"Vision Zero" is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. It is a movement that began in Sweden and spread to American Cities after seeing success across Europe. Vision Zero acknowledges that collisions -- often referred to as "accidents" -- are preventable if cities take a proactive approach that prioritizes traffic safety as a public health issue. Vision Zero acknowledges that many factors contribute to safe mobility including roadway design, driver behavior, technology and policy. Vision Zero sets clear goals to achieve the shared goal of zero fatalities and severe injuries. Cities within Monterey County that have adopted a Vision Zero Policy include Salinas and Monterey. Nearby cities including Watsonville and San Jose have also adopted a Vision Zero Policy.
TAMC has been working with the Stanford Cartography Society to develop an interactive web-map to showcase collision data to the general public, and recently adopted a policy as part of the 2022 Regional Transportation Plan reflective of Vision Zero. Updates from the City of Salinas and the City of Monterey are as follows:
Update from City of Salinas
The City of Salinas is in the process of developing their Vision Zero Action Plan, which will clearly lay out steps, timelines and priorities for the implementation of their Vision Zero Policy. The Vision Zero Action Plan will also identify "countermeasures," which are strategies geared at eliminating the causes of fatal and severe injury collisions.
Salinas City Staff has compiled 10 years of collision data and created maps to illustrate spatial patterns and identify the City of Salinas' High Injury Network (see web attachments). The High Injury Network was developed with data from the Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS), StateWide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) and local police records between the years 2009 through 2018. The High Injury Network identifies corridors and intersections with the highest concentration of fatal and serious injuries across the city, representing 24% of the city's roadway streets network. See web attachments for full details of highest collision intersections and corridors. Note that KSI indicates "killed and severely injured".
City of Salinas staff is requesting the Committee's input on the included maps and comments and/or recommended countermeasures for inclusion in the Vision Zero Action Plan.
Update from City of Monterey
In 2016, the City of Monterey was awarded a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to develop a Vision Zero Action Plan. City staff compiled 5 years of collision data and created maps to identify the roads with the highest concentration of fatal and severe injuries. The City also created a collision types matrix that identifies the contributing collision factor, the typical causes, and the principal strategy and supporting strategies to address each collision type. The Monterey City Council passed a resolution endorsing Vision Zero in July 2017 and a Vision Zero Task Force was set up to engage all city departments in drafting a Vision Zero Action Plan. The final Vision Zero Action Plan was adopted by the Monterey City Council on November 7, 2017. The plan identified strategies for engagement, enforcement, engineering, education, and evaluation.
The City of Monterey remains committed to Vision Zero, since adopting the Vision Zero Action Plan in 2017. As part of the current effort to update the city's Multi-modal Plan, Vision Zero as well as several other City Transportation efforts have been integrated into the City’s Circulation Element and Multi-modal Plan. This move integrates Vision Zero into the City’s primary policy and implementation document regarding transportation in the City of Monterey. This integrated approach complements the multidisciplinary, multi-pronged approach to work towards Vision Zero.
Funding Opportunity - Highway Safety Improvement Program
The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) is a competitive federal grant aimed at reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries on public roads, trails and paths. Cities and counties are eligible to apply to fund the following project phases:
- Preliminary engineering (NEPA clearance required)
- Right-of-Way (must be less than 10% of Construction)
- Construction
The maximum request for Highway Safety Improvement Program funds is $10 Million and the minimum request is $100,000. Applicants must identify specific safety problems and their countermeasures and projects must have a Benefit Cost Ratio of at least 3.5 to be eligible for funding. Typically the maximum reimbursement for HSIP is 90%, although countermeasures have different maximum federal reimbursement ratios.
The Highway Safety Improvement Program Cycle 10 applications are due October 19, 2020. For more information to apply visit: https://dot.ca.gov/programs/local-assistance/fed-and-state-programs/highway-safety-improvement-program/apply-now
Future cycles of the HSIP program will require jurisdictions to have a defined High Injury Network.