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NMDOT urges recurring funding for ‘Target 0’ as pedestrian fatalities fall in preliminary data
Summary
New Mexico Department of Transportation officials told the Legislative Finance Committee they seek recurring budget support for the 'Target 0' initiative — a multilayered safety program — and outlined immediate and long-term steps after preliminary data showed pedestrian fatalities fell from 102 in FY24 to 68 in FY25.
NMDOT officials asked the Legislative Finance Committee on Tuesday for recurring funding to support Target 0, the department’s initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2050, and described a package of near-term actions to reduce deaths.
Amy Whitfield, the state DOT’s special director for Target 0, told the committee New Mexico ranks among the highest in pedestrian and crash fatality measures and said the department will expand a “safe system” approach that combines safer vehicles, speeds, roads, people and post‑crash care. “We have the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities in the nation,” Whitfield said, and added the program will rely on targeted, low‑cost safety improvements, crash reviews and enhanced data collection.
The LFC’s Joseph Simon opened the presentation with a fiscal and program overview: he said the department currently has “74 active construction projects valued at almost $1,400,000,000” and noted the legistat brief documents where projects are active and where funding shortfalls exist. Simon and Whitfield said the department needs better crash and exposure data at hot spots to prioritize countermeasures and that some of the most dangerous locations are on non‑NMDOT roads, which requires local partnerships.
Secretary Ricky Serna described the funding context, warning that rising pay and benefits are drawing a larger share of the state road fund. He said more than half of the state road fund goes to payroll and that recent pay and healthcare changes created a roughly $5 million shortfall within the existing legislative bar authority to make current staff whole; that same cap leaves room to hire roughly 45 new workers under present constraints. The secretary asked lawmakers to consider mechanisms to address recurring pay obligations that currently come from state road fund revenues.
Serna also framed a broader funding challenge: federal grants can be lost if state matching dollars are not available. He cited the border highway connector example, where a $45 million federal grant faced a growing nonfederal match after the project estimate rose from $70 million to $170 million; the department arranged $125 million in revenue‑anticipation notes to preserve the grant while seeking legislative action. “If we don’t get the $275,000,000 we also stand to lose the $330,000,000,” Serna told the committee when discussing the gap on prioritized projects.
Committee members pressed NMDOT on data—Senator Padilla asked whether crash counts are normalized to traffic volume at hotspots, and Whitfield said the department is expanding data collection to allow vehicle‑miles‑traveled or exposure‑based analysis at specific locations. Members also discussed automated speed enforcement, safety corridors with enhanced penalties and the role of local partners in addressing pedestrian fatality hot spots.
The department asked for recurring Target 0 funding in its budget request to support a safety corridor program, crash review capability, data and analysis improvements, and low‑cost targeted safety work aimed at saving lives. The presentation concluded with members requesting follow‑up material on project lists, local partnerships and the proposed recurring funding amounts.
The committee moved to questions after the presentation; the hearing later proceeded to other agenda items.
