Take Action: Renewing Vancouver’s Vision Zero Plan

This motion calls on the city to develop a new Vision Zero action plan, to be delivered by mid-2026. 

It calls on the plan to be evidence-based, prioritizing measures that are known to work, and eliminating expenditures on measures that are known to be ineffective such as endless studies on proven interventions. 

It places additional emphasis on preventing vehicle incursions into pedestrianized spaces – a lesson that we learned all too acutely from the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy. 

Finally, it calls on the city to consult many relevant stakeholders across the province in developing this plan, including groups like the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit, school Parent Advisory Councils, and advocacy groups such as HUB Cycling and our own group. 

Is Vision Zero really an achievable goal?

In a word, YES. Other cities like Oslo have done it, through measures such as transforming curbside parking lanes into bus lanes or bike lanes; implementing a city-wide cycling strategy that aimed for a 25% bicycle mode share; and making its city center car-free. 

In North America, the city of Hoboken, New Jersey recently celebrated 7 years without a single traffic death. What’s impressive about this feat is that the actions they took weren’t even that expensive or complicated! They achieved this through things such as “daylighting” high-crash intersections (moving back parking a couple spaces from the curb to increase visibility) and reducing speed limits to 30 km/h. Vancouver could do both these things very quickly if they wanted. 

Inspiration close to home

In BC, Saanich has recently implemented a 10-year Vision Zero plan that incorporates many lessons learned from other cities. And even closer, New Westminster just launched a Vision Zero task force, and is already taking concrete measures to increase road safety, including daylighting intersections, adding cross-town protected bike lanes, and expanding sidewalks on popular commercial streets and protecting them with bollards. 

This is a public safety crisis. It’s time to act. 

It’s clear that Vancouver’s existing Vision Zero plan is failing. With thousands of Vancouverites being injured and about a dozen killed every year in motor vehicle crashes, we have to recognize this for the public safety crisis that it is. We can’t continue to lose friends and family to this crisis, especially when the solutions are already known and often easy to implement. It just takes a willingness to engage with relevant stakeholders, an acceptance of evidence-based measures, and political courage. We’re grateful that Councilor Maloney has this courage, and we hope to see everyone else in the council chamber show the same level of conviction. 

We need your support! 

• To register to speak to council on this motion, go here. Click “Request to Speak” and then click the box for “A4. Developing a Vision Zero Road Safety Policy and Action Plan” and then click Support
• Choose whether you prefer to go in person or call in by phone. Hit “Next” at the bottom of the page. 
• You should receive an email confirmation with more information. This might include your speaker number, instructions for calling in, and how many minutes you will have to speak.
• Follow along during the meeting to watch for the relevant agenda item. If the motion is further down on the list, you may want to check in every so often to track progress and wait to call in. Sometimes councils can take a few hours up to a whole meeting just to discuss an agenda item. You can follow the City Clerk on twitter where updates get posted about the day’s schedule. 
• When the motion comes up, be prepared to call in. You’ll probably want to call in at least 3-5 speakers ahead of you. Once you’re connected, you’ll usually be able to hear the live meeting discussion on your phone, so remember to mute your computer audio if you have been watching along. Your phone line will remain muted until it’s your turn, so listen carefully. Usually someone will say your name or say your speaker number, and then they’ll unmute you and it’s your turn!
• It’s unlikely, but Councilors may have questions for you – feel free to answer them if you’re comfortable, but know that you’re not required to. Once you’ve completed your turn, simply hang up.