Home
Who We Are
What We Do
Who We Help
What We Think
Case Studies
Ways To Connect
CIVIC EDGE CONSULTING
In 2014, San Francisco joined the international movement to create safer, more livable streets with the goal of eliminating all traffic-related fatalities and reducing severe injuries. A decade later this critical City commitment remains at the forefront with a focus on the Vision of what’s possible. Even one life lost is too many.
Vision Zero is based on the premise that traffic fatalities and injuries are not an inevitable part of urban life. In San Francisco, 68 percent of severe injury crashes occur on only 12 percent of the city’s streets. San Francisco has mapped these streets into what is known as the High Injury Network. This map demonstrates that the majority of incidents take place in low-income and communities of color, underscoring the inequities in street traffic safety. Vision Zero SF combines data from innovative programs like the High Injury Network with community-led engagement to address outdated street designs, reducing the likelihood of the five traffic violations that most often result in collisions. A collaborative, holistic approach has brought success to countries like Sweden, which originated Vision Zero. Sweden has achieved its goal of zero traffic deaths. But not without years of testing, teamwork, perseverance, and connectivity.
Recognizing that our communities face diverse challenges, our team places equity and creativity at the heart of our work, engaging San Francisco’s most vulnerable traffic corridors and developing memorable activities and collateral. Civic Edge plays a key role in conducting education campaigns as technical improvements are implemented, as with the citywide Safer Left Turns campaign, which focuses on raising awareness for making a proper left turn and piloted installations as select intersections to help drivers slow down. The result has been a 71 percent reduction in left-turn speeding at the test sites. For each Vision Zero project and outreach effort, we focus on grassroots engagement and connecting directly with all who live, work, and play within the community. This approach personalizes the work of Vision Zero and supports a feeling of community empowerment. Learning from people in the community helps the SFMTA to understand where they should prioritize limited resources to have a meaningful impact and move most quickly to prevent future fatalities.
“Civic Edge has helped raise traffic safety awareness and the Vision Zero brand within these communities through multicultural, culturally responsive materials that encourage engagement on a one-on-one level. In-language content in Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, English, and Vietnamese and community-based organization partnerships have further supported outreach on a personal, highly sensitive topic in ways for community members to feel both seen and heard about the traffic safety concerns facing the neighborhoods where they live, work, and play.”
-Uyen Ngo, MURP, MPH
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency | Streets Division
