Outreach

Outreach

Vision Zero includes a comprehensive outreach plan which targets institutions such as schools, religious centers, and community based organizations to spread educational information. Senior Centers and neighborhoods with high concentrations of older New Yorkers will receive targeted outreach. Communities with higher crashes will also receive other interventions such as on-street speeding reminders and targeted on-location education followed by enforcement.

Schools Outreach

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has an entire division dedicated to educating people using all modes to travel safely and respectfully. With the help of the Office of Safety and Youth Development at the Department of Education and working closely with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), these Safety Educators will go to over 300 schools each academic year. An additional 200 schools will be visited by our assembly programs, a more interactive and exciting way for children to learn about street safety. Curriculum has been developed for students Kindergarten through 12th Grade. Pre-K classes are conducted for parents and caregivers.

Working with Aging New Yorkers

Senior Centers and other places that serve aging New Yorkers are important places for Vision Zero outreach. Older New Yorkers only make up 12 percent of our population but account for 33 percent of annual fatalities. This means they need safety education brought directly to them to learn how to protect themselves. Even more importantly, they need their voices heard about places where real engineering changes are needed. The DOT Safety Education team works with almost 100 locations each year to make these connections and gather information. DOT provides a regular safety magazine geared toward Seniors.

Street Teams

In areas with high crash histories and high concentrations of pedestrians and drivers, a two-pronged effort is deployed. Members of DOT's Street Team target people using all modes of transportation in specific geographic locations, handing out flyers and talking to members of the public about the effort. NYPD precincts and Borough Patrols are intricately involved providing on-foot patrol during the week of education. This is followed up with a period of enforcement as NYPD targets the most common driving and cycling violations.

Taxis and For-Hire Vehicles

The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) is using outreach and education to promote traffic safety among the private for-hire fleets that transport more than a million people each day. Taxi fleets, car service bases, and industry associations have been welcoming TLC into their establishments to discuss Vision Zero and traffic safety. TLC staff and drivers discuss safe driving tips and the leading causes of serious crashes, and at the end of the session drivers sign the TLC Safe Driver Pledge. Beyond these smaller sessions for existing drivers, all new taxi drivers must attend taxi school before obtaining a license. TLC worked with DOT to update its taxi school curriculum to include new Vision Zero content. In addition, TLC has introduced new vehicle markings, including a "Turning? People are Crossing" sticker in all licensed vehicles, which will serve as a constant visual reminder to drivers to be vigilant for pedestrians and cyclists. Finally, all TLC-licensed drivers now receive a copy of TLC's "10 Tips for Safe Drivers" when they renew their licenses.

Please visit the TLC Vision Zero Outreach page for more information.

Speed Boards

Arterial Slow Zones are being put in place all over the city. These are long two-way corridors where the speed limit is changed to 25 MPH along the entire route. To make sure drivers are aware of these changes, DOT puts display boards out and drivers can see how fast they are driving. Speed boards are also placed in locations where Street Teams are educating the public about the consequences of reckless driving and in areas where the community has asked for speed boards to slow traffic in their neighborhoods.

Health Outreach

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) includes traffic safety as part of its work with communities, health care providers, and other public health partners. Primary care providers, hospitals, community-based organizations, and individuals all have a role to play in making New York City's streets safer. The Health Department promotes traffic safety messages through health fairs, educational activities for families of young children, outreach to primary care providers, and more.

Fleets

Private and public fleets operate tens of thousands of vehicles in the City. DCAS and DOT are working together to reach out to fleet operators, share best practices, and engage their active involvement. A first Trucks Task Force meeting will be held at DOT on September 23, 2014 and a Vision Zero Fleet Safety Forum will take place on October 23, 2014 at Queens Theatre on the Park.