San Francisco Didn’t Meet Its Vision Zero Goals. Here’s Where the City Goes Next

In 2014, San Francisco officials committed to an ambitious – but not impossible – goal: to eliminate traffic deaths entirely. While traffic deaths persist, including those involving cyclists, the city points to several lessons learned over the last decade and a recommitment to the Vision Zero plan that has, in fact, helped to improve conditions for all road users.

“After ten years, San Francisco has not reached zero traffic deaths, but we’ve made real progress on safer streets. We’ve tested many tools and learned what works,” city traffic officials say of their decade deadline. “We know which streets most need improvements, and we know how to fix them. Together with advocates, our agency and Mayor Breed pushed for and won changes to state law that unlock powerful, proven technological solutions that will make cities safer across California, not just here.”

A decade ago, San Francisco was among the first major cities in the U.S. to adopt Vision Zero, a plan which was established in Sweden in 1997. Now, dozens of municipalities across the country have adopted the plan. The state of California and federal government have also embraced Vision Zero and its strategy to improve safety.

So far in 2024 there have been 21 traffic deaths in San Francisco. 2021 marked the highest number of deaths since the city’s commitment (39) and second highest year since 2007, when there were 41 deaths.

“Although city leaders set a 10-year deadline for achieving Vision Zero, the work is far from done. Vision Zero is a moral goal. And it’s not our only goal. We want to make sure that walking, biking and rolling down the streets of San Francisco is a joyful experience and one of the things we love most about living in this city,” the city says in their 10-year statement.

The Vision Zero strategy

San Francisco’s plan consists of several core principals which include: preventing deaths, reducing severe injuries, centering equity, slowing speeds, designing safer streets, and promoting a culture of traffic safety. These principals also make up the cornerstones of the strategy that has seen great success in Europe

This type of strategy is increasingly taking hold across the U.S. Vision Zero was created with the notion that road users make mistakes and so “the road system and related policies should be designed to ensure those inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities.”

The plan also embraces a multidisciplinary approach, inviting different stakeholders to the table to reach various effective solutions from reducing speed to adapting infrastructure to best meet the needs of the neighborhood and its residents.

In San Francisco, Vision Zero initiatives have included new policies, tools, and infrastructure, including speed limit reductions, more than 50 miles of new bike lanes, painted safety zones, daylighting policies, and more.

Most importantly, the plan is not meant to be static and should adapt to evolving circumstances.

In a 2021 report, the city noted that since enacting the commitment in 2014 traffic trends have changed. Namely, San Francisco has experienced lower rates of pedestrian fatalities, increases in single vehicle crashes, more hit and run cases, and fewer severe injuries as a result of traffic collisions.

A 10-year report by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) found that between 2013 and 2023, bicycle-related traffic injuries have decreased by 35% and deaths have dropped 100%. Comparatively, injuries among people in motor vehicles have increased 12% while deaths have decreased by 33%.

Injuries across all road users have dropped by about 3% in all and deaths have decreased by 24%, according to the data.

SFMTA also concludes that most drivers are driving more slowly throughout the city and close calls involving bikes and vehicles at intersections are down by 62%.

The High Injury Network

The Vision Zero strategy established the High Injury Network – a network of city streets which represent only 12% of city street miles but are the location of 68% of severe and fatal injuries.

In a 2022 evaluation of the network and Vision Zero policies, the city indicated that vehicle collisions had dropped 18% and bicycle volumes were up significantly on the two streets that had no bike facilities at all before the projects (2nd Street and Masonic Avenue).

The High Injury Network is high priority for the city because it represents some of the most dangerous areas for road users across the city, but also comprises some of the city’s most vulnerable populations.

Every street in the Tenderloin area is included in the network and has prompted officials to adopt 20 MPH speed limits across the entirety of the neighborhood and incorporate daylighting at 50 intersections (the practice has since become state law).

A right turn on red ban was also implemented. The city reports that 92% of drivers have obeyed the new rule.

Next steps for San Francisco

What will the next 10 years bring for the Bay Area’s infrastructure and its cyclists? It’s hard to tell, but officials have already set and implemented more priorities and plans to reach new and existing goals. The past decade saw successful initiatives, a global pandemic that rapidly expanded the cycling community, and a heightened interest in policies that increase safety for cyclists, pedestrians, and vehicle drivers.

“We know what works to reduce crashes and why,” the city says in the 10-year report. “Our efforts have demonstrated that designing our roadways for people over cars will slow speeds, increase driver attention to people walking and biking—and save lives. We also recognize that our commitment to Vision Zero will continue beyond these first 10 years. Through data, evaluation and critical assessments, the city is applying those best practices to the next phase of street safety.”

So far, the city indicates that priorities in this next era include a connected network “for people who walk, bike, scoot or use any other type of micromobility device,” speed safety cameras, increasing data analysis, and more educational campaigns.

“Despite taking longer than the initial 10 year target, our Vision Zero goals are right. Our data-driven evolving approach is working,” the city says. “Our path forward is clear.”