City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JANUARY 18, 2017
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Consideration of a Resolution Endorsing the Vision Zero Concept and Instructing the City Manager to Develop an Action Plan for Future Consideration by Council. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
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ISSUE: Consideration of a resolution endorsing the Vision Zero concept and instructing the City Manager to develop a Vision Zero Action Plan.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council adopt the Vision Zero resolution (Attachment 1).
BACKGROUND: Vision Zero is a multidisciplinary, multi-national traffic safety concept that aims to achieve a transportation system that results in no deaths or serious injuries. It began in Sweden in 1997 and has since been adopted by other countries and cities around the world. The Vision Zero concept proposes that adopting communities recognize that traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable, and are not accidents. Thus, when communities adopt Vision Zero programs they are, in effect, rethinking traffic safety and setting aggressive timelines to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.
The policy impact and considerations of adopting a Vision Zero program would include:
* Establishing (as a framework for future City policy) safety as the primary goal of the City's transportation network
* Complementing and building on existing City programs and initiatives such as Complete Streets
* Use of a data-driven approach to enable the City to focus finite resources on problematic locations and behaviors
DISCUSSION: Vision Zero initiatives have been adopted by over 20 communities in the United States, including the District of Columbia and Montgomery County, Maryland. Vision Zero programs differ amongst communities in scale and approach but they all share some common elements including a...
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