Vision Zero

Miami-Dade's Vision Zero goal is to end traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2040, while increasing safe, reliable, sustainable and equitable mobility for all.

With funding from the National Safety Council’s Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grant, Miami-Dade County developed a Vision Zero Data Dashboard. The dashboard provides easily understandable and transparent benchmarking to monitor progress toward achieving the County's Vision Zero objectives.

Image of a pedestrian walking in the rain.

What is Vision Zero?

Vision Zero is a comprehensive strategy built around the guiding principle that even one death on our transportation system is unacceptable. Developed in Sweden in 1997, this strategy has proven successful in multiple communities across the world.

Miami-Dade County’s Vision Zero initiative:

Started in 2018 with the publication of the County's first Vision Zero Plan by the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization.
In 2021, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, and the County Commission, formally established the Vision Zero Program.
In 2021, the Vision Zero Framework Plan was developed.

Why Vision Zero?
Each year, there are more than 300 fatalities on Miami-Dade County roads, and hundreds more are severely injured. For too long, these tragic events were thought of as inevitable. As such, achieving Vision Zero requires a paradigm shift to embrace the thought that crashes should not result in deaths or serious injuries, and we all share responsibility in achieving our vision.

Only together can we achieve Vision Zero. Take the first step by sharing your experience on Miami-Dade County’s roads.

DTPW was awarded a $16.2 million Implementation Grant under the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, administered by the United States Department of Transportation.

The awarded funds will focus on infrastructure improvements at 24 critical locations within the County's high-injury network. This grant is a game-changer for Miami-Dade County because it will help advance our Vision Zero goals, enhancing safety for all road users, particularly in areas of the County where pedestrians and cyclists have been disproportionately impacted by road accidents.

Design and Construction
DTPW has completed the construction and operational improvements of six safety projects throughout Miami-Dade County and has three more projects under construction. In total, DTPW is anticipating completing 22 safety projects by 2024.

Planning and Funding
The DTPW Vision Zero team has also submitted other federal, state, and local funding requests for identified projects in the program. Funding requests have been submitted for consideration in the federal Congressional earmarks and Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and state County Incentive Grant Program (CIGP) and Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). Local funds are also being requested to leverage the existing half-penny surtax funding approved for the program in 2021.

DTPW was awarded $150,000 in Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety grant from the National Safety Council (NSC). The grant will help the program develop a Vision Zero Dashboard and conduct a Local Community Partners Liaison Pilot Program. The Vision Zero Dashboard will establish an online, public-facing GIS-based website to ensure official, consistent reporting among area agencies as recommended in the Miami-Dade County Vision Zero 2021 Framework Plan.

The Local Community Liaison Pilot Program will strengthen existing relationships between community action groups and vulnerable communities in Miami-Dade County. These existing relationships are sustained through the County’s Community Advisory Committees (CAC) which aim to help foster and sustain civic engagement, in addition to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs).

Public Engagement
Effective community engagement is a key priority, particularly in underserved neighborhoods of Miami-Dade County. Vision Zero’s public engagement team has conducted 32 outreach events throughout the County in 2022, with 30% of these events taking place in equity districts as identified in the Plan.

Events have included outreach at transit stations, attending community events such as the Children’s Trust Family Expo, back-to-school events, and community food drives. Residents provided their opinions to project team members in English, Spanish and Creole and all materials have been translated.

The Vision Zero team has continued attending community events throughout the County including the annual Ride of Silence and Ride to School events, the inauguration of a new phase of the Biscayne-Everglades trail, Miami Kids Magazine Back to School, and many more.

Events have included outreach at transit stations, attending community events such as the Children’s Trust Family Expo, back to school events, and community food drives. Residents provided their opinions to project team members in English, Spanish and Creole and all materials have been translated.
Miami-Dade County is following the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Safe System Approach to achieve its goal of Vision Zero. The Safe System approach is rooted in the six principles that; deaths and serious injuries are unacceptable, humans make mistakes, humans are vulnerable, responsibility is shared, safety is proactive, and redundancy is crucial.

The Safe System Approach comprises five elements that together, create a holistic approach with layers of protection for road users: safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads, and post-crash care.

MDC’s commitment to zero traffic deaths informs five key focus areas that have been established to guide the County’s Vision Zero Program:
- Enhance Processes and Collaboration
  Vision Zero is a new philosophy for Miami-Dade County and impacts the management of its transportation system, many foundational changes are needed to institutionalize the approach. Though the County regularly coordinates transportation projects and safety initiatives internally and externally, as a matter of practice, existing processes, programs, and laws do not explicitly address the loss of life on our streets in a proactive, data-driven manner.
  
  Key Actions
  DTPW will formally identify and continue to fund the Vision Zero Program with appropriate resources to ensure that safe designs are implemented, and safe behaviors adopted countywide.
- Build Safe Streets for Everyone
  When we asked people what the County should do to improve traffic safety, the overwhelming top response was: build safe streets for everyone, including pedestrian crossings, bicycle facilities, and roadways. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists are often placed at the greatest risk when navigating the transportation system, and therefore streets and safety countermeasures should be designed with the needs of these vulnerable road users in mind.
  
  Key Actions
  DTPW will implement targeted infrastructure improvements at identified high-injury crash locations to begin building safer streets for all users of our streets.
- Create Safe Speeds
  Speed reduction is an essential Vision Zero strategy. Higher speeds not only increase the risk of a crash, but also increase the risk of serious injury or death, regardless of mode. The consequences of speeding impact pedestrians and cyclists the most because their risk of dying if struck by a vehicle increases substantially with vehicle speed.
  
  Key Actions
  DTPW will establish stronger partnerships with enforcement agencies to develop appropriate speed enforcement strategies. Additionally, DTPW will work to update the County’s engineering design standards, which guides how DTPW makes decisions about street design and operations, to include Complete Streets treatments, as identified in the Miami-Dade Complete Streets Design Guidelines.
- Promote a Culture of Safety
  Safer streets and lower speeds will go a long way toward eliminating traffic deaths in Miami-Dade County. However, only through honoring our collective responsibility to make safe transportation decisions can we achieve Vision Zero. Safe Street-design alone cannot prevent someone from driving under the influence or while distracted. A culture shift must take place to develop a collective understanding that our streets are places for people of all ages and abilities to travel, play, shop, build community, and live.
  
  Key Actions
  DTPW will implement a multimedia safety education campaign for all street users. Educating Miami-Dade County residents and visitors about safe behaviors in a compelling and personal manner will assist DTPW and its partners to implement many of the other actions in this category.
- Improve Data and Be Transparent
  Building from the findings of the analysis conducted for the Vision Zero Action Framework Plan, we must continue collecting and analyzing crash and speed data while evaluating the safety impact of future projects and creating a data-driven process that prioritizes roadway safety. Program progress and information should be shared with the public and stakeholders to support and promote efficiency and effectiveness.
  
  Key Actions
  DTPW will establish an official Vision Zero dashboard to be available to the public with project updates, events, educational campaigns, and aggregate crash information so that all agencies and partners build their information with consistent information and messaging.
- Vision Zero Dashboard
Plans & Reports
- MDC Vision Zero 2021 Framework Plan
- Vision Zero GIS Map
Presentations
- Municipal Workshop Presentation, Aug. 2022
- Municipal Workshop Presentation, May 2023
Educational Materials
Other related materials
- FDOT's Target Zero Plan
- TPO's Vision Zero Plan