VISION ZERO

What’s the Plan?

Vision Zero seeks to eliminate traffic deaths through a systems approach. Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists sometimes make mistakes, but a properly designed system will minimize and account for those errors and prevent accidents. The movement got started in Europe but has gained momentum in the United States. In Philadelphia, Vision Zero seeks to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030. Philadelphia has a high rate of traffic deaths compared to peer cities (6.3 per

100,000 residents — twice as high as that of New York City). Vision Zero seeks to take that number down to zero by slowing cars, designing roads to be predictable for all users, promoting the use of safer vehicles and using quality data to identify dangerous roads. It particularly targets the 12% of Philly roadways responsible for 80% of traffic deaths (the “high injury network”) with improvements such as head start walk signals, protected bike lanes and speed cameras. It also emphasizes technologies such as red light cameras to enforce traffic laws rather than active policing, given the racist application of traffic laws and increased risk of police violence for drivers of color.

How’s It Going?

Vision Zero had a positive impact on traffic deaths (not including those on interstate highways), which dropped from 98 in 2016 to 83 in 2019. Then the pandemic happened, and, as anyone living in Philadelphia for the past three years knows, pandemonium ensued. Traffic deaths spiked to 156 in 2020. Including on the interstates, traffic deaths went from 91 in 2019 to 166 in 2020, according to a Bicycle Coalition report. They’ve been dropping since then, with 125 in 2022. Other troubling trends have emerged, however, with increasing numbers of drivers leaving the scene of fatal accidents.

Green City Clean Waters

What’s the Plan?

In 2011 the Philadelphia Water Department adopted a plan, Green City Clean Waters, to reduce the amount of sewage that flows into waterways. Most of the city’s water management needs are met by a system that combines stormwater and sewage. Heavy rains overwhelm the system, forcing combined stormwater and sewage to be released into creeks and rivers — about 14 billion gallons per year before Green City Clean Waters. Green City Clean Waters uses “green” infrastructure — trees and other vegetation — to soak up or slow rainwater, since reducing the volume of stormwater entering the drainage network should cut the combined sewage overflows. The green infrastructure supplements “gray” infrastructure fixes to pipes, treatment plants and other structures that the City is also making.

How’s It Going?

The Philadelphia Water Department celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Green City Clean Waters in 2021, and its 10-year progress report (submitted in May 2022 after an extension granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic) to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the United States EPA shows that the city is on target in reducing the volume of the stormwatersewage soup that pours into local waterways, so far cutting it by about 3 billion gallons. Grid asked the Water Department how much of that reduction can be attributed to the green infrastructure. According to a spokesperson, it is nearly impossible to separate the impact of the green infrastructure from the gray. To be clear, greening a city provides more benefits than just stormwater capture. More trees and rain gardens using native species help support local biodiversity and provide beauty and cooling shade to neighborhoods across the city.