The City Where Traffic Fatalities Vanished

Vision Zero is a traffic safety framework that works to eliminate traffic fatalities. Since adopting the program, Jersey City has gone a full year without a single traffic fatality. City officials have also been engaging residents to participate in viewing demonstrations of new, safe road developments and sharing their thoughts on what the city’s roads need to be safe and efficient as local leaders continue to make improvements to encompass more of the surrounding area.

Safe System design is a public health framework for preventing traffic accidents and death. The system adapts and transforms roads as part of a broader system of reforms. In Bogotá, in addition to a city-wide speed limit, high-risk corridors were identified using geo-referenced collision data and modeling. Multiple locations were transformed into pedestrian friendly streets that encourage lower traffic speeds by using speed bumps, bicycle lanes, wide sidewalks, benches, and planters. Officials note that the change has led to a decline in fatalities.

As the District lagged on its Vision Zero goals, bike and pedestrian advocates in Washington turned traffic fatalities into a rallying cry, and got results.  

A plan to redesign Market Street in San Francisco uses a controversial approach used by cities around the world: eliminating personal cars entirely. This bicycle, pedestrian and bus-oriented layout approach reduces traffic accidents and fatalities; San Francisco plans to move forward with their plan in 2020.

The Vision Zero campaign aims to eliminate traffic deaths around the world. So far, Hoboken has made several changes to its streets and transportation policies to increase safety, such as repaving crosswalks to increase visibility, building curb extensions and adding bike lanes to roads. With these new safety measures in place, the city hasn’t reported a single traffic death since January 2017 and traffic-related injuries have dropped 41%.

An extensive investigation that, despite implementing an initiative called "Vision Zero" that aims to eliminate traffic and pedestrian fatalities, many cities still struggle to reduce the number of fatalities, year-over-year. Now, cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. are analyzing their failures - from lack of budget planning to missing coordination between government departments - in order to get on track to eliminating traffic deaths within a decade.

In order to cut back on automotive emissions and traffic within the city center, Amsterdam has introduced road-dividing "cuts" - called "knips" in Dutch - along major roadways to make travel in the city center easier for pedestrians and public transportation users. These cuts consist of barriers set to close off short sections of a street, therefore disabling through-travel to cars. The city notes that a "knip" effectively cuts automotive traffic on a blocked-off road by 70 percent.

In an effort to promote safe streets and bicycle and pedestrian safety, Officials in Tower Hamlets, an East London neighborhood, closed down a main community road to car traffic - and it didn't go well. But local officials learned from the pilot, recognizing a need to better prepare the community for any road closures as well as plan for alternative routes for car traffic.

Sweden's "Vision Zero" program has used a comprehensive approach to infrastructure and regulation to drastically reduce traffic-related deaths, making Swedish roads the safest in the world.

A pilot program tested speed cameras on one of Philadelphia’s most dangerous roads to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities and found speeding violations decreased by 90%. The program works by using the cameras to issue warnings to anyone driving 11 miles or more over the speed limit and then issuing fines after a 60-day grace period. Following the program’s success, it’s beginning to gain momentum in other cities, too.