COMMUNICATIONS

NATIONAL RESOURCES

This component has been developed to provide communication materials which can help to influence behavioral change across multiple channels. The materials included in this component can be tailored to local elected officials, state legislators, media outlets, technical professionals, community leaders, advocates, and members of the public to showcase effective messaging in addition to strategies to create change. These materials as part of the overall vision zero campaign can:

/ Influence policy and legislation

/ Change organizational practices

/ Foster coalitions and networks

/ Educate providers

/ Promote community education

/ Strengthen individual knowledge and skills

Audiences

There are several different audiences that can use this communications section. These include the following groups and the roles they might take in using or advocating for Vision Zero in the community.

Indiana Mpo Board Members With Technical Expertise

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are large parts of our lives and the regional economy through the planning and programming decisions they make. There are 407 MPOs in the U.S., one for each urbanized area with 50,000 or more people. City and community engineers and planners are on the front lines in the fight against traffic deaths, and the role of MPOs is receiving increasing attention as more people across the country acknowledge the travesty of preventable loss of lives on our roadways. Last year, according to the National Safety Council, an estimated 40,000 people lost their lives and more than 4 million more were injured on U.S. roadways. And traffic deaths disproportionately affect those in communities of color, low-income communities, youth, the elderly, and those walking and biking.

Through regional planning, funding, and policy, MPO board members with technical expertise are uniquely positioned to understand Vision Zero and champion its cause to elected officials with legislative power. The people at the heart of these organizations know the issues unique to their community, and have the knowledge to make recommendations of how to implement the principles of Vision Zero in a way that is likely to win over elected leadership and make meaningful impact. They will need additional guidance to make sure that they make these points in a persuasive manner, but can be powerful allies.

Elected Local Officials

Mayors, as well as town and city council members, play a critical role in committing a community to Vision Zero, whether through legislative action or in direct partnership with other members of their communities. Once the commitment to pursuing a Project Vision Zero-friendly agenda is made, many elected local leaders have worked to invest resources from their communities to mobilize the right agencies — and top leaders —within the city to turn talk into action in a lasting and meaningful way.

Overall, elected local leadership plays the most important role in setting the vision, communicating priorities to the departments carrying out the work, ensuring funding aligns with goals, establishing the structure for collaboration and action, and fostering a climate that both celebrates successes and holds stakeholders accountable to the urgency of achieving Vision Zero. All materials must be made to use by MPOs, but easily viewable and understandable by elected civic officials across the state of Indiana and beyond.

State Legislators

Attached to mayoral leadership through governmental power, but with a voice to affect change on a larger, statewide scale, these individuals can seek out a cause and shine a spotlight on it to enhance the effectiveness of a campaign. By making a commitment to advance the principles and cause of Vision Zero, state legislators and lawmakers will be able to take effective steps in conjunction with local governments to make recommended steps a reality.

With greater emphasis on Vision Zero initiatives and goals, on a number of local levels and to some extent on the statewide level, Vision Zero will additionally generate new interest among tertiary audience members.

Community Advocates

Having seen the impact of preventable traffic fatalities or injuries, either to someone they know personally or simply to members of their community, these individuals are eager to speak out and effect change to impact this widespread problem. Beyond listening, changing their own driving habits, and using their networks to spread the word and change cultural habits on an individual level, community activists want to interact with legislators and lawmakers, putting pressure on them and making a difference on a structural level as well.

Spreading the high impact of traffic deaths among marginalized groups and the preventable nature of these fatalities and injuries will draw their interest. The more data these activists will have access to, the more they will have to latch onto and share on their personal networks. A dedicated fact sheet will be a shareable tool that could have an outsize impact for them to share with their own networks. While journalists have access to traditional media platforms, community activists are active on a more grassroots level and spread messaging focused on social media and direct community action. They will help to change habits and put pressure on elected officials.

The following resources are available to download and customize and use to advocate for Vision Zero in your community.

Community Partners

A rich collection of organizations with multiple viewpoints, community partners take an active role in the life of the community. From members of law enforcement, to educational organizations, to nonprofit organizations like AARP and United Way, to civic and economic organizations like chambers of commerce, community partners all have a direct interest in ensuring that the community stays safe, active and traversable. The level of impact that community partners can have varies, from direct policing action and awareness-raising, to community events and information gathering. They form the connection between government and individuals, spreading the word and furthering the Vision Zero agenda.

With multiple facets of trusted and important statuses within their communities, members of this audience segment will each have a focus they will want to stress above all. This will require a more diverse and personalized approach to communications, especially when it comes to the distinction between law enforcement and other organizations. However, each can help to influence elected leaders, as well as be a lynchpin in organizing community activists and spreading awareness to journalists and community members.

Journalists

Members of the news media and journalistic community will naturally have interest in any matter that’s generating discussion amongst the people with the legislative authority to impact change. The goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all is high-minded and ambitious, and could generate interest in and of itself.

In downloadable action plans and tool kits, this campaign will provide public-facing data and tools related to road injuries and fatalities, a matter that is literally life and death and should generate interest among this audience. In turn, they can provide a platform to reach out to members of the public, who can impact cultural change on a wider level.

Members Of The Public

From changing driving habits, to pressuring legislators to take proven steps to increase road safety, the public has the power to push this agenda. Ultimately, it is the public that Vision Zero is attempting to protect, so creating interest among them will be key to sustained action that reaches beyond a rapid news cycle. Messaging will need to be easy to quickly understand, and provide concrete steps that need to be undertaken while providing the outlets that have the power to enact those changes. With the help of the public, Vision Zero will continue to make an impact into the future.

The following resources are available to download and customize and use to advocate for Vision Zero in your community:

/ Learn how to conduct and host a community meeting here.

/ To tailor one-page fact sheets towards a particular audience, click the links below:

/ Technical MPOs

/ Elected officials

/ Community partners

/ Community advocates

/ To learn about op-eds and how to write a piece that gains reader attention, click here.

/ For press release examples, click the links below:

/ Government announcement

/ Community partner organization

/ To view the social media toolkit, learn how to create successful social media account(s), and learn tips and tricks for running the account(s), click here

/ Ideas for building a Vision Zero website of your own can be found here.