Have you, or someone you know, ever gotten into a traffic accident as a cyclist or pedestrian? Perhaps, you or someone you know was on the other side, behind the driver’s wheel? Either way, you’re certainly not alone. A driver hits a pedestrian every five hours in Philadelphia, according to the website of Vision Zero, an initiative of The City of Philadelphia’s Managing Director’s Office of Transportation & Infrastructure System (oTIS). In 2016, there were 369 deaths and serious injuries as a result of automotive crashes.

oTIS wants to drastically reduce and ultimately eliminate traffic-related deaths (of including but not limited to bikers and pedestrians) throughout the city. Their initiative, Vision Zero, hopes to accomplish this ambitious goal by 2030.

Using municipal data of traffic crashes by neighborhood, the oTIS produces some alarming and urgent statistics. In our previous post, we wrote about Vision Zero’s report that deemed 52nd Street and Baltimore Avenue and 40th and Market streets as the most dangerous intersections in the entire city. 

On Wednesday, April 19, oTIS Transportation Systems Program Planner Charlotte Castle spoke at the Chestnut Street Transportation Project Open House, explaining their mission and a few calls to action.

As a follow up to the open house, residents are asked to contribute to a survey about road safety. The survey begins by asking about your typical method of transportation. The next section inquires about your opinion about roadway safety in the city, followed by some questions about your basic information (where your zipcode is is the only required field).

Castle also encouraged Philadelphia residents to contribute to Vision Zero’s crowd-sourced Safety Map and provide feedback (via another survey) on their Three Year Action Plan. Residents are also asked to share the message with their neighbors, family, friends, and other Philadelphia residents in order to build a safer city.

– Danielle Corcione