Delta wants its own Vision Zero Strategy.
Council this week endorsed a staff recommendation to develop a strategy, which would be an integrated approach to reduce serious traffic collisions.
Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a road system with no fatalities or serious injuries.
The project originated in Sweden and is gaining momentum in North America, according to a Delta staff report, which notes it has been embraced at the federal levels in both Canada and United States.
One of the key differences between Vision Zero and traditional approaches to road safety is that traffic collisions are considered preventable, viewing safety as a shared responsibility between system designers, policy makers and road users through system level changes.
The implementation of Vision Zero includes public education, targeted enforcement and further engineering, the report explains.
The report also notes that, according to ICBC claims data from 2015 to 2019, the highest number of collisions occurred on the following corridors: 120th Street, Nordel Way, 72nd Avenue, 56th Street and Ladner Trunk Road.
The locations with the highest collisions generally reflect the municipal roadways carrying the highest traffic volumes in Delta.
The Vision Zero Strategy will continue to build on Delta’s initiatives currently in place, starting with staff further analyzing crash data to determine the type of collisions and study trends of existing crashes at the top 20 crash locations.
“Staff would work towards setting up data sharing between Delta Police, Delta Fire Services and Engineering to develop a comprehensive collision database. Incorporation of data such as traffic volumes, speeds and traffic signal information will assist in understanding the key contributing factors and road user behaviours at high crash locations. Trends in crash data will help identify countermeasures and the nature of future investments required to improve traffic safety at the highest risk locations,” the report notes.
“Staff anticipate that the Vision Zero Strategy will need to incorporate an inter-municipal approach on shared corridors, such as 120 Street, with the City of Surrey and municipal boundaries with the Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure's provincial highway network. Staff from the City of Delta and Surrey have already met to start the development of a corridor safety analysis for 120 Street and work is anticipated to begin early in 2021.”
Community feedback will also be gathered.
