Beginning in February, Fort Worth officials will start work on two different initiatives—the Vision Zero action plan and “Moving a Million”—poised to shape the city’s fundamental policies regarding transportation infrastructure and traffic safety.

The backstory

According to the Vision Zero website, 42,000 people are killed in transportation-related accidents on U.S. roadways every year. Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy and equitable mobility, the website states.

The website states the program was first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s. Initially spreading across Europe, it is now gaining traction in American cities.

Several factors influence safe mobility, according to the Vision Zero website. They include:

• Roadway design
• Speed limits
• Human behavior
• Technology
• Transportation policies

According to its website, Vision Zero policies set goals to achieve zero fatalities and severe injuries by encouraging systemic changes among those factors.

According to a city news release, Fort Worth City Council adopted the Vision Zero strategy in November 2019, which led to investments in traffic safety programming, including:

• The school zone maintenance program
• Sidewalk program

A closer look

The city’s “Moving a Million” initiative is a comprehensive long-range document, which the news release states will be used by transportation planners to build a safe and effective multimodal network for the following types of transit:

• Walking
• Bikes
• Automobiles
• Micromobility
• Freight and mass transit

Both initiatives are slated to be completed by fall or winter 2025, according to the news release.