My Street is a free, online tool provided by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for local and regional transportation officials and pedestrian safety champions that employs local crash data to develop safety plans that improve crossing safety for pedestrians of all ages and abilities. VHB inspired the development of My Street by submitting the concept as part of a 2018 U.S. Department of Transportation data visualization competition. A team of safety practitioners, planners, data scientists, software engineers, graphic designers, and researchers at VHB collaborated to create the My Street concept, which was later funded for production by FHWA.
My Street is a web-based analysis research tool that provides transportation professionals with the ability to systemically evaluate pedestrian safety and create a plan to enhance the safety of pedestrian crossings. The tool enables practitioners to “visualize” potential countermeasure options from the eyes of the people that will benefit from roadway infrastructure enhancements. Using a systemic approach, My Street proactively identifies locations that may benefit from pedestrian crossing improvements, and then lists the locations in a table, prioritized by risk for serious injury and fatal pedestrian crashes, as well as by those areas or communities that are historically disadvantaged. As each of the locations is reviewed, My Street helps to “see” opportunities for safety improvements and provides information for how each improvement benefits various pedestrian “avatars” of different ages and abilities. The output or result is a sketch-level pedestrian safety plan that summarizes the selected countermeasures for each of the locations.
This tool provides transportation professionals with a robust data analysis module and visual aides to communicate the impact of pedestrian crossing enhancements. My Street helps deepen understanding by decision makers who are evaluating future investments for pedestrian safety, and FHWA is encouraging local agencies to use My Street to lay the groundwork for roadway safety planning.
Visit My Street for more information.
