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Safety Data | November 2021
“Successful DOTs see data as a managed asset that can leverage the potential for better and smarter decision making.”
- Robbin Cabelus, Transportation Planning Director, CTDOT
Driven by the mantra that better data makes better decisions and better decisions make transportation safer, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) identified a need to leverage the vast amounts of data created daily by the DOT. It set out to consolidate the siloed data asset repositories to improve its ability to analyze system performance, perform safety analysis, as well as to increase transparency, accessibility and data sharing capabilities.
CTDOT initially developed a newly digitized geospatial LRS (linear referencing system). CTDOT leveraged cutting edge LRS management software and critical flexibility needed to transition from its legacy LRS and roadway data model as well as necessary scalability for CTDOT to seize an opportunity to enhance its roadway data attribution to support evolving safety analysis needs. Then CTDOT utilized a combination of consolidated in-house GIS resources, University of Connecticut (UConn) development expertise, open source software and state of the art enterprise data technology to develop a centralized Data Mart and enterprise GIS-based platform to be able to access, view, and extract information, as well as publish mapping products. This solution helped to increase data transparency and accessibility, initiated a significant culture shift in how CTDOT considered and managed its data, and also ensured consistency by providing a singular network representation. The enterprise system that CTDOT developed, the Transportation Enterprise Database (TED), and many of the applications and solutions designed to feed the enterprise system was developed in partnership with UConn. CTDOT also partnered with UConn to develop a new safety analysis tool, known as the Connecticut Roadway Safety Management System (CRSMS) to enable it to be more proactive with safety countermeasures selection and to “fine tune” safety performance measurement and management from existing national or default values to more specific Connecticut based ones. The CRSMS is a data-driven, enterprise-level web application that implements the latest Highway Safety Manual (HSM) methods.
Through these data centric projects, CTDOT has fostered a new data culture that recognizes, manages, and values data as an extremely critical decision-making asset. The enterprise data products have been embraced within CTDOT and have aided the development of new in-house capabilities to collect, maintain and visualize data. The expansion of roadway data sets has greatly supported safety analysis and other core business functions. This work was a result of collaboration across organizational lines as well as identifying new ways to leverage existing partnerships such as the one with UConn. These partnerships and data initiatives have allowed CTDOT to gain trust and confidence in its data quality enough to develop a new Open Data Portal that allows partner agencies and the general public to access their roadway and asset data.
Connecticut DOT Open Data Portal
RSPCB Program Point of Contact
Felix Delgado, FHWA Office of Safety
Felix.Delgado@dot.gov
FHWA Office of Safety
Staff and Primary Work Responsibilities
FHWA Office of Safety
Safety and Design Team
FHWA Resource Center
