PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Car crashes resulting in deaths or serious injuries decreased by 34% on Philadelphia streets where the city has installed traffic calming measures, according to a report on the progress of the Vision Zero program, released Tuesday.
Mayor Jim Kenney instituted Vision Zero in his first term with the goal of reducing traffic deaths to zero by 2030. However, as he leaves office, one of his signature programs is showing measurable success and yet falling short for reasons tied to the pandemic.
“We were dealt the cards we were dealt and we had to play that hand.”
Officials and advocates on Tuesday gathered at the spot, on Cobbs Creek Parkway near Catherine Street, where 25-year-old Avante Reynolds was mowed down by a driver in August 2020.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said the tragedy brought long-needed traffic-slowing measures to the road.
“For so long, we’d been told that couldn’t happen here because it’s a state road, but we were able to push past that, and we’ve been seeing dramatic improvements as far as reductions in speeding,” she said.
Deputy Managing Director Mike Carroll said there are measurable improvements on all the roads Vision Zero has targeted. Strategies included reducing traffic lanes, adding protected bike lanes and creating slow zones with speed bumps, rumble strips and other measures — and they have worked.
In those slow zones, Carroll said, “They’ve seen no fatalities or serious-injury crashes throughout the time they’ve been in place.”
But advocates and officials agree: The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down progress because of an increase in risky driver behavior.
Fran Hanney of PennDOT says the same thing happened across the nation: “The data indicates that aggressive driving behavior is a major factor in this unfortunate trend.”
Kenney said Vision Zero has reduced the impact, but it has its limits.
“People need to examine their behavior and figure out ways of slowing themselves down and not being as reckless,” the mayor said.
Vision Zero will continue beyond Kenney’s administration, the mayor said. There are some $200 million worth of projects in the pipeline, thanks largely to federal infrastructure funding.