Bowser Administration Releases “Vision Zero” Action Plan

Press release:

This morning, Mayor Muriel Bowser was joined by Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Leif Dormsjo, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and other city officials to release the “Vision Zero” Action Plan – the District’s s plan to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries to people walkers, bikers and drivers by 2024. 

“Vision Zero is our strategic roadmap to eliminate fatalities and injuries on District streets by 2024,” said Mayor Bowser. “But this is just the first step. Now that we have a smart plan, we will make the necessary changes to our street network so that residents, workers and visitors can safely navigate our great city.”

The Vision Zero Action Plan is the result of an extensive planning process involving 30 government agencies, community groups and residents.  The plan places a high priority on making safety improvements and refining how the city monitors and addresses hazardous street conditions.  During the planning process, residents reported more than 4,500 hazardous locations.  Those sites can now be mapped along with historical crash data to inform the District’s engineering, education, and enforcement efforts. 

“Protecting vulnerable travelers through speed reduction is a strong theme through our Action Plan,” said DDOT Director Leif Dormsjo. “Through extensive public outreach and collaboration, we are taking our first step towards realizing a ‘Vision Zero’ where no lives are lost on our streets or at our intersections. Together, we will make the District a safer place to live and travel through.” 

Widespread public feedback has confirmed some of the root causes of severe traffic crashes in the District. 45 percent of residents surveyed knew someone who had been killed or seriously injured in a crash. Across all eight wards, residents also advised that their primary concerns are speeding drivers, distracted drivers, and people ignoring traffic signals.

The Action Plan was released at 10th and Maryland Avenue NE, where earlier this year DDOT installed a new traffic signal and other safety features to help families cross the street to access School Within School, a DCPS public school.

From the beginning of this year through December 10^th, 24 people have lost their lives in traffic crashes. The Action Plan outlines the strategies, timeframes, and agencies responsible for implementing programs to improve traffic safety regardless of where or how travelers move throughout the District. The plan serves as the playbook for the first years of the initiative and incorporates legislative and regulatory proposals already released by the Administration.

The District joins a growing list of U.S. cities that have formally committed to goal of zero traffic fatalities, as well as over 230 other communities that have signed onto the U.S. Secretary of Transportation’sMayors’ Challenge for Safer People and Safer Streets. The initiative aims to improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation safety by showcasing effective local actions, empowering local leaders to take action, and promoting partnerships to advance pedestrian and bicycle safety. 

Comments

[jeffb]

I try to remain optimistic but isn't there quite a bit of overlap between Vision Zero and MoveDC?

The longer I follow transportation developments the more I feel that every few years the city comes out with "The Plan" on which nothing much happens and then, a few years later, the city announces yet another "The Plan".

The make or break of Vision Zero has to be vehicle speeds. Any city that continues to tolerate 35 - 45 or even 55 MPH on surface streets shared by pedestrians and cyclists will never truly be a Vision Zero approach.

[DaveS]

MoveDC is a 20-30 year framework that addresses moving more people in a growing District, with the background presumption that everybody would like safer roads.

The Vision Zero Action Plan is a short phase of the ten year goal to deliver safer roads. It doesn't directly address moving more people in a growing District.

There is overlap, but it's pretty coincidental - we'd need VZ even if the traveling population was steady or falling. The big hole is that MoveDC didn't include VZ from the get-go.

[Bayley Vanderpoel]

I'll need to read more about vision 0 but I'm already optimistic. Drivers in Arlington drive far too fast and we need serious road diets to deal with it.

[DE]

I believe Vision Zero will have varying degrees of effectiveness in different localities. In some places I expect it to be quite effective. In DC, an entire culture shift would need to happen. That's a more long-term change.

[John]

Meanwhile in Virginia, there is a proposal to establish a minimum speed limit of 45mph on nonlimited access highways having four or more lanes. https://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2016/hb126/

Now that'll really speed things up on some local roads. That'll show those silly New Yorkers and their silly Vision Zero 25mph limits.

And we thought driver compliance at Virginia crosswalks was bad now. Virginia death race 2016 anyone?

[scoot]

As I read it, the present version of 46.2-870 specifies 55 as a maximum permissible speed limit for these types of roads but permits discretion from VDOT (or local jurisdictions) allowing many roads to be restricted to much lower speeds. Giving the sponsor the benefit of the doubt, I'm guessing that he is seeking a mechanism to permit minimum speeds to be posted and enforceable on interstate highways. However, the bill as presently constructed is so poorly written that it would literally require every four-lane road to have a speed limit between 45 and 55 MPH.

Just imagine the following streets signed at 45MPH:
- Broad St in Falls Church
- Maple Ave in Vienna
- Columbia Pike in Arlington
- Washington Blvd through Clarendon/Ballston
etc.