Partner engagement behind Oregon's 2026 Transportation Safety Action Plan
Oregon Department of Transportation
When the Oregon Department of Transportation wanted to ensure comprehensive, equitable engagement for its 2026 TSAP update, they and their prime firm looked to PRR to develop and implement a plan to meet those goals.
The Situation
Addressing high traffic fatalities through the Transportation Safety Action Plan
While traffic deaths in Oregon had decreased since 2022, rates of fatalities and serious injuries remained high on Oregon's roadways. Released every five years, ODOT's Transportation Safety Action Plan guided the state's approach to safety for all people traveling on all roads. The plan relied on cooperation across state agencies and local, regional, and tribal governments, making partner input critical to shaping a workable plan.
The Opportunity
Engaging partners to shape the plan update
To accomplish the goal of engaging partners and other interested parties in plan development, PRR designed an engagement process with multiple elements:
- Partner workshops. PRR convened and facilitated partner workshops to present data analysis and gather feedback that informed the recommendations for the 2026 TSAP.
- Steering team meetings. PRR facilitated regular Steering Team meetings to help guide the format and content of the TSAP, including vision and goal setting, assessment of past TSAP outcomes, and data trends.
- Survey. PRR designed and programmed a survey sent to a broad range of public partners and other stakeholders to help identify key issues to address in the TSAP update.
- Communications in Spanish. PRR transcreated fact sheets into Spanish to share information about the TSAP update process, how to get involved, and the timeline.
Results
Diverse, representative feedback that shaped the plan's priorities
Engagement outcomes included:
- Approximately 60 workshop participants, including community organizations, advocacy groups, and others interested in transportation safety.
- A steering team of 25 internal and external agency partners involved in transportation safety, which met half a dozen times over the course of the year.
- Workshops and steering team meetings that used a variety of participatory tools, leading to detailed written and verbal contributions from participants.
- Over 400 survey responses, in English and Spanish, supported by a recruitment strategy designed to reach underrepresented and underserved communities and drive a high response rate. This gave ODOT strong information on safety values and preferences.
