1

Director’s Update Rowena Yeahquo, NW TTAP Director RELATIONSHIP BUILDING Once we finished the NW TTAP & BIA Sympo-sium in March, it was time for me to focus on the pro-gram goals of NWTTAP, providing training and tech-nical assistance. It was important to meet the people in the agencies that can assist me in that goal. Kurt Freden-berg and BIA has been supportive and informative. The FHWA & FLH offices are very involved in making sure the TTAP’s have resources available to them. But there are other contacts to be made to help with our goal and they are: WSDOT, ODOT, ITD, Emergency Managers (tribal, federal, state, local), LTAP’s, County, Law En-forcement and Professional/Tribal Organizations. These are agencies I will call upon for information or to con-duct training requests for NW TTAP. Having these part-nerships is an integral part of a successful program. And in the last quarter I have been making contact with these agencies at meeting and conferences.

The most important people I am contacting are the tribes in the NW TTAP region. At my first NW TTAP Advisory Board meeting in January, I was di-rected to meet with tribes' as often as possible. As the new director, I felt it was only correct protocol and cus-tom to meet the tribes in their environment, at their offic-es, on their reservations. Tribal people appreciate when agencies that are created on their behalf, make the effort to visit with them in their communities and listen to what they have to say (hence the mandated tribal consulta-tion). When I'm in the tribal communities, not only do I get the opportunity to hear about their programs and pro-jects, but I see the condition their roads, housing, schools , transit, and economic ventures. Through discussions with several departments about their existing and future

NW REGION TTAP & BIA SYMPOSIUM

projects, we can find ways NW TTAP can assist them in these endeavors.

I make a point to visit the surrounding tribe(s) in the area when I attend meetings or conferences. Last win-ter I was honored to be invited to a Spokane Tribal com-munity dinner and naming ceremony. Earlier this summer, as part of the Traffic Safety Demonstration Project, we vis-ited with various departments at the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. After the TTPO meeting in Tacoma, I visited the Puyallup Tribe and went to Auburn to see the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe’s reservation. After the ATNI mid-year conference at Kah-Nee-Ta Resort, I went to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reser-vation headquarters, and visited the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation on my way back to Spo-kane. After attending the Tribal Public Health Emergency Preparedness (TPHEP) Conference in Ocean Shores, I vis-ited the reservations of the Quinault Indian Nation, Quileu-te Nation, and the Makah Tribe. The Lummi Nation is also part of the safety demonstration project and we went to see them in July, just in time to be a part of a panel at the Vine Deloria Jr Symposium held at the NW Tribal College. During that time I also had the chance to see the Nooksack Indian Tribe in the Deming, WA area.

(Continued on page 2)

Northwest TTAP E-Newsletter Volume 23 Issue 2

April - May 2015

SPECIAL EDITION TRAFFIC SAFETY DEMONSTRATION

PROJECT The next few newsletter issues will contain research articles from Washington State Tribal Traffic Safety Demonstration Project that EWU Planning program is conducting with a grant with the Wash-ington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC).

Cape Flattery Neah Bay, WA

2

Inside this Issue

So when the NW tribes need technical assistance I hope they won’t hes-itate to contact NW TTAP because they now know me personally, and that I have firsthand knowledge of them and their community. For example, Michael Cardwell showed me how the Quinault canoes were made. I can see the new sidewalk being built for pedestrian safety in Neah Bay that Michelle Thompson, Transportation Planner, is so diligently working on, along with the breathtaking view from Cape Flattery and how I got the rental car stuck in the sand on the beach when visiting the Makah. Special thanks to Makah NRE (Natural Re-source Enforcement) Officer Robin Butterfield who was kind enough to pull this tourist out of the sand. I got the chance to discuss the challenges the Umatilla tribe is facing when I spoke with Antone Minthorn in the shade of a tree by their veteran’s memorial. Most places I dealt with the tribal staff, but when I visited the Quileute Tribe I had the privilege to meet the tribal council. The council welcomed me to their meeting and told me about their programs and projects. Al Pinkham told me about the roads the Yakama Nation are plan-ning and Karen Cunningham discussed the issues with the museum and their transit program. I can also visualize the awesome bridge Keri Shepard is over-seeing at the Nooksack Indian tribe to alleviate flooding on the road. All of these visits and project discussions is valuable information that will assist me in providing the goals of NW TTAP. I’d like to thank everyone who was gracious enough to take time out of their day to show me their hospi-tality. Aho! Rowena Yeahquo, Director NW TTAP

(Continued from page 1)

Northwest Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) Is administered by the Urban Planning Program at Eastern Washington University. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Transpor-tation under Cooperative Agreement No. DTFH61-14-H-00007. Funds are provided by the Federal Highway Administration LTAP, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Indian Reservation Roads Program, locally generated resources and individual contributions. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the Author (s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs or Eastern Washing-ton University. Any product or company mentioned is for informational purposes only and should not be considered a product endorsement.

This Newsletter has been reviewed and approved for publication by the FHWA LTAP Manager.

Directors Update 1

National APA Conference 3

ATNI Mid-Year Convention 4

Tribal Planning Basics 5

1st Quarter Activities Highlights 6

Upcoming Events/Trainings 6

You can Save Lives! The Advance of Traffic Safety Target Zero Data Driving Planning and Strategies for Tribes

7

Every Person Counts: Reflections on our EWU Tribal Traffic Safety Demonstration Project

8

Motor-Vehicle Related Injuries: A WTSC Report Highlights the Safety Issues and Disparities for American Indians, A Call to Action.

8

Notes from the Field: The Four E’s of Tribal Transportation Safety and Tribal Leadership

9

Crash Data Mapping for WSTTC Safety Demonstration Project

9

FHWA Nine Proven Crash Counter-measures Addressing Critical Safety Concerns

10

Roadway Departure Safety 10

Tribal Transportation Program Safety Funds (TTPSF) RFP Webinar

11

Tribal Traffic Safety Codes: Addressing Tribal Traffic Safety Data with Leader-ship & Proven Policies

12

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety for Indian Reservations: Lummi Pathway a Nation-al Model

12

What is EMS? 13

Recent Publications and Research News

14

NW TTAP Advisory Board 16

Planning for Future Generations! Rowena Yeahquo (Kiowa-Comanche), Dezerae Hayes (Quinault), Michael Marchand (Colville), John McLaughlin (WWU).

3

The 2015 APA Conference was held in Seattle, WA. This is a national planning organization with thousands of members all over the country. Rowena Yeahquo, Dr. Winchell, Margo Hill, and several members of the EWU Plan-ning Department attended sessions and participated in mobile workshops. The mission of the American Planning Association (APA) is to provide leadership in the development of vital communities by advocating excellence in planning, promoting education and citizen empowerment, and providing the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change. APA members who are working to promote social, economic, and racial equity came together at National Planning Conferences to share information, resources, and ideas and encourage diversity through establishment of allied organizations. There is a need to inform the non-Indian communities regarding Indi-an Tribal governments and tribal planning efforts to avert misunderstandings regarding land use and planning on In-dian Reservations. There is an ongoing national effort to create a Tribal Planning Division within the American Planning Association to have tribal planning formally recognized as a vital governmental service that benefits tribal lands and its people. An interest group was formed to pursue this effort at the conference and continues in a LinkedIn “Tribal Planning Interest Group of APA”. For more information contact Sherwin Racehorse at the LinkedIn website.

Dr. Winchell, EWU; with Antone Minthorn, Umatilla Tribe; Robert Elofson, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe; and Mi-chael Cardwell, Quinault Indian Nation. Presented at the APA Conference in Seattle, WA “Pacific NW Trib-al Planning.

AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

SEATTLE WA

4

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) held their midyear

conference at the beautiful

Kah-Nee-Ta Resort on the Warm

Springs Reservation.

ATNI has had a long tradition with NW TTAP. ATNI is the foremost tribal organization that represents tribes in this region. Attending their conference gives TTAP the opportunity to meet tribal leaders and provide technical assistance. NW TTAP has been a part of the Transportation Committee deliver-ing presentations on the most perti-nent topics in FHWA, DOT and

tribal transportation. The BIA and NW TTAP have been invited and is an integral part of the ATNI conference in relaying information and acting on any requests. Working with tribal organizations, like ATNI, strengthens TTAP’s ability to en-hance the mobility and capacity of tribes in this region.

Early road work by tribes in the area. Courtesy of The Museum at Warm Springs.

ATNI Mid-Year Conference

Warm Springs OR 

5

It’s not too late to sign up for this informative self-pace training.

6

By Michele Siedenburg, Tribal Transportation Program Specialist, NW TTAP

The following are a few highlights for the first quarter for the Northwest TTAP.

NLTAPA Winter Meeting. The NW TTAP Director Rowena Yeahquo, Program Specialist Michele Siedenburg, and Co-PI Dr. Dick Winchell at-tended the National NLTAPA meeting. This meeting consist of all of the LTAP and TTAP centers and our FHWA partners. The meeting is held in Arlington, Virginia.

Transportation Research Board Conference. Director Rowena Yeahquo, Program Specialist Michele Siedenburg, and CO-PI Dr. Dick Winchell at-tended the Transportation Research Board Conference. With thousands of presentations in over 800 sessions TRB provides a means to gain knowledge and participate in the latest technologies, research and information on trans-portation. Also during the meeting, EWU Native American Eisenhower Fel-lows made poster presentations.

NW TTAP Advisory Board Meeting Rowena Yeahquo, Dick Winchell and Michele Siedenburg met with the NW TTAP advisory board at the River-point Campus in Spokane, WA. This meeting was the first at the new facili-ties for the NW TTAP. Topic’s discussed were the advisory board retreat, suggestions for training, NW Region TTAP & BIA symposium, visiting with tribes in the region and changes to the advisory board.

Traffic Safety Workshop. The NW TTAP held a one day Traffic Safety Workshop. Topics covered included: Traffic Safety Planning & Strategic Planning, What is a Safe Road, Safety Codes and Ordinances, and Behavior Aspects to Safe Driving.

BIA NW Region Consultation on 25 CFR 170. Rowena Yeahquo, Direc-tor, participated in this meeting. The BIA and FHWA updated 25 CFR 170 to reflect the changes that came about from SAFETEA-LU and current laws and operational processes. The latest NPRM was presented with proposed changes to 25CFR170 and comments were recorded.

NW Region TTAP & BIA Symposium. The NW TTAP held its annual symposium jointly with the NW Region BIA. The symposium had 4 tracks, safety, planning, construction/engineering and education. The symposium had presenters from many of our partners such as: WFL, FHWA, BIA, ODOT, DOI, WTSC, and the NW Region Tribes. The Symposium had 95 participants that included representatives from 25 Tribes. Presentations from this symposium can be found on our web site at: http://www.ewu.edu/nwttap/past-trainings-and-symposiums/2015-nw-symposium.

NW TTAP Advisory Board Meeting. Rowena Yeahquo and Michele Siedenburg met with the NW TTAP advisory board at the Embassy Suites in Portland, OR. Topic’s discussed were the advisory board retreat, an update from Rowena on the action items accomplished from the discussions at the last advisory board meeting, the NW Region TTAP & BIA symposium, and changes to the advisory board.

Site Visits. During this first year as Director of the NW TTAP, Rowena Yeahquo plans to take advantage of each trip for meetings and conferences and visit with surrounding tribes. During this first quarter she was able to visit with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.

August 4 - 28 Webinar TRIBAL PLANNING BASICS Online Course-Directed Self Pace http://www.ewu.edu/nwttap/training/tribal-planning-basics August 10 - 14 Spokane, WA 12TH ANNUAL NORTHWEST TRIBAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CON-FERENCE http://nwtemc.org/ NW TTAP Presentation COMMUNITY PLANNING & DISASTER RECOVERY http://nwtemc.org/ August 18 Swinomish Washington TTPO Meeting September 14 - 17 Spokane, WA ATNI ANNUAL CONFERENCE http://www.atnitribes.org/ September 16 - 18 Ignacio, CO AMERICAN INDIAN TOURISM (AITC) CONFERENCE http://www.atnitribes.org/ September 21 - 24 Myrtle Beach, SC NATIONAL TRIBAL TRANSPORTA-TION CONFERENCE http://www.ttapnttc.com/ October 6 - 7 Worley, ID Northwest TTAP Advisory Board Meeting January 10 - 14, 2016 Washington DC TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD CONFERENCE (TRB) http://www.trb.org/AnnualMeeting/AnnualMeeting.aspx

First Quarter, Jan-March 2015

Activities Highlights

Upcoming Events/Training

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You Can Save Lives! The Advance of Traffic Safety Target Zero Data Driving Planning and Strategies for Tribes

By Dick G. Winchell FAICP, PhD.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation and Enhancement Act of 1991 began a move to expand how we think about trans-portation. It included non-roadway projects like pedestrian trails and paths, it expanded transportation projects to include trans-portation related to the economy, and it identified safety. For road design it promoted the idea that road design did not end at the edge of the road, but that the space on both sides of the road for shoulders, drainage, the location of hazards including bridge abutments, objects including trees, and even sight distances that could be blocked were all part of a good highway design. Even the issues of driver behavior, attitudes and habits have come under the concerns of transportation planners and professionals.

Over the more than twenty years since ISTEA transportation has experienced great renewal. Roads are safer, cars are safer, and over the past five years new initiatives have created suc-cesses in reducing crashes and injury. At the national level auto fatalities peaked between 1963 to 1990 with multiple years of over 50,000 deaths, impacted by lowering the speed limits across the nation. More recently deaths have decreased from over 40,000 a year each year from 1997 to 2007, but since 2008 that rate of deaths has decreased at 15% per year, and in 2013 32,471 died.

Motor Vehicle Deaths by Year in the U.S.

Year Deaths Vehicle Miles 

Traveled

Fatali es per 100 Million 

VMT  Popula on

Fatali es per

 100,000

1950 33,186 458.25 7.24 152,271,417 21.8

1955 36,688 605.65 6.06 165,931,202 22.1

1960 36,399 718.76 5.06 180,671,158 20.1

1965 47,089 887.81 5.3 194,302,963 24.2

1970 52,627 1,109.72 4.74 205,052,174 25.7

1975 44,525 1,327.66 3.35 215,973,199 20.6

1980 51,091 1,527.30 3.35 227,224,681 22.5

1985 43,825 1,774.18 2.47 237,923,795 18.4

1990 44,599 2,144.36 2.08 249,464,396 17.9

1995 41,817 2,423.00 1.73 262,803,276 15.9

2000 41,945 2,747.00 1.53 282,216,952 14.9

2005 43,510 2,989.00 1.46 296,507,061 14.7

2010[2] 32,999 2,967.00 1.11 309,326,000 10.7

2011[4] 32,479 2,950.00 1.1 311,588,000 10.4

2012[1] 33,561 2,969.00 1.13 313,914,000 10.7

2013[5] 32,719 2,946.00 1.11 316,129,000 10.3

Source: Wikipedia from 'Fatality Analysis Repor ng System' 2012, fars.NHTSA.dot.gov Retrieved July 3, 2014

The Na onal Highway Traffic Safety Administra on (NHTSA) is part of the Department of Transporta on. Its

Mission is: "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle‐related crashes."

In Washington state transportation officials have developed and adopted a Target Zero Plan http://targetzero.com/Plan.htm under the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC), with a target for no fatalities on the state’s roads by 2030, and tribes have been active partners in safety planning under this program. The WTSC held its first Washington State Tribal Traffic Safety Conference in 2004, and has continued to work with tribes at a high level including multiple grants to tribes and to programs addressing tribal transportation this year. The data shows, however, that fatalities on reservations continue to be much higher than the general population. As part of the WTSC efforts, EWU’s Tribal Planning Programs working with the NW TTAP received a grant to demonstrate data driven plan-ning process and practices with six tribes across the state. This Special Issue of the NW Tribal Transportation News includes a special report on progress so far using Target Zero frameworks and our experiences and data gained from this project. We are glad to provide additional information and support all tribes in the Pacific Northwest and the nation in tribal transportation safety initiatives. The outcome of these projects is critical—tribal traffic safety programs can save lives. Please join in that effort.

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Every Person Counts: Reflections on our EWU Tribal Traffic Safety Demonstration Project

By Margo Hill, JD, MURP

As tribal people we want the best for our communities. We need to set an aggressive goal to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries on our reservation roads and follow through with plans and actions. If you look at states across the nation, you will see that they are reduc-ing their traffic deaths and serious injuries through na-tional strategies and actions under Target Zero® plans.

Meanwhile, on our reservations the great disparity be-tween American Indians and the rest of the nation is in-creasing as fatalities continue to rise. We can look at best practices in mandated MAP-21 state transportation programs and implement strategies that will work in our communities. Organizing a Tribal Target Zero® Safety Committee across departments on each reservation may be one of the most powerful efforts we can make to save lives. In order to highlight as best practices for our tribal communities, the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Tribal Traffic Safety Demonstration Project has identified a number of innovative projects which tribes

are doing right now to address these issues. Some tribes have already completed safety plans and are taking ac-tion to implement projects from those plans.

The state of Washington set a goal for “no highway fa-talities by the year 2030” and a plan to reach that goal called Target Zero®. Tribes in Washington have been active partners on this plan, and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) works with all tribes di-rectly to support traffic safety. In the WTSC radio com-mercial, they ask how many deaths are acceptable on state highways, and people give an answer of some ran-dom number. Then they ask, “How many of your friends and family is it acceptable to have died?” The answer. Zero.

To view this complete article, click here.

The Washington State Traffic Safety Commission has highlighted and provided an excerpt of a chapter from The Washington State Injury and Prevention Guide, January 13, 2013 http://www.doh.wa.gov/portals/1/Documents/2900/DOH530090MtrVeh.pdf that is important for tribes across the region. A summary of key data and findings is presented here to highlight the disparity in safety for the Native American population in Washington, and the critical need to prioritize transportation safety for all reservations as a “call to action” to save lives.

“The Motor Vehicle-Related Injuries” data findings summary report describes all unintentional motor vehicle-related deaths, including those involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclists. Although motor vehicle related deaths in Washington State are lower than the national rate, WTSC’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (Target Zero) reports that between 2009 and 2011, 71.4 percent of traffic fatalities involved driver impairment, speed, and/or run-off-the road collisions.

To view the complete article, click here.

Motor-Vehicle Related Injuries: A WTSC Report Highlights the Safety Issues and Disparities for Amer-

ican Indians, A Call to Action. Reviewed By Dick G. Winchell FAICP, PhD.

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The purpose of the EWU Washington Tribal Traffic Safety

Demonstration Project is to understand and promote the use of data in tribal transportation safety planning, including reporting crash data and analysis of that data. The models are developed to identify data driven issues using the Target Zero “Four E’s of Transportation Safety,” that are:

* Education * Engineering

* EMS * Enforcement

Plus “Leadership” that includes community awareness and guid-ance to identify and implement transportation safety actions. Fol-lowing background research on the full range of safety issues, target zero program frameworks, and each of six selected reserva-tions, our research team began to go out to reservations to ask if the tribes wanted to participate in this research, and to create a process of engagement of tribal leaders, staff, and community members in a demonstration project. With tribal approval, we then went into the field to identify the full range of issues, pro-cesses, programs and services related to tribal safety following the Four E’s.

From our initial day in the field, we identified that the Four E’s plus leadership are an effective way to broaden the tribe’s under-standing and awareness of safety contributing factors, and a structure to organize data and assess each reservation.

Notes from the Field: The Four E’s of Tribal

Traffic Safety and Tribal Leadership

When we brought the first team of reservation leaders and staff together, and began to address issues, we found the groups most concerned about safety were those most directly impacted on a daily basis, the EMS staff, and enforcement officers who notify families of fatalities. They responded with enthusiasm that some-one had asked them to participate. They had critical data and ex-periences with the impact of high crash and fatality rates. As we come familiar with the reservations and the Four Es, we deter-mined that transportation safety in the field actually begins with the crashes and literally with the EMS first responders. To de-scribe transportation conditions and issues on the reservation, particularly because of the response of the EMS providers, we shifted EMS to the initial point of assessment to be followed by enforcement that includes police, codes, courts, and enforcement; followed by engineering, and finally education, with leadership added to promote change. This seemed to best reflect the “state of reservation safety” in that those most concerned and most im-pacted were EMS staff. They had data and were anxious for a wider audience to see how severe the transportation safety issues were, and to be able to respond with actions to address safety, not just respond to crashes.

This Special Section of the NW Tribal Transportation News will highlight each of these areas and some of our preliminary find-ings, plus related reports and documents essential to each area.

By Jeremy Charley,

EWU Planning Intern and Eisenhower Fellow

I am a recent graduate of the Eastern Washington University Urban and Regional Planning Undergraduate Program, and began work on the Washington State Tribal Traffic Safety Demonstration Project as a senior in Fall, 2014. As part of the project, I was supervised by Professor Kerry Brooks to complete social, demographic analysis and to develop GIS maps displaying reported vehicle crashes from 2010-2014 on or near selected Washington Indian Reservations. The six selected reservations were the Lummi Nation, the Swinom-ish Indian Tribal Community, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Reservation.

Crash Data Mapping for WSTTC Safety

Demonstration Project The information gathered from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) was immense. At our request for data, five years of crashes (over 500,000 data points) throughout the State of Washington was provided by WSDOT. After conversion of the in-formation into an ESRI database, over 496 thousand crash data points were used to develop the maps using ArcMap. The maps es-sentially contain five basic layers:

- State of Washington layer,

- Roads layer,

- Washington Tribal Lands layer,

- Five Mile Buffer layer, and

- Crash Data Site layer.

To view the full article including maps and graphs please click here.

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Tribes can collect crash data and use data categories to identify types of crashes in order to provide counter-measures like those provided in the FHWA Nine Prov-en Crash Countermeasures Addressing Critical Safety Concerns. This PowerPoint describes nine recommend-ed and proven crash countermeasures: Safety Edge Road Safety Audits (RSAs) Rumble Strips and Rumble Stripes Median Barriers Roundabouts Left- and Right-Turn Lanes Yellow Change Intervals Median and Pedestrian Refuge Areas Walkways The following is an excerpt from the PowerPoint “Road Safety Audits (RSA) Formal safety performance examina-tion by an independent, multi- disciplinary team. – What road elements present a safety concern? – What are the opportunities to eliminate/mitigate the safety concern? Very low cost countermeasure. Can achieve up to 60 percent crash reduction. “ To view the complete PowerPoint click here.

FHWA Nine Proven Crash Countermeasures

Addressing Critical Safety Concerns

The FHWA's Roadway Departure Safety Program provides important information for transportation practitioners, de-cision makers, and others to assist them in preventing and reducing the severity of roadway departure crashes. This type of program should be used to illustrate the number & crash type on reservation roads to address this issue.

Roadway departure crashes are frequently severe and ac-count for the majority of highway fatalities. In 2013, there were 18,257 fatalities as a result of roadway departure crashes, which was 56 percent of the traffic fatalities in the United States. A roadway departure crash is defined as a crash which occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line, or otherwise leaves the traveled way. FHWA uses the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to com-pute statistics on roadway departure crashes. http://www.nhtsa.gov/FARS

For more information on this subject visit the FHWA web-site at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept.

Roadway Departure Safety

11

Each year under MAP-21, 2% of the available TTP funds are set aside to address safety issues in Native America. Funds are available to federally recognized Indian tribes through a com-petitive, discretionary program. Awarded annually, projects are chosen whose outcomes will address the prevention and reduction of death or serious injuries in transportation related crashes. We recognize that traffic fatalities and injuries severe-ly impact the quality of life in Indian country. Statistics are consistently higher than the rest of the nation as a whole; we advocate the development of Strategic Transportation Safety Plans as a means for tribes to determine how transportation safety needs will be addressed in tribal communities.

Funding goals have been established in four categories under TTPSF: Safety Planning (40%); Engineering Improvements (30%); Enforcement/EMS (20%); and Education (10%).

FY2015 TTP Safety Funding Applications are being ac-cepted from June 26, 2015 until August 25, 2015 at 5pm EST. Complete details can be found in the Notice of Fund-ing Availability (NOFA) published June 26, 2015 in the Federal Register.

**************************************************

On July 15, 2015 Russell Garcia, TTP Safety Program Manag-er, and Adam Larsen, TTP Safety Engineer, with FHWA host-ed a webinar titled “FY15 Tribal Transportation Program Safety Funds (TTPSF)”. A summary of the highlights is listed

Tribal Transportation Program Safety Funds (TTPSF) RFP Webinar Deadline August 25, 2015

below. You can view the complete webinar at http://www.flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/ttp/safety/ttpsf.htm.

Highlights from webinar

On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed into law, Map21, which authorized TTP Safety funding as a set aside of not more than 2% of the tribal transportation program (TTP) for each fiscal year. After takedowns this 2% is approximately $8.5 million dollars, the same amount as FY14. The TTP safety funds are meant to be used to address safety issues in Indian country using data driven safety planning for a wide range of projects.

Russell provided a recap of FY14 funding. The TTPSF pro-gram received 126 requests from 100 tribes for a total of 27 million dollars. A total of 94 projects from 82 tribes were awarded through TTPSF. Of the 32 projects that were not funded from 18 tribes, 20 were engineering applications for a total of 15 million dollars. The major reason for these applica-tions not being funded was that the tribes did not have the da-ta that directly supported the project. During the recap it was said tribes can submit multiple applications under various categories.

Byron Bluehorse, director Alaska TTAP, has developed a safety website for tribes to use. The URL is http://www.tribalsafety.org/. During December 2014 there was a Tribal Safety Peer Exchange and from this meeting the idea of developing this site to assist tribes was developed.

A follow-up webinar was held by the Northwest TTAP and those PowerPoint presentations are also available at http://www.ewu.edu/nwttap/past-trainings-and-symposiums/2015-ttpsf-data-webinar.

Information available on the USDOT FHWA, Office of Federal Lands Highways

Tribal Transportation Program Safety Funds Website located at:

http://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/ttp/safety/ttpsf.htm

Program Northwest Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd. rm 384 Spokane, WA 99202 Web site: http://www.ewu.edu/ttap

Director

Rowena Yeahquo PH: 509.828.1410 Fax: 509.828.1413 Email: ryeahquo@ewu.edu

Tribal Transportation Program Specialist Michele Siedenburg PH: 509.828.1411 or 800.583.3187 Email: msiedenburg@ewu.edu EWU Project Administrator Dr. Dick Winchell EWU - Urban & Regional Planning PH: 509.828.1205 Email: dwinchell@ewu.edu

Newsletter To subscribe or submit articles contact: Michele Siedenburg

12

Target Zero® is the Washington State Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) that reservations are participating in. Target Zero data revealed that Native Americans in Wash-ington State experience an increasingly “disproportionate” number of recorded crash fatalities compared to non-Native Americans (Washington Traffic Safety Commission, 2013). From 2002 to 2011 Native Americans in Washington State had an average rate of 30.62 fatalities per 100,000 in the population. That was roughly four times higher than White or African American fatalities and about three times higher than the fatalities in the Hispanic population. The actual number of fatalities and serious crashes may be higher be-cause there are gaps in the data. Tribes, as sovereign govern-ments are not required to report crash data within their juris-diction to other entities.

Tribal Traffic Safety Codes: Addressing Tribal Traffic Safety Data with Leadership & Proven Policies

By Christine Myers, EWU MURP Research Assistant

The Washington State Tribal Traffic Safety Demonstration Project has been analyzing the law and order codes related to traffic safety for five of the twenty-nine federally recognized tribes located in Washington State. Tribal law and order codes are a mixture of Anglo-American and Tribal law and custom. They are easily conceptualized as the policies that tribal leaders and the community have put into place to gov-ern tribal member behavior on specific subject matter.

In this study, sections of tribal code influencing tribal mem-ber traffic safety-related behavior were identified and de-scribed for the Colville, Kalispel, Lummi, Spokane, and Swinomish tribes.

To view the full article, please click here.

American Indian reservations are one of the last auto-dominated spaces in America. With many of the roadways and development designed prior to ISTEA and an expanded view of transportation, the formative development and land use patterns on reservations was to encourage isolated developments with large parking lots. As a result, many res-ervations have no sidewalks, pedestrian or bicycle systems. Residents who do not have cars are forced to walk along or on roadways and streets. Many roads have speed limits over 40 mph, so this results in high rates of fatalities in car/pedestrian, car/bicycle crashes.

New concepts in planning around new urbanism and smart growth promote pedestrian spaces and design for all land uses, and development where residents can walk or bicycle safely to any destination they would need to go. For trans-portation systems in cities, these concepts of pedestrian and bicycle street design are centered on smart streets or walka-ble streets. It’s time new pedestrian and bicycle concepts were developed to promote health and safe streets through walking and bicycle use on rural (and urban) reservations. A number of programs can be used as models or part of the solution, but American Indian reservations will need to create their own responses to safety systems, as already

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety for Indian Reservations:

Lummi Pathway a National Model

implemented in a new design on the Lummi nation. Here is an overview of the FHWA making bicycling and pedestrian activity safer, including the Lummi Indian Reservation ex-ample.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfjdS-PJ278

This video identifies the HAXTON WAY Footpath on the Lummi Reservation as a national model for reservation pe-destrian and bicycle trails.

Please view the more detailed video on Haxton Way Pedes-trian Path and Lighting Project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltR2oiQ3R9Q

How can your reservation create safe footpaths and trails to create safe transportation routes? These projects impact safe-ty and well-being within tribal communities, and are eligible for funding. Contact your tribal transportation planners.

Congratulations to Lummi Nation and their Transportation Office for this successful model project.

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What is EMS? Emergency Medical Services, more com-monly known as EMS, is a system that pro-vides emergency medical care. Once it is activated by an incident that causes serious illness or injury, the focus of EMS is emer-gency medical care of the patient(s). EMS is most easily recognized when emergency vehicles or helicopters are seen responding to emergency incidents. But EMS is much more than a ride to the hospital. It is a system of coordinated response and emergency medical care, involving multiple people and agencies. A comprehensive EMS system is ready every day for every kind of emergency.

EMS is an intricate system, and each component of this system has an essential role to perform as part of a coordinated and seamless system of emergency medical care.

An EMS system comprises all of the following components:

* Agencies and organizations (both private and public)

* Communications and transportation networks

* Trauma systems, hospitals, trauma centers, and specialty care centers

* Rehabilitation facilities

* Highly trained professionals

* Volunteer and career prehospital personnel

* Physicians, nurses, and therapists

* Administrators and government officials

* An informed public that knows what to do in a medical emergency

EMS does not exist in isolation, but is inte-grated with other services and systems in-tended to maintain and enhance the commu-nity's health and safety. EMS operates at the crossroads between health care, public health

and public safety. A combination of the principles and resources of each is employed in EMS systems. Since EMS providers work in the community, they are often the first to identify public health problems and issues. The emergence of significant health problems is often heralded by its arrival in the Emergency Department and it arrives via EMS. Since EMS providers respond to all kinds of emergencies and all kinds of hazards, they often work shoulder-to-shoulder with public safety colleagues in law enforcement and fire services. But their primary mission is emergency medical care.

The diagram below illustrates the complexity of an EMS system. In the diagram, the large circle represents each system element as it is acti-vated in response to an incident. The "brown arrowed" elements within the circle represent the specialty care areas within EMS. The list within the circle represents the elements acting behind the scenes to support the system. In order to be "ready every day for every kind of emergency," an EMS system must be as comprehensive as the one pictured above. Developing and maintaining such a system requires thoughtful planning, preparation, and dedication from EMS stakeholders at the local, State, and Federal levels.

The organizational structure of EMS, as well as who provides and finances the services, varies significantly from community to community.

Pre-hospital services can be based in a fire depart-ment, a hospital, an independent government agency (i.e., public health agency), a non-profit corporation (e.g., Rescue Squad) or be provided for by commercial for-profit companies.

But, regardless of provider, the essential compo-nents of an EMS System remain the same.

Tribal Governments, Offices, Programs, and tribal members need to identify the importance of EMS and become active partners in the EMS System and the information from EMS to reduce deaths and injuries. The six demonstration tribes included EMS systems that were operated by tribes and alternative frameworks of contracting and working with other public and private agencies.

Source: http://www.ems.gov/whatisEMS.htm

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Developing a Transportation Safety Plan: Information Tools for Tribal Governments The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that provides instruction modules to aid in development of transportation safety plans for tribal transportation planners. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/tribal/planning_modules/safety/tribalsafetyplan.pdf

FY 2015 BIA Highway Safety Plan The following Performance and Highway Safety Plan describes programs and projects designed to ad-dress traffic safety issues in Indian Country for FY2015, and serves as the base for the execution of the Highway Safety Program Cost Summary. www.nhtsa.gov/links/StateDocs/FY15/FY15HSPs/BIA_FY15

Institutionalizing Safety in Transportation Planning Processes: Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies NCHRP Report 811 provides state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) with a practical, field-tested guidebook on institutionalizing the continuous integration of safety into transportation planning and programming processes. The guidebook provides techniques, tactics, and strategies for agencies to use to institutionalize safety as a decision and planning factor. This guidebook should be useful to state, regional, and local trans-portation agencies; professional associations; and interest groups in examining how, and how effective-ly, safety has been integrated into transportation planning processes. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_811.pdf

Mapping to MMUCC: A Process for Comparing Police Crash Reports and State Crash Databases to the MMUCC The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a report that details the methods for developing the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guidelines— voluntary guide-lines designed to help states determine what crash data to collect on their police accident reports and what data to code and carry in their crash databases. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812184.pdf

The above publications are chosen from several newsletters, list, emails and other materials that we receive. We can watch for spe-cific subjects and post the publications as we are notified of them. Please contact the Northwest TTAP for more information on specific subjects.

If an electronic copy is not available with the publication please contact Michele to obtain a printed hard copy.

Recent Publications & Research News

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Kirk Vinish Lummi Indian Nation

WA Tribes Representative ATNI Transportation Representative

kirkv@lummi-nsn.gov

MaryBeth Frank-Clark Nez Perce Tribe

ID Tribes Representative marybethf@nezperce.org

Dan Lozar

Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes MT Tribes Representative

dlozar@cskt.org

OR Tribes Representative Vacant

Advisory Board Herb Fricke P.E.

Cascade Design Professionals, LLC Tribal Business Representative

herbf@cascadedesign.net

Megan Nicodemus Washington DOT Tribal Liaison Washington DOT Representative

nicodem@wsdot.wa.gov

Danny Capri FHWA -TTP Coordinator

FHWA TTP Representative danny.capri@dot.gov

Rick Galloway

TTPC - NW Representative rick_go_on@msn.com

Kurt Fredenberg BIA NW Region Roads Engineer

BIA Representative Kurt.fredenberg@bia.gov

Amy Changchien FTA - Region 10

FTA Representative amy.changchien@dot.gov

Dick Winchell

Eastern Washington University Grantee Representative

dwinchell@ewu.edu

Policing and Security Practices for Small- and Medium-Sized Public Transit Systems TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 180: Policing and Security Practices for Small- and Medium-Sized Public Transit Systems explores the current state of practice and identifies and responds to the specific challenges and issues associated with the security of small- and medium-sized transit agencies. The report follows the five stages of protection activity (prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) by providing baseline options and identifying potential security countermeasures that could be deployed by both of these sizes of transit agencies http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_180.pdf

Using Driver Simulators to Measure the Impact of Distracted Driving on Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released a report that describes research on driver distraction among commercial motor vehicle operators when placed in scenarios such as con-gested traffic, highway driving, and work zones.. http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55100/55168/13-048_-_Distracted_Driving_Research_Brief_-_FINAL_-_June_2015.pdf

2013 Traffic Safety Fact Sheet Rural/Urban Comparison The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a fact sheet that compares fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes that occurred in rural areas versus those that occurred in urban areas. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812181.pdf

Recent Publications & Research News