Background

Like many States across the country, Virginia is facing a pedestrian safety crisis. On average, 70-90 pedestrians were killed per year from the early 2000s to 2016. Starting in 2016, pedestrian fatalities increased dramatically to 111 to 122 per year; this was followed by a large increase to over 170 in 2022. To address this crisis and reach their goal of zero deaths, which is set in the State’s SHSP, VDOT developed a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP). Through collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), VDOT incorporated VDH’s Health Opportunity Index (HOI) in their PSAP update to proactively and systemically prioritizes locations for pedestrian safety improvements.