On Monday May 22, I attended an early meeting of a West Hartford, CT task force which was recently convened.  In December of 2022, there were 5 pedestrians struck and killed in a matter of a week.  In response, the West Hartford Mayor designated a task force that would address the issue. The members of the task force spanned a wide variety of professions.  Serving in it were the fire chief, heads of bike and pedestrian organizations, small business owners, disability rights advocates, and ordinary residents.  In addition, members from the Capital Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) are assisting the effort.

The goal that is mandated for the task force is to implement Vision Zero.  Vision Zero is a concept for municipalities that the only acceptable number of traffic deaths and serious injuries is Zero.  First thought up and used in Sweden, it has been adopted by several cities in the U.S.  West Hartford is the first town in Connecticut to embrace Vision Zero.  The task force aims to develop a comprehensive plan by next January to end traffic deaths by 2033.

West Hartford has hired two consultancy firms, FHI Studio, and Toole Design Group, to help implement Vision Zero.  One of the consultants started the meeting off with a slide show presentation.  She explained how many U.S cars are bigger and faster than ever. Combined with the fact that many communities lack pedestrian friendly roadways, it has led to an increase in traffic deaths and injuries in the U.S. She contrasted the U.S with countries with walkable communities, like France, where traffic fatalities were decreasing.  She noted that minorities, people who don’t have cars, and the elderly were much more likely to suffer fatalities.

After the presentation, the task force discussed the fact that there were going to big community events, like Celebrate West Hartford coming up in June.  They debated how to promote their work regarding Vision Zero at these events, and how to spread awareness in the media in general.  One of the task force members, who is deaf asked the consultant for statistics on the fatality rate amongst deaf people.  Others raised the point that there were many non-English speakers in West Hartford, so it was important that they be consulted during this process. Members floated the idea of distributing surveys in order to obtain feedback about Vision Zero from the community. 

The meeting then progressed to members discussing the progress other U.S cities have made towards implementing their own Vision Zero plans.  One person raised the point that Hoboken New Jersey has been a Vision Zero success story.  He pitched the idea of several of them taking a trip down to Hoboken to meet with city leaders and learn about their efforts to make streets safer.  Several other task force members were open to that idea.

After the members finished their discussion, the floor was open to the general public for questions. One person asked where the money to implement Vision Zero was coming from.  A task force member answered that funds were coming from both the town of West Hartford and the federal government via the American Rescue Plan legislation.  They said that West Hartford was in the process of applying for additional federal grant money from the Transportation Department.  

I stood up and asked whether there was evidence of a town or city that reduced the number of traffic deaths to zero.  The consultant who came to the meeting said that Hoboken, New Jersey achieved that goal last year.  She stated that other cities have had variable amounts of success, and that they are consistently updating their road safety plans.

After nobody else asked questions, the meeting began to wrap up.  As it came to a close, someone on the task force brought up the fact that North Main Street had recently been reconfigured.  A few years ago, the town reduced from two to one, the number of lanes on each side of the street.  They turned the middle lane into a full Left Turn Only lane.  What West Hartford implemented there was called a “Road Diet”, and the purpose was to reduce the number of accidents.  The task force member asked if there was data on whether the Road Diet had been successful.  He brought that up as a potential starting point for the Vision Zero plans.  Someone from the CRCOG mentioned that data was coming soon.

Finally, the task force members were asked to research four other cities that are implementing Vision Zero plans.  The cities are Hoboken, New Jersey, Tacoma, Washington, Des Moines, Iowa, and one other city that I can’t remember.

The task force will be meeting on a monthly basis until January working on research, outreach, and developing a comprehensive traffic safety plan. The meetings in August and October will be large public meetings.  I will attend during one of those dates, and provide an update then.  This is a prime example of what local governments do, and why people should pay attention to how their town is being run.

Here are some links where you can learn more about Vision Zero:

Overview of Vision Zero:

Vision Zero Network

Early ideas to implement Vision Zero in West Hartford:

Click to access VisionZero-QuickImplementIdeasbyTeams.pdf