Seattle Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Analysis (BPSA)

Seattle, WA

Project Summary

To make their streets safer for biking and walking, Seattle needed to take stock of its current street network. The City knew that reacting to crashes would not be the best way to meet their Vision Zero goal; they needed a way to predict locations where crashes might occur. Enter Toole Design.

We updated the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Analysis (BPSA) to provide a more accurate assessment of the risks to bicyclists and pedestrians across the City. We developed innovative methods for evaluating risk at places where crashes have not happened, predicting where these are most likely to occur in the future.

The updated BPSA enables the Seattle Department of Transportation to identify priority locations for safety improvements throughout the City. They can now take a proactive approach to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries rather than merely reacting to crash-related tragedies.

Expertise Applied

From our analysis, we created a predictive model for bicycle and pedestrian crashes, allowing SDOT to plan streetscape improvements that would make their streets safer before crashes happen.
We paired the data analysis with site visits to discuss appropriate countermeasures for locations identified by the model, giving SDOT the necessary tools to take action.

The power of the BPSA is demonstrated by the maps below. We were able to identify the 20 highest priority sites for locating safety improvement in each City Council district, even in places where crashes haven’t happened yet. Using the BPSA, SDOT will be able to plan ahead and proactively implement safety measures, ideally before a crash occurs.

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