NVTA awarded Office of Traffic Safety Grant to Study Traffic Behavior

The Napa Valley Vision Zero Plan, adopted in October 2023 by the Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA) Board, provides the foundation for moving towards zero roadway fatalities and serious injury crashes by 2030. The adoption of the plan was the first step towards implementing programs and policies that align with the Safe System Approach to improve roadway safety.
NVTA was awarded an Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) Grant to collect and analyze data countywide associated with severe driving behaviors. This project will cover state-of-the-art driver behavior collection and analysis for the County of Napa and all six local jurisdictions within county boundaries. Data collected for the countywide Vision Zero plan indicates unsafe speed as a primary collision factor for killed and serious injury crashes (KSI) countywide at 32%.
While crash data is helpful in identifying roadway safety issues after they occur, this data doesn’t provide an understanding of the type of behaviors such as speeding or erratic driving that take place prior to a crash, or when a crash goes unreported. NVTA and local police departments are interested in data collection and analysis of driver behaviors that result in the most severe crash types. In particular, those resulting in severe injuries or fatalities among vulnerable road users (bicyclists and pedestrians) which make up 19% of KSI countywide.
Once the data is gathered an analyzed, NVTA staff will work with local law enforcement and jurisdiction Public Works staff on developing targeted solutions to reduce speeding and other unsafe driving behaviors countywide. The data will also be used to inform the Countywide Transportation, the Active Transportation Plan, and future Vision Zero plan updates.
The OTS grant award for $139,900 will cover the cost of the data collection and analysis with MBI and staff time needed to guide the development of solutions with agency partners. The grant requires the project to complete in September 2025. Staff will bring results of the data collection and analysis to the NVTA Board and other agency partners next fall once the project completes.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.