Book Description

Senate Bill 85, passed by the General Assembly in 1978, renamed the former Highway Safety Division of Virginia the Department of Transportation Safety (VDTS) and authorized it to assume control over safety activities in all modes of transportation. This volume is the first attempt at formulating a methodology for transportation safety planning. Future transportation safety plans will become annual documents which identify long-range goals, analyze current problems, and offer planned solutions for non-highway transportation mode* problems. This initial document presents a current overview of the Commonwealth's programs and safety activities in water, air, rail and mass transit transportation. Future programs and federal sources of funding are discussed. The report is designed to provide an indication of safety problems and propose some possible solutions to these problems. Finally, this document establishes guidelines for use as an aid in future transportation safety planning in Virginia. *It should be noted at the outset that it is recognized that most mass transit activity in Virginia utilizes rubber-tired vehicles travelling by highway. However, for purposes of simplicity, this report refers to all of the above cited transportation modes as "non-highway."