Carolyn, a DRCOG staff member, described the region’s approach to federal safety performance measures and how DRCOG sets short‑term targets aligned with its Vision Zero (referred to in meeting materials as Vision 0) commitment. She said DRCOG draws a trend line from recent data to the aspirational zero outcome and then calculates a five‑year rolling average to set the next short‑term target.

Carolyn summarized the five safety performance measures DRCOG tracks (number of fatalities, number of serious injuries, number of nonmotorized fatalities and serious injuries, and rates of fatalities and serious injuries per 100,000,000 vehicle‑miles traveled). She said the methodology uses three years of observed data and two years of projected data to set the five‑year rolling average; DRCOG’s projection seeks 0 fatalities by 2040 and 0 serious injuries by 2045.

Why it matters: The targets guide safety planning, grant applications and regional policy. Carolyn said DRCOG wants to balance aspirational Vision Zero aims with federal expectations for short‑term, realistic targets.

Key points

• Target methodology — DRCOG uses three most recent observed years plus two projected years to calculate a five‑year rolling average for target setting and draws a projection toward zero consistent with Vision Zero.

• Specific targets — Presentation materials show a projected need to reduce deaths by roughly 19 people per year to meet the 2040 fatality goal; DRCOG’s 2026 rolling‑average target for serious injuries was presented at 2,027.

• Progress and completed actions — Carolyn said DRCOG has completed an active‑transportation plan update and hired a second senior safety planner; other work includes a minor update to the Vision Zero document, a quick‑build toolkit and crash data consortium efforts to accelerate data availability.

• Performance context — Carolyn noted DRCOG achieved some targets in earlier years (roughly 2018–2021) but has not met several recent targets and that the COVID year affected comparability of data.

Carolyn invited questions and asked attendees to submit comments to the chat if they had additional materials to suggest for the DRCOG literature list. She also asked agencies to bring their high‑risk network maps to the Feb. 10 meeting for a discussion about regional Hyundai/High‑risk Network maps and crash profiles.

Next steps: DRCOG plans a minor Vision Zero update and further work to speed crash data availability; staff will take the performance measure targets through official committee review and return to the group for discussion.