Florida Department of

TRANSPORTATION

Office of Policy Planning

Abbreviations in this issue:

PPP - public/private partnership
UMTRI The Transportation Research Institute at The University of Michigan
GAO - Government Accountability Office
NHTSA - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

1. 2011 Florida Traffic Crash Statistics Report - This annual report summarizes modal crashes, fatalities and injuries on Florida roads. Five-year comparisons by county are also available for alcohol-related, motorcyclist and commercial motor vehicle crashes and fatalities.
2. Seat Belt Use in 2012 - Overall Results - This National Occupant Protection Use Survey provides nationwide probability-based observed data on seat belt use in the United States. The result reveals that seat belt use in 2012 reached 86 percent, a significant increase from 84 percent in 2011.
3. UMTRI Reports
   • Benefits of Recent Improvements in Vehicle Fuel Economy on Overall Fuel Consumption and Emissions - This brief note quantifies the consequences of the improved fuel economy of light-duty vehicles on overall fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.
   • Road Safety in the United States: Are the (Relatively) Good Times Over? - This brief note argues that the economic downturn contributed substantially to the large magnitude of the reduction in road fatalities. Consequently, the reversal of the reduction in fatalities should not be a surprise as the economy is beginning to improve. The note concludes with several recommendations for public-policy makers.
4. Brookings Institution Reports
   • Strengthen Federalism: Establish a National PPP Unit to Support Bottom-Up Infrastructure Investment - This opinion piece urges the federal government to establish a dedicated PPP unit to tackle bottlenecks in the PPP process, protect the public interest, and provide technical assistance to states and other public entities that cannot develop the internal capacity necessary to deal with the projects themselves.
   • Cut to Invest: Institute a Modest Carbon Tax to Reduce Carbon Emissions, Finance Clean Energy Technology Development, Cut Taxes, and Reduce the Deficit - This paper proposes a modest carbon tax in order to help clean up the economy and stabilize the nation’s finances.
5. Miscellaneous Reports
   • Delivering Florida's 21st Century Transportation System Through Tolling, Managed Lanes and Public-Private Partnerships - This interview with FDOT Secretary Ananth Prasad discusses how FDOT has embraced innovations like public-private partnerships, cutting-edge tolling projects, private highway maintenance and more.
   • Road Safety in New York and Los Angeles: U.S. Megacities Compared with the Nation - This study examines road safety in the two U.S. megacities, New York and Los Angeles. Patterns of fatal and all crashes in these megacities are compared with those for the entire U.S.
   • Connecting to Opportunity: Access to Jobs via Transit in the Washington, D.C. Region - This analysis highlights the importance of acting in an integrated, place-based way to create denser concentrations of transit-accessible jobs and housing in strategic locations throughout the Washington, D.C. region.
   • Energy for Economic Growth: Energy Vision Update 2012 - This report describes the overall role that energy can play in the economy of a nation and how this sector may serve as an engine of economic growth, compares and illuminates the job creation potential of different types of energy extraction and generation based on a case study of the United States,discusses how countries endowed with traditional energy resources can maximize the benefit of resource extraction for their economies, and examines how countries are developing non-traditional energy industries and the economic impact of such efforts.