Council Packet 4-10-19 Work Session

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vi EUGENE VISION ZERO EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vision Zero is an approach to transportation safety that aims to eliminate deaths and life- changing injuries caused by traffic crashes. In November of 2015, the Eugene City Council adopted as City policy the Vision Zero goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries on Eugene’s transportation system as a result of community advocacy efforts. The resolution adopting Vision Zero directed the City Manager to initiate formation of a Vision Zero Task Force to develop an Action Plan. This Eugene Vision Zero Action Plan is the result of that direction. This Action Plan lays out an ambitious set of two- and five-year actions to reach the goal of zero deaths and life-changing injuries on Eugene’s transportation system by 2035. These actions will be undertaken by numerous City departments (Public Works, Police, Fire & Emergency Medical Services), in cooperation with other agency partners such as school districts and Lane Transit District, and community partners like the University of Oregon and PeaceHealth. Vision Zero will also need the ongoing support and commitment of all of Eugene’s residents who use our streets to walk, bike, roll, take transit and drive. Achieving Vision Zero requires a true culture change—from one where lives lost or severely harmed is an accepted daily occurrence to one where deaths and life-changing injuries are unacceptable outcomes of simply using our streets. Why Vision Zero, Why Now? Eugene needs Vision Zero now because people continue to die and suffer life-changing injuries on our streets. From 2007 to 2015, 60 people were killed and 364 experienced life- changing injuries as the result of crashes. These numbers do not reflect the full toll on our community; each victim’s family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances are also impacted by the loss of someone they knew and loved. Nearly half of these fatal and life-changing injury crashes affect people walking, biking or riding a motorcycle, even though these modes make up less than 20 percent of trips in Eugene. Speed is a critical factor in determining the severity of a crash, and people traveling by these modes are more vulnerable to greater harm from automobiles, even at relatively low speeds. Even when speeding is not indicated to be a cause of a crash, the normal driving speed of a street can contribute to a fatal or life-changing injury. This is also true for people in crashes only involving cars. Vision Zero aims to improve safety for everyone who uses our streets. Where to Focus The development of this Plan included an analysis of crash data from the last nine years to objectively identify problem streets and intersections. We found that only 9% of streets account for 70% of fatal and life-changing injury crashes in Eugene. These streets comprise the Vision Zero High Crash Network and are the focus of many actions in our plan. April 10, 2019, Work Session – Item 1