Vision Zero Denton
Vision Zero Denton
Safety is the number one transportation priority for the City of Denton.
And while the City continues to address safety through existing policies and projects, we also recognize the need to review and re-think Denton’s current safety practices and identify opportunities to decrease severe crashes and ultimately get to a day with zero fatalities. The first step toward zero fatalities is preparation of a Vision Zero Plan.
What is Vision Zero?
Vision Zero asserts that no one should be killed or suffer lifelong injuries because of a roadway crash. In 2022, the United States Department of Transportation released their National Roadway Safety Strategy , which endorsed zero fatalities as the national goal. Underlying Vision Zero is the Safe System Approach : To get to zero, transportation and safety professionals must work together to achieve intentional solutions for safer roads, safer road users, safer speeds, safer vehicles, and post-crash care.
The success of a Vision Zero program is built around three pillars:
Leadership and Commitment
A commitment by local officials and stakeholders to achieve zero traffic fatalities and severe injuries among all road users within a set timeframe. Requires meaningful engagement and buy-in from the public.
Safe Roads and Safe Speed
A commitment to utilize data and engagement to prioritize solutions related to road design, lowering and/or evaluating speed limits, enforcement of traffic laws, and education.
Data Driven Approach, Transparency, and Accountability
A commitment to gather, analyze, utilize, and share data to understand safety issues and prioritize resources based on evidence of the greatest needs and impact. Must include transparency with the results.
Vision Zero Assessment (Phase 1)
Kicking off Denton’s Vision Zero planning process was an assessment of the City’s safety programs across departments to identify opportunities for alignment with the Vision Zero framework. This assessment clarifies and prioritizes safety throughout the City, allowing us to “hit the ground running” as we implement safety projects in the future.
Achieving Vision Zero is complex, but best practices organize the program into the Ten Core Elements for Vision Zero Communities. These core elements were discussed at length with Denton’s stakeholders during a series of meetings, workshops, and surveys. The input gathered resulted in useful actions to establish City policies, programs, and projects to truly impact severe crashes. The process and end result of this effort can be found below.
Getting Stakeholder Input
To move closer to a day without severe crashes, behavioral interventions (education); engineering and design solutions; laws, policies, and enforcement; vehicle safety and technology; and emergency response all need to be considered and addressed. Several different agencies and organizations within the City of Denton execute these roles. To make a sizeable impact on severe crashes, coordination across City staff and these stakeholders is essential. Close to 80 stakeholders were invited to participate in this Assessment and were engaged in three ways – an Introductory Webinar, a Survey, and a Workshop.
Stakeholders
The following agencies provided their perspectives throughout the Vision Zero Assessment to ensure the range of institutional challenges and successes were captured.
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Webinar
In May 2022, all stakeholders were invited to kick off the Vision Zero Assessment: approximately 30 participated. A goal of this project was to further educate stakeholders on the importance of safety and opportunities to address it as part of their job functions and at their agencies.
Survey
In June 2022, stakeholders were asked to respond to an online survey. The questions were used to obtain a baseline understanding of current safety practices, successes, and gaps. The results provided initial feedback on the extent to which the core elements of a Vision Zero program were being executed.
- Leadership and Commitment
- Safe Roads and Safe Speed
- Data Driven Approach, Transparency, and Accountability
Survey Results: Leadership and Commitment
- Not everyone agreed transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries were preventable.
- Most respondents thought leadership supported safety initiatives.
- Half of the respondents felt resistance to safety initiatives from the community.
- Most respondents did not know the role of the City’s Traffic Safety Commission.
- Most respondents thought the City consistently or usually engages with people who live in Denton. However, less so with some groups, like the health community, and more so with enforcement, emergency responders, and engineers.
Survey Results: Safe Roads and Safe Speed
- Less than half of the respondents thought the City prioritized safety over speed.
- Most respondents thought streets should be designed around safety.
- There was wide disagreement about whether the City provides a safe transportation system for all users.
Survey Results: Data Driven Approach, Transparency, and Accountability
- Most respondents thought safety is being consistently addressed across all transportation projects in the City.
- Only half of respondents know how crashes are reported or where the data are stored.
- Most respondents know who to talk to about the prioritization of safety improvements and community engagement.
- On average, respondents thought it was important to prioritize projects in underserved communities.
- Most respondents agree it is important to include training as part of traffic safety enforcement.
- There was consistency among respondents that stakeholder groups should be representative of the communities affected by a project.
- There was consistent feedback that City of Denton staff should monitor and report on how Vision Zero efforts improve safety.
Workshops
In September 2022, two workshops were held – one in-person and one virtual. Drawing from the results of the survey, the team developed a benchmarking matrix (example here) which identified the strengths and areas of improvement for the City related to executing the core elements of Vision Zero. Over 40 stakeholders participated in the workshops.
Workshop outcomes:
- Confirm the benchmarking results for the City, organized by the three Vision Zero pillars, were accurate.
- Identify missing safety practices, opportunities, and challenges not captured in the survey or by internal conversations with City staff.
- Prioritize elements of the safety program to continue to build upon and critical areas, where more work could be accomplished.
Interviews
Progress toward zero fatalities takes input and commitment from several agencies. While over 40 stakeholders participated in the workshops – some critical voices were not available on those days to share their perspectives. Three separate interviews were held to ensure comprehensive input was received from the engineering, emergency response, and enforcement agencies.
Benchmarking
Input from all stakeholders and City staff led to a holistic understanding of how Denton conducts its safety practices. To understand how these practices compare to the Vision Zero core elements, benchmarks were developed for each category. For each benchmark, a determination was made as to whether it was an institutional practice, an occasional practice, or not a current practice.
- Safe Roads and Safe Speed
- Data Driven Approach, Transparency, and Accountability
- Leadership and Commitment
Benchmarking: Safe Roads and Safe Speed
Benchmarking: Data Driven Approach, Transparency, and Accountability
Benchmarking: Leadership and Commitment
Followup Actions
Based on the benchmarking effort and findings, the city team has developed an action plan, identifying the benchmarks, actions and next steps. The actions have been identified relative to their complexity and level of effort.
Leadership and Commitment
Actions
- Identify funding to support development of 2023 VZ Plan
- Develop public statement committing council to upcoming VZ plan and continued implementation
- Provide regular updates to council on VZ and related safety initiatives
- Summarize VZ Assessment to stakeholder group
- Ask VZ Assessment stakeholders to share progress and announce commitment to upcoming VZ plan development
- Review & Revise current list of VZ stakeholders to be inclusive of all communities; perform outreach for engagement in 2023 VZ Plan. Include elected official representation.
- Summarize VZ Assessment to TSC, utilize VZ stakeholder group as mechanism to engage TSC in VZ Plan and discuss how to improve collaboration with other internal departments, committees, and stakeholders
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term Draft VZ RFQ and share with council Draft resolution or external promotion committing to VZ implementation Schedule a discussion on the role of TSC in VZ plan and ongoing safety updates Develop template and cadence for safety-related updates to public & council Consultant team to develop content for presentation to stakeholders Prepare draft social share for stakeholders and send request to share | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Discuss approach to augmenting stakeholder group and formalize for VZ plan Discuss approach to formalizing interdepartmental VZ working group | Longer-term consideration |
Actions
- Periodically review VZ stakeholder group for potential gaps in representative communities
- Develop a plan for public participation in developing VZ Plan
- Research other cities’ approach to providing grant opportunities for projects supporting VZ; develop an approach for Denton
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Discuss and revise (accordingly) approach to identifying and including disadvantaged communities in VZ discussions Develop scope for public participation in VZ Plan RFP | Longer-term consideration Determine approach to funding activities for community-based organizations and nonprofits |
Actions
- Develop systematic process and assign staff time for performing analysis of crash history – For VZ plan and post-plan.
- Expand safety data beyond crashes – incorporate data from PD, hospitals, e.g. – to better inform the City of its safety challenges and needs
- Establish a baseline for severe crashes and establish timeline to zero fatalities with interim targets
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Establish as part of VZ Plan: Crash characteristics, HIN, timeline to zero, clear action items with responsibilities, publish progress on website Prepare memorandum explaining data collection, filtering and analysis methodology Initiate conversations with County Public Health Department to develop shared objectives and understanding of goals | Longer-term consideration Conduct on-going analysis and report-out of crashes in Denton Conduct third-party audits of VZ progress Develop training materials to facilitate staff transitions in/out of VZ responsibilities |
Actions
- Implement policies that would support VZ goals in project delivery and performance monitoring as part of VZ plan. Make use of FHWA and NHTSA Resources.
- Prioritize multimodal, equitable travel in the establishment of VZ policies
- Develop policy that prioritizes funding projects that are expected to demonstrate a reduction in serious injury / fatal collisions
- Prioritize projects that incentivize transit, biking, walking and carpooling in Capital Improvement Program
- Ensure construction activities that affect roadway operations mitigate the impacts to all modes during construction
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term Develop transportation network performance metrics that can be examined for projects and fit the context of travel in Denton Explore procedures related to construction permits; update to ensure impacts to all modes are mitigated | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Establish policies to prioritize and measure safety in project delivery as part of VZ Plan Establish policy to report safety outcomes related to VZ, and for specific projects, to the public Establish policies as part of VZ plan that prioritize safety in an equitable manner Identify grants and other non-traditional sources of funding for projects that improve safety Develop and implement modified CIP scoring methodology based on VZ plan recommendations | Longer-term consideration |
Actions
- Consider development of Complete Streets Policy in VZ planning process.
- Prioritize projects (CIP or otherwise) that integrate the safety of the City’s most vulnerable road users
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term | Complete as part of the VZ Plan In VZ Plan, examine need for Complete Streets policy; if so establish next steps Augment Denton Mobility Plan with performance measures, a framework for prioritizing modes, and a more detailed analysis of transit, bike and pedestrian circulation | Longer-term consideration |
Actions
- Take action on City’s recent speed study
- Examine safety and VZ education opportunities as part of VZ plan
- Prioritize projects (CIP or otherwise) that achieve safe speeds
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Implement policy and infrastructure recommendations that resulted from recent City Speed Study Develop approach to road user education as part of VZ Plan Develop approach to prioritization of safe speeds as part of VZ Plan | Longer-term consideration |
Data Driven Approach, Transparency, and Accountability
Actions
- Establish best practices for addressing equity in safety performance metrics; incorporate into scoring rubric for transportation project prioritization
- Incorporate equity-based and demographic analysis into VZ planning process; include feedback from historically underserved populations into methodology
- Identify policies in VZ plan that can address safety goals while minimizing disproportionate impacts to low-income individuals
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Develop equity-based and demographic analysis in VZ plan Identify policies in VZ plan that can minimize impacts to financially vulnerable road users | Longer-term consideration Incorporate equity metrics on City safety dashboard Task lead agency with implementation of policies |
Actions
- Consider development of analytics, coupled with deployment of technology that can systemically and proactively identify potential collisions
- Develop systematic identification process for common collision patters
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Develop and formalize systematic process for identifying common collision patters in VZ Plan Discuss methodology for proactive ID of highrisk locations and behaviors in VZ plan | Longer-term consideration Pilot technology for identifying monitoring collision “hot spots” for Incorporate equity metrics on City safety dashboard |
Actions
- Publicly share safety trends through website and/or other channels
- Develop a policy or institutionalize the practice of conducting before/after studies for projects intended to impact safety outcomes
- Incorporate safety metrics and decision framework into decision-making process for intersection design and control
- Incorporate and formalize inclusion of demonstration projects and pilots into toolbox of strategies. Highlight outcomes of deployments.
Next Steps for Staff & Timeline
Can/should be done in the near term Update Transportation Criteria Manual to require safety analysis in recommendations and decisions regarding intersection control Determine appropriate approach to include demonstration projects into toolbox of mobility / safety strategies | Complete as part of the VZ Plan Develop HIN and Data Dashboard as part of VZ Plan | Longer-term consideration |
COMING SOON: Vision Zero Plan (Phase 2)
The City of Denton anticipates beginning Phase 2 of Vision Zero Denton by Summer 2023. This phase includes the issuance of a Request for Qualifications to create a Vision Zero Action Plan.
Stay Informed
For more information about the City of Denton’s Vision Zero initiative and/or how to stay informed, please contact: