WA’s draft Freight System Plan needs more specifics on safety

In 86 dense pages of the state's draft Freight System Plan, there are zero mentions of walking or biking and, therefore, few specifics on how the state's freight system will work toward the state's goal of eliminating serious or fatal collisions involving people on foot or bike.

WSDOT is collecting feedback on the draft plan through September 13. Email FreightPlan@wsdot.wa.gov and be sure to cite page numbers in your suggestions where appropriate.

The plan does include sections on safety generally, listing safety among the plan's seven themes." It states on page 69, The costs and benefits of the freight system are not evenly distributed. Communities adjacent to corridors and terminals bear disproportionate impacts such as noise, air quality, safety risk, while freight-related employment and supply chain access are central to the economic vitality of many of those same places. Washington's freight system should function efficiently while minimizing harm to the people closest to it and ensuring the economic benefits of freight activity are broadly shared." It also lists as a potential strategy, Incorporate Safe System and Complete Streets principles that improve safety, accessibility, and connectivity for active transportation users into transportation projects while preserving freight reliability, when relevant."

However, these safety sections should include more specific data and analysis on serious freight-involved collisions, including collisions involving people walking or biking. What kinds of incidents were these, where did each type of collision happen, and what factors are common? The section on safe systems and complete streets should also be expanded to highlight how these concepts apply in contexts specific to freight. The East Marginal Way project could be called out as a great example of rebuilding a street with a tragic history involving a person biking and a person driving a large work truck. Biking and freight interests were both in alignment on the need to separate and protect the bike route that runs in front of Port of Seattle driveways.

The draft plan also only mentions the state's Target Zero policy one time in passing. The draft should be revised to bring the plan more clearly and specifically in alignment with the state's existing transportation safety policies. On page 6, the document even lists the state plan as in alignment with the National Freight Strategic Plan's goal to reduce or eliminate serious injuries and fatalities on the freight system." But reduce" is not Washington State's goal. Zero is our goal.

The state's 2024 Target Zero Plan (PDF) includes sections on heavy truck safety (see page 118) that the draft plan could include and expand on. For example, the Target Zero plan found that 13% of traffic fatalities in the state between 2020 and 2022 involved a heavy vehicle. That is a very disproportionate share of traffic deaths, and a serious problem that needs freight-specific actions. They also found that in 2022, 35% of fatal crashes in the state involving a large truck involved a truck driver who had been in a crash previously. Some of the Target Zero suggestions include actionable items like truck safety inspections and improvements to heavy truck driver trainings. Theme 7 of the draft Freight Plan on page 71 mentions training in the context of workforce development, but this could also be expanded to include improving safety training.

The draft plan also does not mention truck side guards, an equipment modification that has been proven to prevent serious injuries and deaths. While the Freight System Plan is more about what the state can do rather than what freight operators can do, the state could have a role in at least supporting the idea of safety features like side guards. Safer vehicles" is one of the prongs of Target Zero, and truck side guards are an obvious and frankly easy example of making freight vehicles safer.