Open Thread: What are your thoughts on Vision Zero, one year in?

The city’s ambitious plan to improve street safety and eliminate traffic deaths by 2030 has turned one year old, and city officials took the chance to acknowledge some of its accomplishments—as well as some failings.

Dubbed Vision Zero, Mayor Jim Kenney debuted the plan last September as a way to combat the staggering 100 traffic-related deaths per year in the city. Vision Zero focused on six key areas: evaluation and data, engineering, enforcement, fleet management, and policy. Officials also planned to target what they called the “High Injury Network” — the 12 percent of Philly streets where 50 percent of traffic incidents occur.

Officials released a report this week, detailing what’s happened with the plan so far, and where they intend to go next. Over the past year, they’ve installed the Market/JFK Vision Zero Project, to improve conditions for pedestrians and bikers on the busy Center City streets. They also installed Boulevard Direct bus plazas on Roosevelt Boulevard, and announced $17 million in grants to Vision Zero.

While those accomplishments have certainly helped further the Vision Zero plan, there’s still a lot of work to do, according to the report. The city saw a decrease in the number of people killed in traffic-related incidents in 2017. However, between 2013 and 2016, traffic deaths were on the rise. Looking at the past five years together, the data suggests the city won’t meets its 2030 goal of eliminating traffic deaths, the report said.

“If we are to reach our goal of zero traffic deaths on Philadelphia streets by 2030, we must reduce the number of deaths on our streets by six each year.”

Other data shows that a disproportionate number of pedestrians are killed in crashes—something that hasn’t changed despite the implementation of Vision Zero.

“In year two of Vision Zero, we look forward to kicking off the Vision Zero Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, which will analyze pedestrian-involved injury crashes in Philadelphia to identify trends in these dangerous crashes,” the report said, adding that they plan to hold a workshop to engage residents and get their thoughts on how to improve street safety.

So, with the one-year report, how do you think Philly can work to further their Vision Zero goal and improve street safety? Are there other factors the city could examine that may help them achieve their 2030 goal? How could average residents work to further that goal?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Read more about the Vision Zero plan here, and about the one year report here.

• Philly unveils Vision Zero plan for street safety [Curbed Philly]