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CRTPA adopts annual safety targets, reaffirms long-term goal of zero fatalities
Summary
The Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency board adopted draft safety performance targets that reduce last year’s adopted targets by 5% annually and endorsed a long-term goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries; staff cited rising five‑year averages for some measures and preliminary 2025 figures.
Mister Burke, a CRTPA staff member, told the board on Feb. 17 that the agency must adopt annual safety performance targets covering five measures — number of fatalities, number of serious injuries, their corresponding rates, and non-motorized (pedestrian and bicycle) fatalities and serious injuries — and recommended targets that reduce the CRTPA’s previous adopted targets by 5% each year.
The recommendation, presented as the board’s staff proposal, included a long-term safety goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries to align with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Vision Zero concept. “FDOT has consistently adopted a target of 0 for each of the 5 safety performance measures,” Burke said during his presentation. He noted that official data for target development uses a five-year rolling average, with the most recent official data covering 2020–2024 and preliminary 2025 figures not yet finalized.
Board members pressed staff for more granular crash data. Commissioner Matlow asked for crash‑level details on individual fatalities and contributing factors; staff said crash reports are public records but that state statute limits access to some data for up to 60 days after a crash. Burke said staff reviews available crash reports to identify trends and interventions and highlighted recent increases in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities and serious injuries in the region.
Burke gave several specific figures: preliminary 2025 data showed 11 pedestrian fatalities (down from 14 in 2024) and 3 bicycle fatalities (up from 2 in 2024); pedestrian serious injuries were 28 in 2025 versus 26 in 2024. He also described targeted projects and programs intended to reduce harm, including funded sidewalks for Springwood Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary in Tallahassee, lighting improvements on high‑crash corridors, high‑visibility enforcement partnerships with Tallahassee Police and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, helmet‑distribution and fitting events, and SS4A planning and implementation work.
After discussion, Commissioner Williams Cox moved to adopt staff’s recommendation and school board member Lawson Cox seconded the motion. The board voted unanimously to adopt the safety targets and the long‑term goal.
The board asked staff to prepare more detailed crash summaries (including circumstances such as whether crashes involved people crossing against signals, alcohol, or lacked sidewalks) so members could better understand underlying patterns before future target updates. Burke and other staff agreed to draft that summary starting with finalized 2023 reports and expand as requested.
The board’s action sets the CRTPA’s formal targets for submission and positions staff to return with additional crash‑level analysis and implementation steps.
