How and to what extent do Vision Zero plans address safety for different road user groups?

Since the early 2010s, many U.S. cities have adopted vision zero plans to enhance traffic safety. Vision zero plans aim to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. A critical question remains, for whom are vision zero plans improving safety? Answering this question is a crucial first step toward enhancing traffic safety for different road user groups. So far, however, there has been little research on how and to what extent vision zero plans address safety for different road user groups. In this study, the research team proposes a systematic review of vision zero plans of the 100 largest U.S. cities to evaluate (1) How the plan-making process included different road user groups, including vulnerable road users. (2) How the plans accounted for differences in traffic risks through its analysis. (3) How the plans’ recommendations accounted for different road user groups within the Safe System framework. And (4) How the plans accounted for different road user groups in their outcome evaluations. The goal of the project is to (1) Identify the best practices of including different road user groups in vision zero plans. And (2) Identify the challenges of project deployment strategies to ensure safety for different road user groups. To complement the plan review, the team will also interview planners and experts who were involved in vision zero plan-making for additional insight, including planners in the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems in the City of Philadelphia. The findings will help cities reevaluate their approaches to traffic safety planning and design better strategies to ensure the deployment of projects that are aimed to enhance safety for different road user groups.

• Record URL:
  • https://ppms.cit.cmu.edu/projects/detail/611

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $73,360.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552344811

  69A3552348316

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Safety21 University Transportation Center

  Carnegie Mellon University
  Pittsburgh, PA  United States  15213

  Carnegie Mellon University

  Pittsburgh, PA  United States 
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Pennsylvania

  ,    
• Principal Investigators:

  Dong, Xiaoxia

  Guerra, Erick

  Ryerson, Megan S

• Start Date: 20250701
• Expected Completion Date: 20260831
• Actual Completion Date: 20260831
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Cities; Traffic safety; Transportation policy; Vulnerable road users
• Identifier Terms: Vision Zero
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 02002861
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Safety21 University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552344811, 69A3552348316
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Sep 17 2026 5:14PM