The California Strategic Highway Safety Plan: Paving the Way for a Safer Future

The Caltrans Division of Traffic Operations, supported by Kimley-Horn, updated and implemented the Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), an initiative that provides guidance and makes recommendations for safety improvements on all public roads across California and notes responsible agencies and individuals for each action.

A multi-agency collaborative effort between Caltrans and California Highway Patrol, Office of Traffic Safety, Department of Motor Vehicles, Emergency Medical Services Authority, Department of Public Health, Tribal/Native American Advisory Committee, traffic safety advocates, and other stakeholders, the SHSP will help ensure a safer, more sustainable multimodal transportation system with the goal of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.

Project Recognition

• 2025 American Planning Association (APA) California Sacramento Valley Section Best Practices – Award of Merit
• 2023 APA California Northern Section Transportation Planning – Award of Merit
• 2021 Federal Highway Administration and Roadway Safety Foundation National Roadway Safety Award

Collaboration and Data Insights for California’s SHSP

Kimley-Horn partnered with Caltrans executive leadership and staff to develop the SHSP in compliance with federal requirements. We also collaborated to keep the project on schedule and on budget, while remaining versatile enough to respond to feedback that occasionally shifted project priorities and objectives.

With more than 400 stakeholders from key statewide, regional, local, academic, private, federal, tribal, and non-governmental organizations focused on road safety, our team facilitated statewide stakeholder meetings and developed a comprehensive stakeholder communications plan. This included developing a schedule for the respective groups to meet regularly and using their provided input on the SHSP to inform project deliverables.

In accordance with the SHSP’s principle for data-driven implementation and to accelerate advanced technology integration, our team built a collision data dashboard using traffic safety-related data to identify and analyze collision trends. The dashboard allows safety professionals direct access to collision data, which can be filtered by the number and characteristics of fatal and serious injury crashes over the last 10 years, such as:

• SHSP Challenge Area
• Caltrans District
• Metropolitan Planning Organization
• County and City
• State Highway System

Kimley-Horn updated the crash data dashboard to include crashes in and around tribal lands, as well as conducted a virtual tribal workshop. We also presented to the Native American Advisory Council on numerous occasions to ensure their representation and input was included in the SHSP.

Safer Transportation Across the Golden State

The final SHSP document will serve as a comprehensive guide across about 16 critical emphasis areas—including pedestrian and bicyclist safety, speed management, and impaired driving—while clearly delineating recommended improvements and the agencies or individuals responsible for implementation. With Kimley-Horn’s continued support in monitoring and evaluating the plan’s progress for the next several years, the SHSP will promote a safer transportation future across California.