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MMSD moves to data‑driven ‘Unusually Hazardous Transportation’ scoring to guide busing and walk‑area decisions
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Summary
Transportation staff unveiled a data‑driven tool to audit walk areas and identify unusually hazardous transportation (UHT) zones, scoring route environments and intersections to standardize decisions about busing, crossing guards and engineering mitigations; staff plan audits this spring and board review in fall.
Madison Metropolitan School District transportation staff presented a new data‑driven tool the district will use to score and audit “unusually hazardous transportation” (UHT) walk areas and intersections, aiming to replace ad hoc and narrative‑based evaluations with standardized, equity‑focused criteria.
Assistant Director of Transportation Vanessa Cruz said the district will assess two main dimensions: non‑crossing route environment (sidewalks, distance, traffic volume, speed, crime/harassment) and crossing/intersection criteria (lanes, traffic volume, pedestrian controls, pedestrian timers). The tool incorporates grade‑level adjustments so younger pupils score higher for hazard risk than older students. Cruz said the goal is to audit all walk areas this spring, meet with DPI and MPD late summer, and present an updated plan for board approval in the fall.
Staff described the tool’s development with city partners, Wisconsin Bike Fed and EQT By Design and said the approach flags hazards that can be mitigated by engineering changes, enforcement or by providing district transportation where needed. Board members pressed staff on how community concerns and on‑the‑ground knowledge would feed into the scoring; staff said input remains central and noted an ongoing school‑safety traffic committee with MPD and city engineers that will conduct site visits, issue citations where needed and recommend short‑ and long‑term remedies.
Cruz provided current ridership context (about 7,000 students on yellow buses, plus K4 and specialized routes) and explained that some routing complexity is driven by program choices, special‑education needs and new development. The district will use the scoring results to request engineering changes, deploy crossing guards where appropriate, and add bus stops or alter routes when remediation is not feasible. Staff emphasized the tool’s role in producing consistent, repeatable evaluations across neighborhoods so that quieter or less vocal areas are not overlooked.
Next steps: transportation will run audits this spring/summer, coordinate with DPI and MPD in late summer, and bring an updated UHT plan to the board for approval in the fall, with interim communications to principals and families.
