Commissioners approve updated Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan emphasizing Vision Zero and behavioral strategies

The Board of County Commissioners approved the updated Billings Community Transportation Safety Plan (CTSP), a five-year framework focused on behavioral and partnership strategies to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

A CTSP presenter described the update as rooted in crash-data analysis across a 10-year window and built by an advisory committee that included law enforcement, emergency services, engineers and other safety stakeholders. The advisory committee retained a Vision Zero framing (the federal and state objective of zero fatalities and serious injuries) and preserved the five-year rolling goal to reduce fatalities and serious injuries by 20 percent; consultant analysis showed a 15 percent reduction on the original baseline and an 18 percent reduction when including 2020 data.

The plan centers on the four 'E's' of traffic safety: engineering, emergency services/EMS, enforcement and education. Recommended tactics included establishing a standing transportation safety oversight committee, enhancing enforcement of seat-belt and child-seat laws, expanding youth and adult education about seat-belt use, expanding awareness and access to safe transportation alternatives to reduce impaired driving, and increasing proactive speed and distracted-driving enforcement. The plan also recommends partners, resources and concrete action items in the full document.

Commissioners asked whether unlicensed and uninsured motorists were tracked in the crash dataset; consultants said such fields were tracked by some agencies but were not provided for this review and offered to supply that information as a next step. Commissioner Jones moved to approve the CTSP and forward it to PCC; the motion carried by voice vote.

The approval moves the draft plan forward for finalization and implementation planning; staff and the advisory group will continue coordination on data gaps, enforcement partnerships and public education efforts.

What happens next: The plan will move forward for final adoption steps and the consultants recommended establishing a standing oversight committee to sustain cross-agency collaboration and implementation.