Safer Streets in Edmonton (Community Conversation)
For the last Virtual Tea of 2023, I wanted to focus on one of the top issues that I heard about from residents and in recent headlines - safe streets and how we can make our roads better for all, from drivers to pedestrians to cyclists. The City has made big investments in Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries through safer more livable streets by 2032. We have a multitude of different traffic safety programs, which we dived into during our conversation.
For this conversation, I wanted to include both the City Administration and community perspective so I had two guests - Christie and Juanita. Christie is the Director of Safe Mobility at the City, and leads the Vision Zero program which includes the popular Vision Zero Street Lab program. She shared a lot of insights into the different tools and programs under Vision Zero, how the programs are funded, and the technical side of a project. Juanita is a resident in Summerside, who reached out to my office about road safety in her community. She helped to champion a Vision Zero Street Lab in the neighbourhood, and has first-hand insights into what Street Labs entail. She shared her experience with the Street Lab, and advice for other Edmontonians who want to advocate for road safety in their communities.
There was a lot of great information shared, and we have compiled the highlights and time stamps below:
The Street Lab experience from a community perspective
What motivated Juanita to reach out to the City? (time stamp @ 8:30) Juanita saw a lot of near hits in the neighbourhood, including around schools in the community. She thought that there was a need for better infrastructure and reached out to the City. She saw first-hand how raising this concern led to a change - with a four-way stop being added to the neighbourhood. When Juanita noticed that there were still other lingering road safety concerns, including the need to make crossings near schools safer, and reducing the speeding along Grande Boulevard, she reached out again and was connected to the Street Labs program.
What did the Street Lab experience entail? (time stamp @13:55) As part of the Street Lab, Juanita met with the City, the Vision Zero team, Keren and neighbours and walked the entire community, flagging the areas of concern. She reached out to neighbours on Facebook to involve them in the process, and learn more about their experiences on the roads. The rest unfolded over many months - including traffic and speed assessments completed by the City, identifying potential interventions and solutions based on the residents concerns, and choosing options. Community members also completed a survey to share what changes they wanted to see in the neighbourhood.
How did she get neighbours involved in the Street Lab? Originally Juanita reached out on Facebook to her neighbours in a local online group. There were a lot of walkers in Summerside who were experiencing similar issues on the road, and she found a group of people passionate about road safety who wanted to see changes. A big support for her was having a team of community members to help with continuity for the project (for example, if someone is away, or busy, there are others who can step in and help). Having community leadership was the key ingredient to their success.
Advice for other groups interested in a Street Lab (time stamp @ 21:00) If you’re passionate about safety in your community, don’t be afraid to reach out. One person matters. We are taxpayers, and the people who represent us in office care. You also need to have patience on a project like this. We [the community, the City] are all working together and each of us plays a role. And when you see your project come to fruition and the impact, it is very gratifying.
The Vision Zero Street Lab and other Safe Mobility Programs
What is the history of the Street Lab program? (time stamp @ 23:40) The Street Lab program launched in 2021, and has gone through several iterations. Through this program, the City and residents work together to learn about the lived experience of people in the neighbourhood, and based on their feedback, work together to implement traffic safety improvements using adaptable traffic calming interventions.
Street Labs were originally community-led, with a member of the community who would project manage the street lab and lead engagement with the community. While this was valuable, it also made it difficult to bring the Street Lab to communities who might not have have someone to step into this role. Today, Street Labs have shifted to being City-led, integrating City engineering, project management and public engagement teams, so the community can focus on doing what they do best - sharing and walking us through their lived experience. This knowledge is used to propose, design and install adaptable safety measures for the neighbourhood to trial.
What is the Street Labs intake process like? (time stamp @ 28:00) The Street Labs use an application process, with someone from the community being a champion and submitting their neighbourhood for consideration. The Street Labs team then narrows down the submissions received using multiple different factors to prioritize the communities, including equity (e.g. has this community had a lot of road interventions in the past).
What are other tools and interventions that the City has developed under the Vision Zero portfolio and the Safe Mobility Strategy? (time stamp @ 29:30)
Safe Speeds Toolkit: This program was designed to address concerns about speeding in neighbourhoods. It includes free community lawn signs to promote the 40 km/hr limit and create awareness, driver feedback signs, requests for automated enforcement presence, and educational materials to help people talk to neighbours about road safety.
Safe Crossings Program: This program works with communities to upgrade crossing conditions to make them safer through interventions like signage, lights and pavement improvements.
Speed Humps and Tables Program: This new program installs speed humps or speed tables along priority corridors where there is a need to encourage safer speeds.
Safe School Zone Toolkit: Vision Zero School Kits include signage, activities and resources to help build street safety awareness around schools.
Funding Safe Mobility in the City
How have Vision Zero and Safe Mobility programs been funded at the City? (time stamp @ 33:40)
Funding is important to help the City reach our goal of Vision Zero, and supports a team of traffic safety engineers, community activators, analysts and researchers to ensure the work is evidence-based, community-focused and aligned with technical standards and best practices.
All Safe Mobility, or traffic safety programs are funded primarily by the Traffic Safety Automated Enforcement Fund. Every time you pay an automated enforcement ticket, whether it’s speeding or a red-light ticket, the money is split between the province, the City and the remainder goes to the Victims of Crime Fund. The portion that the City receives is used to invest in programs that actively improve safety for all Edmontonians.
Additional funding was also approved in the 2023 - 2026 budget cycle to support Vision Zero programs like the new Speed Humps and Tables Program, and expand programs including Safe Crossings, Street Labs, School Kits, Safe Speeds Toolkit, the Safe Routes to School Program.
We have recently heard about changes at the Provincial level around photo radar - what is the impact of these changes? (time stamp @ 36:15) The program most directly affected by provincial changes is the Automated Enforcement Program. The City must comply with the provincial guidelines in all aspects of this program to ensure any sites are properly justified, and all operations at those sites follow the provincial rules. There has been a moratorium on new site locations for enforcement, and the latest change is that sites along the Anthony Henday have been removed from the program.
If funding from Automated Enforcement diminishes, then it is up to the City to make up the difference. However, this is something the City is planning and preparing for one of the goals for Vision Zero is to reduce traffic violations. As the City finds success in Vision Zero, it will need to find alternate revenue sources to support this work.
Why is photo radar important and what does the City do to constantly improve the program’s efficiency so it’s meant to do what it’s supposed to do? Is it a “cash cow”? (time stamp @ 38:20) Automated Enforcement is not a “cash cow” - the program was designed to be transparent and fair. Automated enforcement has been shown to significantly reduce speed-related vehicle collisions of all types and severities. And the City uses automated traffic enforcement in combination with other traffic safety programs - it is not the first or only line of defence.
Automated enforcement has been shown to make drivers slow down and drive safely which helps to reduce traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries on Edmonton’s street. So even if there is an accident, people will hopefully walk away with minor injuries.
Transparency is important and is emulated in a few different ways. Automated enforcement locations are chosen to align with provincial guidelines, which means they need to be justified to put enforcement in that location. Current enforcement sites, scheduled enforcement sites and intersection safety device locations can be seen by visiting the Safe Streets Map. The City also wraps automated enforcement vehicles in bright yellow (to act as a speeding deterrent), add clear signage indicating enforcement locations, and deploy units to more visible locations.
The Results - Vision Zero and Safe Mobility
What results have we seen since implementing Vision Zero? (time stamp @ 40:40) As of 2021, we’ve seen a 50% reduction in fatalities and 32% reduction in serious traffic related fatalities since implementing Vision Zero in 2015. Reports for 2022 and 2023 are forthcoming in the new year.
What is the latest research related to the 40km/hr reduced speed limit in Edmonton? (time stamp @ 41:50) Reducing speed is a cornerstone of the Vision Zero strategy and the findings speak for themselves. Researchers conducted a comprehensive speed and crash analysis to evaluate the success of the new 40 km/h speed limit since implementing the new default speed limit in 2021. The evaluation included collecting speed surveys at over 200 locations across Edmonton, before and after implementing the speed reduction, to understand how driving behaviours have changed. The findings showed a number of outcomes, including:
A decrease in speed ranging from 3.2 - 8.1 km/h at over half the survey locations
a 25 per cent reduction in the number of crashes, equal to 518 fewer crashes per year; and
a 31 per cent reduction in overall injuries and fatalities, including a 42 per cent reduction in injuries and fatalities for people walking, cycling or using e-scooters.
We still hear about non-compliance to speed limits. Are there new ways the City is tackling this? (time stamp @ 45:15) Creating a system for all road users requires many different approaches, and adopting a safe road lens.
When implementing the 40 km/hr speed limit, there were some streets that were exempt - many because of poor compliance to the previous speed limit, where it was thought that lowering the limit would just exacerbate the issue. The City has a list of these roads, and are now working on tailored traffic calming solutions through a program called “Towards 40”. Through this program the City is engaging with communities to find traffic calming solutions in these more difficult locations, and are in the process of completing their first project now.
Final Thoughts
What is something you wish more people knew about Safe Streets? (time stamp @ 50:40)
Juanita: Make that initial call, it can make a difference. Also this work doesn’t happen overnight. Be passionate, reach out to your community and you will find people who care. Edmonton is a caring and supportive city, and once you get involved you can make things happen.
Christie: Safety on our roads is our shared responsibility and we can all help to make it safer for everyone by modelling safe driving behaviours. Keep your speeds safe, eyes on the road and watch for vulnerable road users, especially around playground zones and schools. Safety is a team sport.
