6 Innovative Ways Cities are Reducing Pedestrian Fatality Rates
This year, pedestrian fatalities have reached their highest point since 1990. What makes this especially discouraging is that the popularity of Vision Zero programs and Complete Street policies is at an all-time high. The reality is, passing policy is never enough. There’s still a lot of work to be done to undo the transportation and land-use decisions from decades past.
The action-oriented mindsets of these six cities serve as a beacon of inspiration:
1. Involve the community
Florida, ranked as the most dangerous state for pedestrians from Smart Growth America’s Dangerous by Design, has a silver lining in Fort Lauderdale. The Fort Lauderdale community banded together after a pedestrian crash in 2014 and 30 volunteers painted colorful street murals on Olas Boulevard to serve as street calming. The project cost only US$42,000 and the mural should last three to five years.
2. Pilot, then expand
Speaking of street calming, Seattle designated a one-mile portion of Ranier Avenue for a pilot program and redesigned the space dramatically: reduced four travel lanes down to two, added a transit lane, and shortened pedestrian crosswalks. One year after project completion, the city saw a 15 percent decrease in crashes overall, and a 40 percent decrease in pedestrian and bicycle crashes, specifically. What a success! This story helped the city make the case to redesign the next two-mile segment of Ranier Avenue.
3. Never too small for action
Hailey, Idaho has a population of just over 8,000, and the downtown Main Street is also a major vehicular thoroughfare. The community wanted to reclaim the space and introduced buffered bikelanes and parklets to transform it into a space for people, not just cars.
4. Set aside dedicated funding for pedestrian improvements
In 2017, Cincinnati’s City Council included a “Pedestrian Safety Fund” for the first time in their municipal budget. The fund passed, and the city invited community members to submit their requests for small and big pedestrian safety investments. Stay tuned as some of these ideas hit Cincinnati’s streets.
5. Reduce default speed limits
In early 2018, the Portland, Oregon City Council unanimously approved shifting 70 percent of the city’s street mileage from 25 mph to 20 mph. Over 20 small, medium, and large cities across Massachusetts have lowered their default speed to 25 mph. Reducing default speed limits has proven to reduce fatalities and will influence the designs of roadways for decades to come.
6. A success story
New York’s Vision Zero program was created in 2014 and has had strong mayoral support. Since 2014, New York City has experienced a reduction of 44 percent pedestrian deaths. New York was one of the earliest cities to pass a Vision Zero program and we’re excited to see future outcomes of pedestrian safety programs and policies.
