Transportation Safety

Cambridge Systematics, Inc. is a nationally recognized transportation services and products firm, dedicated to helping our clients analyze complex problems, identify solutions, and ensure that transportation investments deliver the best possible results. We have been a leader in the area of transportation safety for more than a decade. We understand the challenges confronting the safety community and work with a broad range of stakeholders to identify and deploy countermeasures that meet our clients’ unique needs. We understand key Federal and state safety programs and work extensively with our clients in the areas of safety planning, safety data collection and analysis, training, commercial vehicle safety, and operations. We also support our clients as they evaluate the safety impact of their investment decisions and work to improve the safe operation of their systems.

Our Services

Transportation Safety Planning – Cambridge Systematics has been assisting the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Transportation Research Board (TRB), and many other partners for several years in developing new ways to reduce deaths and injuries on the nation’s transportation systems by improving the manner in which safety issues are addressed in the systems planning process. We provide facilitation, administration, and coordination support to promote transportation safety planning; develop materials and make presentations to promote the safety planning concept; and identify noteworthy practices in state, regional, and local transportation safety planning. As part of this project, Cambridge Systematics developed the Transportation Planner’s Safety Desk Reference – a guide for planners based on the national Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 500 series – and will be working to link safety not only to transportation planning but also to environmental, operations, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) planning.
Commercial Vehicle Safety Systems – Commercial vehicle safety continues to be a primary concern for many agencies. Cambridge Systematics has developed and implemented motor carrier safety data warehouses and query tools in the states of Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. These systems integrate data from state credentialing and safety systems with Interstate data retrieved from the national SAFER system. We also have supported the development of states’ commercial vehicle safety programs in 15 states.
Strategic Highway Safety Plans – The Cambridge Systematics approach to the Federally mandated Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) development and implementation maximizes ownership and buy-in from the "four Es" of safety – engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency response – and ensures that the plan is data driven and stakeholder focused. We successfully have used this approach in the 15 states where Cambridge Systematics has been involved in the development and/or implementation of the state’s SHSP and is moving forward to help states develop effective SHSP evaluation strategies.
Traffic Records Information Systems – Cambridge Systematics is a leader in the design, development, and implementation of information systems that support effective safety planning, analysis, enforcement, and evaluation/monitoring. We understand the full range of safety data that are available to support these activities and have pioneered numerous data management and analysis techniques that can be applied to safety data. Cambridge Systematics currently maintains a state’s traffic record system and is developing statewide traffic record system plans for numerous states.
Decision Support and Project Prioritization Tools – Decision support tools enable agencies to manage assets more effectively, to protect the infrastructure, and to ensure safety on the nation’s highways. Cambridge Systematics has developed a number of leading tools, including the ITS Deployment Analysis System (IDAS) and the ePortfolio decision support system, to estimate the impacts, benefits, and costs resulting from the deployment of ITS and to prioritize safety-oriented projects for funding.
Safety Program Support – Building on our prior work supporting Federal safety programs, including the National Work Zone program and the weather information program, Cambridge Systematics is contracted to provide support to the FHWA Office of Safety. We also continue to provide program and technical support to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and numerous states.

Safety Systems and Decision-Support Tools

OnTrack_cs™ – Cambridge Systematics developed this web-based application that enables state safety agencies to collect, assemble, update, and share information on projects and performance measures. The system facilitates and simplifies progress tracking and reporting on initiatives included in SHSPs and other programs.
Traffic Records Portal – We design and develop web-based traffic records portals that make crash records, citations, commercial vehicle, and other safety data readily available, accessible, and easily understandable to members of the transportation safety community.
Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) – Cambridge Systematics deploys and maintains a suite of information systems that streamlines and automates the sharing of commercial vehicle safety and credential data among Federal, state, and local agencies.
Safety-Related Data Structures – We supplied information systems expertise for the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC); the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS); the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) repository; and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Safety Analyst.
ePortfolio – Cambridge Systematics developed a project prioritization tool for the FMCSA to evaluate research projects based on their potential safety impact, feasibility, and cost. ePortfolio also links proposed projects to the agency’s mission and strategic plans.
ITS Deployment Analysis System (IDAS) – We developed a sketch-planning tool that estimates the impacts, benefits, and costs resulting from ITS deployment.

Why Cambridge Systematics

Improving safety on our nation’s transportation system is one of the largest challenges facing all levels of government today, especially given the growing demands on the system and the limited amount of resources available for safety improvements. Cambridge Systematics is a nationally recognized transportation services and product firm dedicated to helping our clients analyze complex problems, identify solutions, and ensure that transportation investments deliver the best possible results. We have applied our proven methods to some of the most pressing safety issues (i.e., mature drivers, commercial vehicle safety) and are helping our clients maximize their safety investments and save lives.