Safety Needs and Technologies Assessment for NYMTC's Suburban Counties

Status: Completed 2025

Funding Agency: New York Metropolitan Transportation Council

Abstract: 

Transportation safety is a concern across the suburban portions of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council planning area, where safety practice varies by jurisdiction and does not always carry across municipal boundaries. Rising traffic volumes put pedestrians and bicyclists at risk in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties. This study assessed safety needs and available technologies in those five counties and developed the basis for a coordinated safety program that aligns policy and action across jurisdictions. The work covered interjurisdictional collaboration, data integration, enforcement, public education, and emerging technology. County level analysis identified crash hot spots, pedestrian and bicyclist crash concentrations, and the relationship between crash rates and income, social vulnerability, and vehicle ownership. Interviews with MPO officials informed the recommendations, which cover predictive analysis, adaptive signalization, real-time communication tools, Safe System practice, stakeholder involvement, and sustained coordination among agencies.

Investigators: Dr. Mohammad Jalayer, PhD.

Links to Publications:

Safety Needs and Technology Assessment_NYMTC_Report_July2025.pdf