awards

road safety engineering Award

Subject Area and Award Eligibility

TAC has established the Road Safety Engineering Award to recognize exemplary projects or initiatives by TAC institutional members within the discipline of road safety engineering. The award is open to all institutional members of TAC, including: private companies, public sector agencies, academic institutions and related transportation organizations. Members who have, through a project or initiative, made a contribution that has (or is expected to) improve the safety on Canadian roadways are eligible for the award.

The establishment of this award aligns with TAC’s mandate to strive for safe transportation systems for Canadian roadways and infrastructure. As well, it acts as an incentive to members to ensure that road safety needs are fully considered in the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of roadway infrastructure, while aiming to advance the practice and guidelines for road safety engineering.

Nomination Requirements

A representative of any TAC member may make a nomination by submitting a one-page Project Abstract electronically to Sarah Wells at swells@tac-atc.ca by January 25, 2013, using the abstract template.

This abstract is the first step of the two-step submission process. The abstract should demonstrate how the full submission would address the Road Safety Engineering Award evaluation criteria as outlined below.

If the nominee’s abstract is approved, the nominating individual will be contacted by February 18 and invited to make a full submission to TAC prior to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 22, 2013.

The full submission should be no longer than seven (7) pages of text on 8.5" x 11" sheets with size 12 font.  Supporting documents such as photos and diagrams are not to be included in the seven-page limit and could be attached as an appendix. 

Submissions should:

  • outline what project or initiative was undertaken and its realized or anticipated road safety benefits in terms of collision frequency or severity reduction;
  • describe how the project or initiative demonstrated innovation; and
  • illustrate how the project or initiative is applicable and/or transferable to other TAC members and the transportation community as a whole.

Your March 22 submission must consist of an electronic file in PDF format.  The full submission, with appendices if applicable, should be e-mailed to:

Katarina Cvetkovic
Program Manager
E-mail: kcetkovic@tac-atc.ca

Review Procedures and Evaluation Criteria

Submissions will be reviewed and judged by an Evaluation Panel selected by TAC's Road Safety Standing Committee (RSSC).

Eligible projects or initiatives will be judged according to the three criteria described below. Submissions that clearly demonstrate how a project or initiative succeeds under each criterion will receive top marks.

1) Realized or Anticipated Benefits (50 Points)

Road safety projects or initiatives that result in a significant reduction in the frequency and/or severity of collisions will receive top marks. The submission should provide sufficient detail to allow the Evaluation Panel to understand the project or initiative’s safety justification and the magnitude of the safety impact associated with the project or initiative, including details of the reliability of the safety performance results and the sustainability of the road safety improvement.

Projects or initiatives at the implementation stage will also be considered. It is important for these submissions to explain how the potential safety benefits were estimated using information from reliable sources. It is also strongly encouraged for the submission to include details on how the project or initiative will be evaluated and what resources the organization intends to commit to ensure that the safety goal is achieved.

2) Degree of Innovation (30 Points)

Innovation in this case is national in scope and should be viewed through a "cross-Canada" lens. The degree of innovation shown in the project or initiative will be used as the basis for assessment. This may apply to anything from innovative technological advancements, innovative processes, innovative public consultation, innovative financing and project delivery, or innovative leadership in collaboration with enforcement, education, other levels of government, academia, or the private sector.

Relevant innovative communication and promotional activities associated with the project or initiative may be included.

3) Transferability to other Canadian Communities and Organizations (20 Points)

Projects or initiatives that have successfully addressed a road safety issue of broad concern relevant to other cities, provinces and organizations within Canada, and that can be applied with local modifications to other areas of Canada will get top marks. The submission should clearly describe how the project or initiative is applicable and/or transferable to other TAC members and the transportation community as a whole. This can be enhanced by including a statement on how the project can contribute to the National Road Safety Vision, or a provincial/territorial strategic safety plan. Submissions should comment on the likelihood of other jurisdictions accepting and implementing a similar project or initiative.

Deadlines for the Road Safety Engineering Award

  • Abstracts to be submitted to TAC: January 25

  • Review Panel to complete screening of abstracts: February 12

  • Screening results to be communicated to nominees: February 18

  • Full submissions to be delivered to TAC: March 22 (prior to 12:00 pm EST)

  • Selected nominees to be invited to present at the TAC Conference: April 26

  • Results to be communicated to nominees: June 19

 

Award Presentation

The award may be given annually based on the recommendation of the Evaluation Panel and endorsement by the Chief Engineers Council, and will be presented at the TAC Conference.

As a means of promoting road safety engineering, selected nominees will be invited to present their respective projects or initiatives at the TAC 2013 Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 22-25. Accordingly, these presentations will be included in the TAC 2013 conference proceedings. The award recipient(s) will be featured in an upcoming edition of TAC News.