What is Vision Zero?
The nationally-recognized Vision Zero Network defines Vision Zero as, “a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.”
The holistic set of principles known collectively as Vision Zero were first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s. They sought to evolve beyond disjointed, reactive responses to traffic deaths to implement a goals-based, multi-disciplinary approach which shifts the focus from individual incidents to system-wide improvement.
While the Vision Zero approach is implemented uniquely in each community, all programs share a set of five core tenets:
- Build and sustain leadership and collaboration
- Collect, analyze, and use data to understand trends
- Emphasize equity and engagement
- Establish urgency and accountability
- Prioritize safe roadways and speeds in all transportation planning and design
Vision Zero is a strategic, fundamental shift in assumptions about safe transportation, with a focus on:
- Recognizing that traffic deaths and injuries are preventable
- Factoring in human behavior and error to proposed solutions
- Acknowledging that safety doesn’t have to be expensive
Vision Zero is not accomplished through transportation solutions alone. Many factors contribute to safety, and there are many who stand to benefit from increasing travel safety. Accordingly, the Arlington County Vision Zero effort will be community-wide, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary.