5 Ways to get closer to Vision Zero
The Vision Zero traffic safety framework aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on roadways. But while major road system redesigns take time and significant investment, there are some simple steps that cities and towns can take to intelligently and cost-effectively begin introducing the concept. Integrate these Vision Zero strategies in your plan to make mobility safer in your community.
1. Driver education campaigns
The simplest of steps: let drivers know what Vision Zero is and why it’s being implemented. It’s hard to argue against an effort to eliminate deaths on roadways, and if drivers are onboard from the outset, there will be more support for the bigger projects to come.
2. Identify and announce
Work out where big infrastructure and roadway changes might best occur, and position roadside signage so that drivers and pedestrians are aware that traffic calming measures may soon be implemented there.
3. Leverage existing infrastructure
Intersections are a key safety point for road traffic accidents. By incorporating priority control systems such as GTT’s Opticom, emergency vehicles are able to request green lights, avoiding the dangerous navigation of cross traffic; and public transit vehicles can receive assistance in keeping to their schedules, minimizing delays in traffic. All that’s required is there in the existing intersection infrastructure and on the vehicles themselves.
4. Utilize technology
Make the most of the new developments in smart technology: incorporate data from sensors in those traffic lights and municipal fleets – buses, emergency vehicles, utility vehicles – which can provide useful insights about traffic behavior, particularly when analyzed by intelligent software, and help guide strategic planning.
5. Reduce speed limits
Before any big new projects take place, communities can begin lowering speed limits in a fashion appropriate to their road network and traffic levels, with guidance from the experience of other Vision Zero initiatives in cities around the world.
Read more in-depth solutions in this whitepaper: https://www.gtt.com/project/vision-zero-traffic-goals/