Vision Zero: Top-to-Bottom Review
Read the Report
- Read the Vision Zero Top-to-Bottom Review overview
- Read the Vision Zero Top-to-Bottom Review full report (Updated July 28, 2023)
- Read more on our blog about Vision Zero, the top-to-bottom review, and upcoming safety improvements
Background
In September 2022, SDOT Director Greg Spotts called for a top-to-bottom review of Vision Zero efforts to help us better understand why serious injuries and deaths on Seattle streets are on the rise, and to identify opportunities to reduce harm while creating a culture of care and dignity for all travelers.
This initial review focused on how we can deliver safety interventions with demonstrated effectiveness in locations where they are most needed. All recommended strategies and tactics are intended to inform further work to align funding, policies, procedures, and activities within a Safe System framework to support Vision Zero.
Community Feedback
Our review considers the effects the pandemic had on streets locally and nationally, uses data to show where to focus investments, identifies internal challenges holding us back, and establishes 12 recommendations and 5 momentum-building actions to advance in 2023.
We’ve shared this report to engage with elected officials, stakeholders, and members of the community to provide important input into SDOT’s upcoming update of the Vision Zero Action Plan.
Recent Vision Zero Presentations
The following meetings were open to the public and focused on:
- Sharing Vision Zero Review findings and how they will inform future decisions
- Discussing five momentum-building actions we will implement in 2023
- Welcoming public input and feedback from community members as we update the Vision Zero Action Plan
Group |
Meeting Date |
Comment Letter |
| City Council Transportation Committee |
Tuesday, March 7 |
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| Levy Oversight Committee |
Tuesday, March 7 |
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Wednesday, March 8 (Joint meeting) |
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| School Traffic Safety Committee |
Friday, March 17 |
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| Seattle Freight Advisory Board |
Tuesday, March 21 |
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| Pedestrian Access Advisory Committee |
Tuesday, March 21 |
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| Transit Advisory Board |
Wednesday, March 22 |
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| Transportation Equity Workgroup |
Monday, April 10 |
Next Steps
This report is neither the beginning nor the end of our Vision Zero work. Our recommendations are intended to spur action to make SDOT more effective in delivering Safe Systems and Vision Zero outcomes, and to provide an important input into SDOT’s upcoming update of the Vision Zero Action Plan.
Key Recommendations
- Incorporate Vision Zero and Safe Systems approaches into every project and program
- Adopt clearer and stronger guidance for facility design
- Clarify and streamline internal decision pathways
- Be willing to reduce vehicle travel speeds and convenience to improve safety
- Implement iterative, ongoing improvements to our infrastructure
- Accelerate planning for broader or systemwide implementation of proven interventions
- Secure funding to incorporate Vision Zero improvements in all projects and for asset maintenance
- Complete racial equity analysis of automated enforcement. Address inequities and where appropriate, use automated enforcement as a tool
- Shift culture and strengthen support for Vision Zero throughout SDOT
- Strengthen and resource SDOT’s Vision Zero core and matrix teams
- Improve SDOT’s customer service response process
- Be champions for Vision Zero as we engage with WSDOT, the Port of Seattle, transit partners, the legislature, and other organizations
Momentum-building actions
- Phase in additional “no turn on red” signs at downtown intersections.
- Accelerate leading pedestrian interval (LPI) rollout where existing signal systems can support it.
- Partner with Sound Transit to implement a series of improvements along Martin Luther King Jr. Way S to enhance safety for all travelers.
- Engage the public on automated enforcement to address equity concerns about future expansion in neighborhoods with many fatalities and serious injuries.
- Elevate City Traffic Engineer to a new Chief Safety Officer role.
A group of community members poses with Vision Zero tote bags, 2017. Photo credit: SDOT