Title
Discuss Proposal for Rapid Response Program After Fatal Crashes. (Discussion)
Body
Transportation Commission Special Meeting
12/7/2022
Item 6C
Background
In December 2021, the City Council adopted the Alameda Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2035. While most of the work needed to achieve this goal is pro-active and preventative, the City of Alameda (City) also needs a consistent, effective, and humane protocol for reacting to fatal and severe injury crashes after they occur.
Vision Zero Action Plan action 4.10 says the City should "Conduct a best practice scan for guidance on infrastructure rapid response programs that respond to fatal and severe injury crash locations with infrastructure recommendations, and create a program reflecting best practices." To fulfill this requirement, in early 2022 the City employed a Master of Public Policy student to conduct this study as a thesis project. Exhibit 1 is a memo of the resulting analysis.
Discussion
This rapid response program proposal has following characteristics:
? Transparent, consistent, and publicly accountable
? Respond to fatalities: 1-4 annual activations
? Pre-determined scope with quick-build toolkit
? Initial estimate: $150,000/year for infrastructure design and construction
? Quick implementation with on-call contracting
The proposal recommends responding only to fatal crashes in the initial pilot phase. This enables the City to start with a relatively small program to establish the quick-built toolkit and practice quick implementations of infrastructure improvements before expanding the program. Also, police crash reports can only include on-scene assessments based on visible or reported injuries; only EMS and trauma center data includes a clinical examination to assess injury level (see Exhibit 1, Table 3).
The Vision Zero Advisory Committee discussed the rapid response program in August 2022. (This ad-hoc group includes commu...
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