Bend MPO staff told the policy board Sept. 19 that a federally funded update to the city’s Transportation Safety Action Plan is moving forward: a consultant team has been selected, a final budget was received and staff expects to execute a contract next week with work beginning in early October and continuing through 2027.

The update is funded under federal surface-transportation legislation and the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, staff said, and will include a five-year crash-data analysis, identification of emphasis areas and up to 10 site-specific recommendations intended to inform future capital-improvement and ODOT project lists. The consultant scope as described to the board calls for three dedicated policy-board touchpoints: an initial overview and scoping meeting, a data review meeting with crash summaries and a final meeting to review draft strategies and performance measures.

Tyler Dede, Bend MPO staff, said the consultant will compare the most recent five-year crash period to the prior five-year period in the existing plan and identify high-crash locations and corridors. Dede noted a data lag may limit the ability to measure the safety effects of very recent infrastructure changes; where recent protected-bike infrastructure or intersection changes lack post-implementation crash data, the consultant’s observations may be qualitative professional judgment rather than statistically measured outcomes.

Board members discussed how the plan could distinguish between infrastructure- and behavior-driven crashes and how local design standards or state-level factors might influence recommended actions. Councilor Bridal Mendez and others requested that the plan identify regulatory and funding implications so the board could evaluate which actions are within local authority and which require state or regional partners.

Dede and other speakers said the region is updating multiple safety plans: Deschutes County expects to complete an update in early 2026, Jefferson County completed its first plan earlier in 2025, and Crook County is underway. Dede said COIC plans to compile findings from the region’s safety plans to identify emerging needs and opportunities for coordinated outreach and potential regional infrastructure funding applications.

During the discussion, a board member noted the state has seen a roughly 40% increase in fatal crashes in the most recent five-year period compared with the prior five years, a statistic attributed to a councilor’s earlier comment at a prior meeting. MPO staff said Bend’s fatal-crash count has been lower than statewide trends and that Bend recorded zero fatal crashes in 2025 to date, with the last public-roadway fatal crash in December 2024, down from a high of seven in 2023.

Staff also told the board that automated speed and red-light cameras will be deployed in January; the program will include a 30-day warning period after installation, after which violations captured by cameras will be enforced similarly to officer-issued citations.

No board action was required on this update; staff said they expect to present contract documents to finalize the consultant agreement and will schedule the three policy-board touchpoints during the plan’s development.