Vision Zero is an approach to traffic safety where traffic deaths are acknowledged as preventable. We focus on eliminating serious and fatal traffic crashes, instead of all levels of vehicle collisions, and we accept shared responsibility for traffic safety among all transportation system users, designers, and operators.

Vision Zero is a global movement to end traffic deaths and a way to analyze and address traffic safety issues.

• All Modes of Transportation
  Eliminate traffic deaths for people walking, biking, accessing transit, and driving.
• Equity
  Focus on equitable safety solutions prioritized to the areas of greatest need to ensure safe access is available to everyone.
• Data-Driven Solutions
  Based on industry best practices, evidence-based solutions, and local data analysis.
• Public Input
  Community Informed and guided by public feedback.
• Education
  Inform the public of the importance of Vision Zero and a shared responsibility of all roadway users.
• Commitment and Accountability
  Gain buy-in from leadership and guide alignment of funding, policies, and processes.
• Urgency
  Focus on quick action to address the urgent need to stop the continued loss of life and severe injuries.

In most urban and many rural communities, there are areas where transportation infrastructure has been underfunded in the past. These may be in lower income, minority populations or other underserved areas, where sidewalks, roadways, traffic control, and other areas may not be as improved as other parts of the community.

Research has found that the chances of an individual to be involved in a fatal or serious injury crash are higher in these areas. Equity ensures the specific needs of underserved communities are taken into consideration to provide appropriate solutions that allow everyone the opportunity to live a safe and healthy life.

Incorporating equity into roadway safety should involve working with underserved communities to:

• Collect and analyze data to identify communities experiencing disparities in roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
• Engage community representatives to understand their transportation safety needs and build trust.
• Implement improvements in safety planning, funding, design, operations, and asset management processes to eliminate disparities in traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
• Evaluate impacts by monitoring outcomes and working to continuously improve safety outcomes with communities.

Some resources that can assist in applying Equity into Transportation Safety:

• Equity in Roadway Safety Webinar Series
• Equity in Transportation Public Roads Magazine
• Integrating Equity into the Safe System Approach Presentation
• Noteworthy Practices:
  • California: Integrating the Safe System Approach and Equity into California’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan
  • Minnesota: MnDOT’s SPACE Tool: Using Equity Data to Inform Active Transportation Safety
  • San Francisco: Equity Approaches for Vision Zero
  • Virginia: “E is for Everybody”: Using Equity to Prioritize Pedestrian Safety Projects and Make the Case for Greater State Funding
• FHWA Title VI of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Additional Nondiscrimination Requirements
• FHWA Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504)
• FHWA Equity in Transportation for Planners
• Equity at US DOT

In addition to the Engagement Map above, as part of the First City Vision Zero Action Plan process, a Technical Advisory Committee has been developed to review data analysis and public input, determine safety focus areas, as well as filter, prioritize, and implement recommendations from the public.

The committee is made up of City of Leavenworth department staff, partnering agencies representatives, and members of community advocacy groups.

The committee's input is critical to the development of the First City Vision Zero Action Plan. They convened Focus Area Working Groups to help identify recommendations related to addressing specific safety issues, including:

• Signalized Intersections
• Impaired / Distracted Driving
• Vulnerable Road Users
• Speed
• Young Drivers
• Arterial Streets

The Vision Zero Action Plan will be used to identify strategies, policies, countermeasures, and processes that will, over time, eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

These polices and processes include:

• street design guidelines
• funding allocations
• education
• emergency responders
• street reconstruction projects
• potential system-wide safety programs

This plan is focused on city streets in Leavenworth — it should be noted that interstate highways and other limited access highways are not part of the action plan.

This Vision Zero Action Plan covers all road users involved in fatal and serious injury crashes. This includes people driving and riding in vehicles, people walking, people biking, and any other person using the street. The Vision Zero Action Plan is not a bicycle and pedestrian plan.