Milwaukee Avenue Rapid Delivery Approach – Chicago, Illinois

Vision Zero Success Story – Planning, Implementation, & Evaluation

Background

Chicago’s Vision Zero Action Plan identified 43 High Crash Corridors, which are corridors where a disproportionately high number of people have been killed or severely injured in traffic crashes. The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) adopted a Rapid Delivery approach to provide a better response to the community and quickly address road safety concerns for specific corridors. This approach uses low-cost, rapidly implemented countermeasures including new street markings, signage, colored pavement treatments, and flexible delineators.

In 2017, CDOT piloted the implementation of the Rapid Delivery approach on the Milwaukee Avenue High Crash corridor, a 1.5-mile segment between Western Avenue and Division Street. This project was designed to enhance the safety of the corridor for people walking, biking, riding transit, and driving. Based on crash data collected from 2010 to 2014, there were 1,097 reported crashes. People walking and biking accounted for 20 percent of all crashes, however these more vulnerable users represented 66 percent of the injury crashes and 68 percent of the serious injury crashes in the corridor.

Speed Management Projects – West Palm Beach, Florida

Vision Zero Success Story – Infrastructure

Background

In August 2018, West Palm Beach became the fourth jurisdiction in Florida to adopt the Vision Zero initiative. The City focused on speed management as part of its Vision Zero efforts. As part of this focus, the City identified three speed management projects, all centered around reducing speeds and creating a safer space for pedestrians and bicyclists. These projects were initially developed under the City’s bicycle master plan and prioritized under Vision Zero.

One of the three projects was along Okeechobee Boulevard, where 33 percent of the crashes in the downtown area occurred. Forty-five percent of the crashes that occurred on Okeechobee Boulevard occurred during either the morning or afternoon peak hour. Fifty-two percent of the bicycle or pedestrian-involved crashes occurred at night.

Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force and Speed Limit Setting Report – California

Vision Zero Success Story – Partnerships

Background

Motor vehicle collisions are a leading cause of unintentional injuries and deaths among all age groups in the United States. In 2017, approximately 3,600 deaths and over 14,000 serious injuries occurred as a result of traffic collisions in California, costing the State over $53.5 billion. Twenty-six percent of the collisions were speeding-related, which included vehicle speeds that were unsafe for conditions or in excess of the speed limit.

This spurred the legislature into action and in 2018, the California Assembly signed Assembly Bill 2363. This Bill required the establishment of a Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force. The Task Force aimed to evaluate the ways in which speed limits are set in California, suggested alternatives to the current speed-limit-setting process (85th-percentile method), and proposed policies to reduce traffic fatalities to zero. AB 2363 directed the California Secretary of Transportation to publish a Report of Findings following the conclusion of the Task Force activities and submit it to the Legislature.

Rainier Avenue South Redesign – Seattle, Washington

Vision Zero Success Story – Infrastructure

Background

The Rainier Valley neighborhood located in southeast Seattle is home to one of the City’s most culture-rich and diverse populations. Rainier Avenue South is a principal arterial street that connects residents and communities along the former regional rail corridor. The area surrounding Rainier Avenue South includes many land uses like retail, schools, and parks. These uses are pertinent to pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and drivers.

It was also the corridor with the highest number of traffic crashes in Seattle; the corridor had a per mile crash rate that is greater than other streets in the City that carry more than twice the volume of traffic as on Rainier Ave South. The City launched Vision Zero efforts in 2014, one of which was working with the community to redesign a one-mile segment of the eight-mile corridor for the pilot phase of the Rainier Avenue South Corridor Safety Project. The City implemented changes to the piloted segment between South Alaska Street and South Kenny Street over a weekend in August 2015.

Rainier Avenue South carries over 13,000 people daily on transit, is a freight and emergency response route, and serves between 19,700 and 26,600 vehicles each weekday. Studies in the corridor show that between 1,000 and 2,000 vehicles per day travel along the corridor at a speed greater than 10 miles above the 30 miles per hour (mph) posted speed limit. The total average number of annual crashes over the 10 years prior to the redesign was 95 crashes, 9 serious injury crashes, and 1 fatality crash.

Systemic Safety Analysis – San Diego, California

Vision Zero Success Story – Data

Background

In 2015, the City of San Diego adopted a Vision Zero approach to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on City streets by 2025. This approach included the development and implementation of strategies in the areas of engineering, enforcement, and education. A key element of the City’s Vision Zero program was to use data to select projects with the greatest safety benefit. This data-driven philosophy was encapsulated in the City’s Systemic Safety Analysis Reporting Program (SSARP). The Safe Transportation Research and Education Center at the University of California, Berkeley assisted with the development of SSARP, which included standardizing processes to perform crash analyses, identifying safety issues, and developing a list of low-cost proven safety countermeasures. The systemic safety approach evaluated the City’s entire roadway network, rather than individual high-crash locations, and identified high-risk roadway features correlated with common crash types.

Improving Pedestrian Rail Crossing Safety with Hinged Pedestrian Gate Skirts

Describe the state of roadway safety before the new practice was implemented. What was the safety issue, problem, or gap?

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) converted an existing highway-railroad crossing to a pedestrian- and bicycle-only crossing when new roadway construction and land use changes occurred in New Britain, Connecticut. The converted railroad crossing design needed to safely accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists accessing a nearby busway station, multi-use trail, and other amenities.

In 2016, three pedestrians in Ramsey, New Jersey, died when hit by a train near the Main Street and Ramsey transit station. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), New Jersey Transit, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and local town officials worked together to find and implement a treatment to help prevent similar tragedies from occurring again.

What key challenges needed to be addressed before the new practice could be implemented?

The key challenge was getting agreement among professionals and the public on the chosen treatment.

Describe the new practice.

Both NJDOT and CTDOT identified a hinged pedestrian gate skirt as the most effective solution for the crossings. A hinged pedestrian gate skirt is a secondary horizontal bar that hangs under an existing pedestrian gate to help improve safety at rail crossings.

What technical and/or institutional changes resulted from the new practice?

Both Connecticut and New Jersey have installed hinged pedestrian gate skirts to better deter pedestrian violations.

What benefits were realized as a result of the practice?

This treatment deters pedestrians from going under a pedestrian gate that is in movement and in the down position. The pedestrian gate skirt pilot program found that descending gate violations decreased by 78 percent, and horizontal gate violations decreased by 54 percent. NJDOT reports no fatalities have occurred since installing the hinged pedestrian gate skirt. The low position of the gate skirt also benefits people who are blind or have low vision because the gate can be detected using canes or other mobility aids.

Florida: Safe Mobility for Life Coalition

• The Safety Concern: Increasing rates of aging-driver crashes.
• The Solution: Creation of the Safe Mobility for Life Coalition.
• The Result: Safer mobility for the aging population.

(2015 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Florida: Texas-Americana Road Safety Small Area Study

• The Safety Concern: Elevated crash rates on local roadways and intersections.
• The Solution: Launch of a small-area Road Safety Audit.
• The Result: Identification and remediation of safety concerns.

(2015 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Pedestrian Safety Action Plan

Pedestrian safety is a major concern in Virginia. Between 2012 and 2016, over 450 pedestrians died and over 8,000 were injured while walking along or across Virginia’s public roads. Over 90 percent of Virginia’s pedestrian crashes occur when the pedestrian is crossing the street. More than half (62% of crashes) occur at mid-block pedestrian crossings.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

“Alert Today Florida” Bicycle/Pedestrian Initiative

Based on crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Florida had the highest pedestrian and bicyclist fatality rates in the US from 2008-2011. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is a major concern and has been elevated to one of the highest priorities in Florida.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)