Philly's Vision Zero plan highlights the urgent need to improve traffic safety

Philadelphia officials have released the Vision Zero Action Plan 2030.

The report fulfills part of the commitment made by Mayor Cherelle Parker’s  executive order in March 2024 to eliminate all traffic deaths on Philadelphia streets.

“This is a plan by and for the people of the City of Philadelphia,”  Parker said in a news release. “The voices of nearly 3,000 Philadelphians are reflected in this document and will help guide my administration’s work to make Philadelphia safe, clean and green with economic opportunity for all.” 

According to the plan, fatal crashes in 2024 continued to surpass pre-2020 levels, underscoring the urgent need for safety improvements.

Officials emphasized the importance of addressing the “High Injury Network. Although it makes up just 12 percent of Philadelphia’s streets, this network is responsible for 80 percent of all traffic deaths and serious injuries.

The report also highlighted that the post-2020 increase in traffic deaths has most impacted people traveling by foot, bike, or motorcycle without the protection of a vehicle around them. I

While less than 10 percent of all crashes in 2024 involved people walking, biking, rolling, or riding a motorcycle, those individuals accounted for nearly two-thirds of the year’s traffic fatalities.

The plan also showed the demographic disparities in fatal and serious injury crashes. According to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Black and Hispanic Philadelphians experience higher rates of traffic-related deaths. Officials said the Vision Zero Action Plan will track the disparity in this metric over time and will advance traffic safety improvements.

Over the past year, officials said roundtable conversations were held within the community, and Philadelphians shared that their most significant traffic safety concerns are speeding, running red lights/stop signs, and distracted driving.

The roundtables revealed that Philadelphians want more traffic calming measures, like speed humps and stressed the importance of safety for specific popular destinations like schools, senior centers, and public parks.

The action plan also highlighted some of the projects in support of Vision Zero over the past year: 

• Automated speed enforcement (ASE) was expanded to PA Route 611 (Broad Street/Old York Road) and has been approved to be expanded to the remainder of Route 13 within Philadelphia (Baltimore/W Hunting Park/Frankford Avenues), Route 2001 (Erie/Torresdale Avenues), Route 2016 (Allegheny Avenue), and Route 1004 (Richmond Street/Delaware Avenue). Cameras will also be installed at seven school zones across Philadelphia. 

• The city’s fifth Neighborhood Slow Zone, the 10th Memorial Slow Zone, was completed. The Slow Zone lowers the speed limit to 20 MPH and includes traffic calming on most blocks in the zone.  

•Concrete pedestrian median islands were installed on High Injury Network corridors (Race, Chestnut, and Broad Streets). 

See the full report below:

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