Research Pays Off: Wyoming Rural Roads Safety Program: Focusing Locally on High-Risk Segments

Rural roads are critical links in the U.S. transportation system, serving the travel and commerce needs of approximately 60 million Americans. Approximately 80 percent of the nation’s roadway miles traverse rural areas. Identifying high-risk rural road segments and determining the safety countermeasures that are most appropriate is a potentially efficient and cost-effective way to improve highway safety.

Approximately 60 percent of traffic fatalities nationwide occur on rural highways. Two-lane roads have the highest fatality rates per vehicle mile of travel. To address this safety issue, the University of Wyoming developed the Wyoming Rural Road Safety Program (WRRSP) to help counties identify high-risk rural roadways and develop a strategy to obtain funding to reduce crashes on the riskiest segments.

The program includes the analysis, rankings, and field evaluations to identify rural roadway segments with the highest potential crash risks. A comprehensive analysis of each high-risk segment is then undertaken to help identify low-cost safety countermeasures. Finally, a benefit –cost analysis is performed to distinguish the most cost-effective safety measures.

By following this new procedure, local governments qualify for safety funding from the Wyoming DOT. To date, the program has made more that $1.5 million available for low-cost safety improvements for local governments.