New York City has reported significant progress in its Vision Zero safer city streets initiative. According to NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, eight of the ten safest years on record have occurred during its Vision Zero era.

New York City has completed more than 1,200 safety projects since Vision Zero began in 2014 The initiative has drawn on a combination of engineering, education, and enforcement to make NYC streets safer and more equitable for all New Yorkers.

Overall traffic deaths declined by more than 12 percent, with pedestrian deaths decreasing by 45 percent, when comparing data from 2023 and 2013, the year before Vision Zero’s launch.

Since the start of Vision Zero, New York City has embraced automated enforcement to more dangerous traffic offences such as like speeding and red light running.

Vision Zero agencies closely monitor where, when, and how traffic fatalities and injuries occur so as to best inform road safety efforts. NYC DOT’s data-driven approach to protect vulnerable street users has resulted in an overall decrease in pedestrian deaths as well as decreases in deaths in neighbourhoods with a high percentage of non-white residents.

To achieve this, the city has worked to leverage technology to better inform data collection and analysis. For example, the NYPD began to electronically record collisions in 2016, which lead to broader capabilities for traffic data analysis.

In addition, New York City’s Health Department enhances traffic injury surveillance with public health data sources, incorporating health equity and person-based measures. These products include:

• Epidemiologic reports on characteristics (such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, and neighbourhood poverty) of people injured in fatal traffic crashes.
• Environment and Health Data Portal indicators that describe pedestrian and bicyclist injuries by neighbourhood of residence.
• A peer-reviewed manuscript on self-reported speeding by driver characteristics.
• Six Research on the Road symposia coordinated with sister Vision Zero agencies and DDC’s Town+Gown: NYC to advance traffic safety research.

Since the programme’s inception, the city has led 349 Vision Zero initiatives, 97 of which were spearheaded by NYC DOT. The agency has completed more than 1,200 safety projects and installed more than 200 miles of protected bike lanes. Reducing the citywide speed limit to 25 miles per hour and the implementation of 24-hour speed camera operations have dramatically reduced reckless driving.

And since the launch of the Vision Zero Safe Fleet Transition Plan in 2017, more than 85,000 safety improvements have been made by NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) to City fleet vehicles including adding Intelligent Speed Assistance technology to slow down City vehicles, the installation of truck side-guards to further protect pedestrians and bicyclists, and the installation of surround cameras to address visual obstructions. In 2014, DCAS instituted the first citywide system for tracking crashes and trends among City fleet vehicles – in the 10 years since, DCAS has recorded over 20 percent reductions in crashes and injuries through its efforts.

By addressing areas with the greatest safety and transportation needs, the city has equitably picked locations for Street Improvement Projects (SIPs), which are safety-oriented engineering improvements that use multiple treatments like street redesigns, traffic signals, markings, or concrete on both corridors and intersections. These redesigns are generally aimed at better-organising traffic, improving travel times, and creating shorter, safer pedestrian crossings, and safe routes for bicycle travel. Neighbourhoods with high populations of non-white residents have received a higher share of street redesign miles than neighbourhoods with the lowest populations of non-white residents, according to preliminary NYC DOT data.

NYC DOT has codified its commitment to equity through the development of a new equity formula to ensure all New Yorkers benefit from safe street redesigns. The formula identifies Priority Investment Areas (PIAs) based on demographics, density, and previous levels of NYC DOT investment. Since adopting this formula at the end of 2021, NYC DOT has implemented 137 Street Improvement Projects in the top PIAs and constructed a variety of safety treatments, including:

• 22.1 miles of protected bike lanes, a lane protected by parking or some other physical barrier
• More than 900,000 square feet of new pedestrian space in the form of pedestrian plazas, curb and sidewalk extensions, pedestrian safety islands, and medians.
• 544 Leading Pedestrian Intervals were installed, providing a pedestrian crossing “head start” before vehicles receive the green light.
• 55 intersections upgraded with Raised Crosswalks, which feature a marked pedestrian crosswalk constructed at a higher elevation than the adjacent roadway.
• 101 intersections daylighted with visibility improvements.

During the rise in traffic fatalities during the coronavirus pandemic, Black and Latino road users were disproportionally impacted. Under the Adams administration there has been a decline in traffic fatalities among these populations, including a 36 percent decrease in fatalities involving Black victims since the start of the administration.

“Traffic safety is public safety, and pedestrians, cyclists, delivery workers, drivers, and everyone else using our roadways deserve safe streets,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “As we reach 10 years of Vision Zero in New York City, I want to commend DOT, and its partner agencies, for their unwavering commitment to the critical mission of protecting our fellow New Yorkers.”

“Redesign of vehicles and trucks for safety is a critical complement to the redesign of roadways,” said NYC Chief Fleet Officer Keith Kerman. “DCAS has made changes to safeguard the front, sides, and back of vehicles and trucks, and to closely monitor fleet operations, every minute, every mile. We are challenging fleets everywhere to follow us in installing truck side-guards, telematics, intelligent speed assistance, barring hands-free phone use by drivers, and addressing visual obstruction with trucks. These improvements with the city fleet will continue as we maintain focus on eliminating vehicle crashes and injuries.”

“Through Vision Zero, we’ve saved lives and made our streets safer for everyone,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “We’re dedicated to ensuring all New Yorkers reap the benefits of these initiatives. That’s why under the Adams Administration, we have expanded Vision Zero’s commitment to equity. We prioritise underserved communities when locating projects and have completed more projects in these communities than anywhere else.”

“The ability to walk safely is a critical part of building an age-inclusive city, and Vision Zero has been an important initiative to help ensure New Yorkers can move around safely and maintain their independence as they age,” said Department for the Ageing Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez. “Since Vision Zero was launched 10 years ago, there has been innovation to ensure the safety of older adults, such as the older adult community audit teams, that inform the Department of Transportation of their concerns and needs, and where additional traffic calming devices are needed. Also under Vision Zero, there have been an increase of No Standing Zones around older adult centres, making those blocks easier to walk on.”