The Safety Analysis and Advancement Division at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center designs and delivers data-driven processes, tools, and analyses that strengthen federal oversight of state safety programs and surface transportation safety overall. We support grant management and oversight, drive improvements in safety data quality, develop quantitative measures of program performance, and translate research into practical resources and training for federal and state partners.

We advance surface transportation safety by combing rigorous analysis, innovative thinking, practical tools, partner-focused training and outreach, and subject matter expertise grounded in decades of experience supporting federal sponsors. Through our work, we partner with our sponsors to establish achievable goals, and develop strategies that enable sponsors and empower their partners to meet those goals.

Our work enables more transparency, effective allocation of enforcement resources, and continuous improvement in transit and motor carrier safety.

Our Capabilities

Data Quality & Analytics

• Develop and implement analytical models to identify and prioritize safety challenges
• Create and refine methods to measure the effectiveness of law enforcement activities related to commercial vehicle safety
• Develop objective, quantitative performance measures tied to strategic goals that track progress and drive continuous improvement
• Implement processes to continually assess the quality of surface transportation safety data and establish best practices for data quality standards

Program Management and Evaluation

• Design and continuously improve innovative business processes and information resources that enable federal and state enforcement agencies to focus efforts on high-priority safety issues
• Conduct objective assessments of safety program effectiveness to inform policy, program design, and operational improvements
• Translate research findings into practical recommendations and tools that strengthen transit and motor carrier safety oversight at both federal and state levels
• Build and maintain information systems and resources that support surface transportation safety programs
• Support grant management and oversight through tools and workflows that improve transparency, accountability, and program delivery

Stakeholder Engagement and User Experience

• Produce user-focused, human-centered graphic design for web and print media
• Create and implement comprehensive training plans that ensure smooth adoption of safety programs, systems, and resources
• Develop communications strategies for delivering safety information to the public and industry stakeholders to support program implementation, decision-making, and overall awareness

Meet Our Team

View selected staff biographies.

Becky Markunas

Chief

Becky Markunas began working at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center in 2010 while completing her PhD in experimental psychology from Northeastern University (Boston, MA). Her early work focused on transportation human factors in both aviation and surface transportation. Beginning in 2019, Markunas managed FMCSA’s National Safety Interventions Rollout. More recently, she has been managing FMCSA’s Program and Process Reviews portfolio at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center, leveraging a multidisciplinary team to analyze and update the FMCSA’s safety programs and processes as part of the Agency’s continuous improvement effort. Markunas also leads the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s support of FMCSA’s Entry Level Driver Training (ELDT) program. She sits on the Steering Committee for FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database modernization effort and partners with FMCSA’s Household Goods Division to help decrease moving fraud and improve interstate moves of the American public.