Vision Zero

Two cab drivers fatally struck 22-year-old Kelly Gordon last night as she crossed York Avenue with her sister and a friend. Gordon was at least the fifth person killed by a city cab driver in the last 12 months, and the second this year, after 9-year-old Cooper Stock and his father were hit on the Upper West Side in January.

Mayor de Blasio mentioned Vision Zero pretty early in his first 100 days speech this afternoon. He said the program has "just begun" to address what he called a "growing epidemic of pedestrian deaths." Traffic deaths are down 26 percent, the mayor noted.

As drivers zoomed by on Atlantic Avenue this morning, local elected officials and advocates joined NYC DOT and NYPD to unveil the first of the city's "arterial slow zones," major streets where the speed limit will be dropped to 25 mph from the current citywide limit of 30 mph. Traffic signals will also be retimed to a 25 mph progression, to help keep motorists' speeds in check.

This afternoon, DOT released the schedule for nine Vision Zero workshops in all five boroughs over the next three months. These workshops build upon the Vision Zero town halls the city is hosting now by asking residents to prioritize street safety initiatives, pinpoint dangerous locations, and discuss solutions with agency staff.

Over a hundred people turned out for a Vision Zero town hall in the Bronx on Tuesday, Bronx News 12 reports. The event was hosted by freshman City Council Member Ritchie Torres at the Bronx Library Center on East Kingsbridge Road. Council Member Vanessa Gibson, DOT Borough Commissioner Constance Moran, and representatives from NYPD were also on hand.

The Daily News reports that traffic deaths and injuries are down over the first three months of 2014 compared to the same period last year. The improvement is encouraging, and increased traffic enforcement is probably playing a role, but the harsh winter is almost certainly a factor too.

Last night, Brooklynites filled Borough Hall, spilling into an overflow room for a Vision Zero town hall meeting with elected officials and city agency staffers. Among those on hand were Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan, Public Advocate Letitia James, and Borough President Eric Adams. Streetsblog wasn't able to make it to the forum, but here's a snapshot of what unfolded and how elected officials reacted, based on reports from attendees and the Twitterverse.

Minutes after Council Member Laurie Cumbo and street safety advocates called for immediate action to reduce traffic violence on Atlantic Avenue, Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told the audience at a Vision Zero forum in Crown Heights last night that DOT intends to make Atlantic one of its early priorities for safety fixes.

The Vision Zero town hall roadshow returned to Manhattan last night with a well-attended forum at John Jay College. Elected officials, agency representatives and the public gathered to discuss the city's plan to eliminate traffic fatalities and to offer suggestions for the initiative. Like last week's forum in Astoria, some new details came out over the course of the evening about the city's next steps for Vision Zero -- including hints from NYPD about opening more data to the public. Another highlight: Livery drivers offered their own suggestions to stop the carnage on city streets.