TPO debuts interactive crash map and infographic showing 796 pedestrian/cyclist crashes, 79 deaths (2020–2024)

The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization introduced a public interactive crash map and a bicycle/pedestrian infographic Dec. 17 to make regional crash data more accessible.

Emily Jackson, a research assistant on TPO staff, demonstrated the map’s filters and visualization features, showing that users can limit results by severity, collision manner, mode, date range (back to 2015) and geography. "Each point represents a crash that happened in the TPO planning area," she said, and data are scrubbed to remove sensitive information so the tool is publicly available.

Jonah (TPO staff) presented an accompanying five‑year infographic that covers 2020–2024. He said the region recorded 796 bicycle/pedestrian crashes over that period and that 79 of those crashes resulted in death. "94 percent of fatalities were pedestrian and 6 percent were cyclists," he added. Jonah also identified five high‑risk corridors that together accounted for 22 percent of crashes and 28 percent of fatalities: Broadway, Magnolia Avenue, Kingston Pike, Chapman Highway and a Broadway corridor in Blount County. He noted these routes are urban principal arterials, which make up about 4 percent of roadway miles but account for a disproportionately large share of serious crashes and fatalities.

Staff and board members discussed whether the map could display time‑of‑day factors and impairment indicators; staff said some statistics on lighting, time of day and impairment can be provided but cautioned that impairment data can be legally sensitive and may be excluded from public explorer outputs until legal status is clear.

Both products are available on the TPO website under Data Monitoring > Traffic Crashes in the Knoxville region; staff invited questions and follow‑up requests for additional breakdowns.