Suggested Revisions to the Annual Highway Safety Work Program in Virginia

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This paper describes some suggested revisions in the format of and method and procedures for compiling the Annual Highway Safety Work Program (AHSWP) required of the states by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Prior to fiscal year 1972, the states were required to send little information to the NHTSA (then the National Highway Safety Bureau) regarding activities and expenditures for future highway safety projects. Following the introduction of the Annual Work Program, however, the states were required to submit multi-year and annual plans and projections in a format similar to that of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting Systems (PPBS) models adopted during the 1960's by many federal agencies. It is suggested that problems with the AHSWP, both those caused by the system itself and those resulting from a lack of confidence in it by state program administrators, have impeded effective program management in the states. Revisions-to the AHSWP, which are based upon some of the data elements and information requirements of the Program Information Reporting System, the Design Manual for State Traffic Records Systems, and certain aspects of the management by objectives concepts now embraced by the NHTSA, are felt to be an asset to state highway safety program management. Examples of the new approach are given.

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