Statewide Transit Plan and the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan.
MDOT and the Maryland Transit Agency (MTA) have worked closely with local and regional governments to collaboratively analyze data and engage the public in the Statewide Transit Plan (STA). The plan provides a 50-year vision of coordinated local, regional, and intercity transit across the state with goals and strategies targeted toward increasingly coordinated, equitable, and innovative mobility. The STA offers a collective vision and seven foundational goals for Maryland’s transit systems that will promote regional and intercity connectivity to jobs, housing, essential services, and other leisure and business opportunities throughout the state. Within the plan are actionable and measurable strategies that work to achieve its bold vision in five-year and 25-year time frames. This will be the first statewide transit plan in Maryland and will build from existing state, regional, and local plans.
Maryland is committed to eliminating traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities, a strategy known as Vision Zero. Federal, state, and local agencies are working together with the public to review safety, identify strategies to reduce crashes, and enhance livability for Marylanders. The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is
focused on contributing to Vision Zero efforts through its Context Driven initiative, which will provide a framework for roadway design and create an actionable plan to improve roadway safety while balancing access and mobility in all contexts throughout Maryland, from urban cores to rural areas. MDOT SHA is also developing a toolkit of safety improvements and providing training to practitioners and the public.
The state’s first Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP) was developed to address the needs of the most vulnerable roadway users: pedestrians and bicyclists. The PSAP outlines how MDOT SHA will improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety by identifying challenges, setting goals and objectives, establishing priorities, and determining where to focus roadway safety improvements.
Guided by principles established in Maryland’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and MDOT SHA’s Context Guide, the PSAP identifies areas of need, prioritizes corridors, and recommends safety countermeasures by employing a systematic approach to project planning and design. The PSAP also leverages MDOT SHA’s responsibility for engineering and evaluation of the MDOT SHA transportation network. This focus will complement existing pedestrian safety programs overseen by MDOT to harness the collective benefit of the 4 E’s: Enforcement, Engineering, Education, and Emergency Medical Services. The plan’s ultimate goal is to reduce traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities on Maryland’s roads.
MDOT SHA sought public input on the PSAP through January 17 and the final plan is anticipated to be completed in spring 2022.
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