What is necessary for a city to truly meet the goal of zero traffic fatalities?
Cities all across the country are evaluating the efficacy of Vision Zero as deadlines get closer and closer. 2025 is Philadelphia’s 9th year of being a Vision Zero city and while the original goal was zero fatalities by 2030, the COVID-19 Pandemic severely impacted traffic violence as a whole. Mayor Parker introduced an executive order in March 2024 recommitting Philadelphia to Vision Zero and setting a new goal of 2050.
But what does it really take to reach that goal? What’s the monetary costs of improvements? How long does it take to complete physical projects? And at what cost of lives and to communities?
Explore these questions with us at Vision Zero PHL 2025: What is the Cost of Vision Zero?
For the Vision Zero Conference we host two all conference plenaries that take place at the beginning and end of the conference. This year our plenaries will focus on the physical and emotional costs of reaching zero traffic fatalities.
The morning plenary is all about Cost of lives: The high price of dangerous roads.
When someone is killed in a traffic crash most people read a short article, maybe an obituary, or even see the victim’s loved ones speaking out on the news. What really is the ripple effect of over 120 Philadelphians lost every year to traffic violence? The recent spate of fatal crashes in the Greater Philadelphia area has led to greater awareness among the general public of the impact of traffic violence. But the impact is much deeper than the 24-hour news cycle. The families of crash victims endure navigating the medical system, court appearances, advocating to elected officials, and retelling the worst day of their lives over and over again. Meanwhile, the impacts of the same crash are felt by the networks that the victim traveled in, from co-workers and friends, to the medical professionals that treated them and the neighbors that miss them. The families and larger network of crash victims must live with the trauma of death indefinitely past the shock of the crash. This plenary will dive into the heart of Vision Zero and why there is no compromise in the matters of life and death. This panel will be moderated by a Families for Safe Streets member and feature Michael Piscitello from Piscitello Law, Jacquelyn Agins a grief counselor, and others.
We will be kicking off the afternoon with a plenary about the Cost of infrastructure: Investing now or later.
One of the top complaints of Vision Zero programs is that cities don’t see results or implement solutions quickly enough. In Philadelphia, the number of people that are dying in traffic crashes has begun to plateau at around 125 deaths each year. As they approach deadlines for zero deaths that were initially set a decade or two ago, many cities are resetting their goals to refocus on continued efforts. What do cities need to consider in their budgeting, planning, and design processes to ensure that resources are allocated and champions of the efforts are included throughout the process? The planning, design, and construction of improvements is not cheap and takes a long time because of a number of reasons. Planners, engineers, and civic leaders face moral dilemmas when they need to choose between incremental improvements that can be budgeted this year but not realize dramatic improvements versus waiting for a grant that may never materialize for that transformative project. This plenary will dive into how municipalities enact guidelines and standards for consistent and rapid implementation and budget infrastructure projects while weighing safety, cost savings, and time for construction.
Stay tuned for an announcement about our keynote speakers! More information, including sponsorships and a link to purchase sliding-scale tickets, can be found here.
Many thanks to our Vision Zero PHL 2025 sponsors: Curaleaf, CHOP, Jacobs Engineering, Jawnt, WSP, Hayden AI, Michael Baker International, HNTB, Urban Engineers, AECOM, Boles, Smyth Associates, INC., RK&K, Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, NV5, Emily Fredricks Foundation, STV Incorporated, Kittelson & Associates, GPI, CDM Smith, AARP, Bicycle Transit Systems, Kimley-Horn, Dawood Engineering, DVRPC, PA Downtown Center, McCormick Taylor, Piscitello Law, and our coffee break sponsors Gannett Fleming and Remington & Vernick Engineers.