VISION ZERO
Presented for Discussion to the
Joint Committee of Western Lake Ontario
Cycling Advisory Committees
May 28, 2016
Background about
MCAC and
City of Mississauga
efforts for
Cycling Safety
Cycling
Master Plan
VISION: Cycling will become a
way of life in the City of
Mississauga that supports
vibrant, safe and connected
communities. Mississauga will
be a place where people choose
to cycle for recreation, fitness
and daily transportation needs
enhancing our overall health and
quality of life.
GOAL 3: Adopt a “Safety First”
Approach for Cycling in
Mississauga
Bike Friendly Community
MCAC is helping the City to achieve ‘Silver’ level
Cycling is
Healthy
Mississauga promotes
an international
“Healthy Cities”
program which
includes the health
benefits of cycling.
It cannot be healthy
if it is not safe!
Cycling Resources
- English
- Arabic
- Chinese
- Punjabi
- Somali
- Spanish
- Urdu
The City also offers
CAN BIKE classes
on how to ride
Cycling Safety Tips
8 Simple Cycling Habits
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/citymississauga
Bike Helmets
By provincial law, all
minors (under 18 years
old) are required to wear
a bicycle helmet in
Ontario.
MCAC has now adopted
a Mandatory Bike
Helmet policy for ALL
riders (including adults) at
any of our cycling events.
To be effective, a bike
helmet must be properly
fitted and positioned on
your head.
A Word About
TRUCKS
Don’t be invisible!
MCAC has
promoted this
campaign
Mississauga was the 2nd
municipality in Ontario to
endorse the Coroner’s
Report on Cycling Deaths.
The next few slides show the
all too familiar coverage and
response to cyclist and
pedestrian deaths in Peel Region.
ENOUGH
is
ENOUGH
Vision Zero
DEFINITION: Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety
project that aims to achieve a highway system with no fatalities or
serious injuries in road traffic. It started in Sweden and was
approved by their parliament in October 1997.
A core principle of the vision is that 'Life and health can never be
exchanged for other benefits within the society' rather than the
more conventional comparison between costs and benefits, where
a monetary value is placed on life and health, and then that value
is used to decide how much money to spend on a road network
towards the benefit of decreasing how much risk.
Source: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero
Vision Zero is based on Four Principles
Ethics: Human life and health are paramount and take priority over
mobility and other objectives of the road traffic system
Responsibility: providers and regulators of the road traffic system
share responsibility with users;
Safety: road traffic systems should take account of human fallibility
and minimize both the opportunities for errors and the harm done
when they occur; and
Mechanisms for change: providers and regulators must do their
utmost to guarantee the safety of all citizens; they must cooperate with
road users; and all three must be ready to change to achieve safety.
Other principles were added to Vision Zero in order to
ensure that motorists would comprehend the full extent of the
movement's purpose:
Traffic deaths and injuries are preventable; therefore, none are
acceptable.
People will make mistakes; the transportation system should be
designed so those mistakes aren’t fatal.
Safety is the primary consideration in transportation decision-making.
Traffic safety solutions must be addressed holistically.
Canada
On September 22, 2015 Edmonton City Council
announced that it was "the first Canadian city to officially
adopt Vision Zero." Its Road Safety Strategy 2016-2020
moves "towards zero fatal and major-injury collisions" but
does not include a target date for zero collisions.
The national advocacy campaign Vision Zero Canada
(www.visionzero.ca) was launched in December 2015.
Twitter Account est. Dec. 2015
Future website will be: www.visionzero.ca
>>>>>> The first step towards a Vision Zero policy is raising public awareness
about the extent of the carnage, and showing how it can be avoided though
improvements in regulation and design.
>>>>>> The next step is working with concerned citizens to ensure that civic
officials set bold targets, allocate funds and make steady progress toward the
elimination of traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Progress in this area is a matter of POLITICAL WILL, as we can see in
the Netherlands. In just four decades (1970-2011) the Dutch reduced their road
crash fatality rate fell from 24.6 persons per 100,000 to just 4.0 persons. A seismic
shift occurred in the early 1970s, when parents grew indignant about the
slaughter of their children on the nation’s roads and initiated the Stop de
Kindermoord (Stop the Child Murder) campaign.
Dutch engineers are now acknowledged leaders in the implementation of “selfexplaining” and “forgiving” streets designed for the safety of motor vehicles,
cyclists and pedestrians alike. As a rule, traffic in the Netherlands flows smoothly
for all, and there are sweeping public health benefits thanks to increased physical
activity and reduction in emissions and injuries.
Source: www.slowottawa.ca/2015/12/12/on-the-road-to-vision-zero-canada/
Neil Arason notes in his indispensable
2014 book No Accident: Eliminating Injury
and Death on Canadian Roads, Canadians
tend to regard motor vehicle crashes as
accidents, acts of God, or the fault of
individuals engaging in aberrant behaviour.
This fatalistic attitude helps explain why
Canada’s per capita traffic fatality rate is
almost double that of the world’s best
performers.
Source:
www.slowottawa.ca/2015/12/12/on-theroad-to-vision-zero-canada/
Website is:
www.neil.arason.ca
Top Ten Things We Can Do to Get to Zero Traffic Fatalities
and Zero Serious Injuries
(from No Accident by Neil Arason)
1. Make road safety a top priority in Canada and create a federal multi-disciplinary public
safety agency charged with significantly reducing motor vehicle-related fatalities and
serious injuries year-over-year, and then eliminating them by 2035.
2. Require that every motor vehicle sold in Canada by 2020 and later will not kill or
seriously injure any road user, not even a pedestrian or cyclist. To bolster these benefits,
ensure vehicle regulation applies to more cars entering Canada (i.e., upgrade the flawed
federal 15-year importation rule to 25 years); require automakers to track deaths and
injuries from their motor products; and create programs and incentives to ensure vehicles
are maintained or removed from the road when necessary.
3. Pass federal legislation to earmark a set percentage of highway funding for pedestrian
and cyclist infrastructure. This would be similar to what Oregon did in 1971, and what
former US laws like the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity
(SAFETEA) accomplished.
Top Ten Things We Can Do to Get to Zero Traffic Fatalities
and Zero Serious Injuries
(from No Accident by Neil Arason)
4. Use these new funds to build sidewalks; install pedestrian traffic islands; construct better
crosswalks (e.g., the US Hawk design and the Danish Offset); and add countless new
kilometres of protected and connected bicycle lanes.
5. Expand measures to separate pedestrians and cyclists temporally from motor vehicle
traffic. At busy intersections, bring back the pedestrian scramble or implement leading
pedestrian intervals that provide a three to six second exclusive advance WALK signal to
pedestrians. For cyclists, create dedicated bicycle signal phases at intersections and build
more bicycle boxes to improve their visibility to others. Ban the right-turn-on red.
6. Set speed limits to 30 km/h in places where pedestrians and cyclists mix with cars. Design
urban roads in ways that reduce speeds and implement more traffic calming measures.
7. Separate opposite-flow traffic on high speed arteries with medians, cable barriers or
concrete barriers. Install crash attenuators and ensure that speeds are set under safe system
design principles in order that crashes can occur in modern cars without causing death or
serious injury to vehicle occupants.
Top Ten Things We Can Do to Get to Zero Traffic Fatalities
and Zero Serious Injuries
(from No Accident by Neil Arason)
8. Expand the number of roundabouts and ensure they are easy to use and designed for
the optimal safety of pedestrians and cyclists. At the same time, roundabouts reduce
speeds, eliminate dangerous right-angle crashes, and increase driver alertness.
9. Invest in low-cost roadway design measures like rumble strips; channelized traffic
movements; better lane markings; anti-skid pavement resurfacing; and improved signage.
Make driving as simple as possible to align with the real-world imperfections of drivers
and what we have come to know about them for the past one hundred years.
10. Help drivers obey the everyday rules of the road by using modern enforcement
technologies like automated speed cameras and red-light cameras. Couple this with
dedicated traffic enforcement units to target impaired and unsafe drivers.
Source: www.neil.arason.ca/?p=520
Source:
www.macleans.ca/news/canada/thecure-for-killer-cars/
June 10, 2014
The wide Dundas/ Hurontario intersection in Mississauga sees a lot of crashes. But how can
its problems be fixed?: Pick one or the other — should be a street. CASE STUDY…
Source: www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/11/30/vision-zero-could-we-end-deaths-on-thestreet.html
Nov. 30, 2015
CASE STUDY: Dundas/ Hurontario intersection in Mississauga
MEDIAN:
Problem: Too thin. Crosswalk takes a long time to get across, especially for seniors or those with
mobility issues.
Solution: Widen median and add some greenery so there’s a place for people to stop when crossing
the wide street.
OUTSIDE LANE:
Problem: Road is too wide. Not pedestrian- or cyclist-friendly. No designated space for transit or bikes.
Solution: Turn outside lane into wider sidewalks and add a designated bike lane OR make it a dedicated
bus lane.
SPEED:
Problem: Drivers going too fast. They’re impatient, and try to beat the lights while pedestrians cross.
Solution: Put in speed cameras as a deterrent.
SIDEWALK:
Problem: From the expressway-style streetlights to the barren concrete sidewalks, the side of the road
is designed for cars, not people.
Solution: Make the area more pedestrian/transit friendly. Add benches, pedestrian-friendly lights and
greenery.
Vision Zero Toronto movement is starting
“In short, don’t educate—or hector
or threaten—for safety’s sake:
design for it.”
Source:
www.slowottawa.ca/2015/12/12/on-the-road-to-vision-zero-canada/
How can we, as Cycling Advisory
Committees, persuade our own
municipalities to get on board for
the ultimate POLICY SOLUTION?
Vision Zero DISCUSSION