Why does Vision Zero slightly favor higher-income neighborhoods?
NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero program to reduce pedestrian fatalities is getting a high mark from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. Fox 5 got an early look at Poverty and Progress in NYC XI: Vision Zero and Traffic Safety, the institute's report on the program.
Manhattan Institute fellow Alex Armlovich said he gives the mayor's administration an A-minus for Vision Zero.
Vision Zero includes the reduction of the speed limit citywide from 30 mph to 25 mph. Intersections are also redesigned in high-risk areas with expanded pedestrian space, protected bike lanes, improved streetlight timing, and more police enforcement.
However, Armlovich said that higher-income neighborhoods like the Upper East Size and Upper West Side have benefited more than some lower-income neighborhoods. But he said that is not the mayor's fault. He blamed some local community boards that continue to fight the safety improvements.
Despite that resistance, the mayor's plan to expand Vision Zero is moving forward.
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"Between 2009 and 2016, pedestrian and bicycle deaths at roughly 4,600 intersections receiving at least one safety treatment declined by 34%," the report's abstract states. "By contrast, about 25,700 unimproved intersections saw a 3% increase in bicycle and pedestrian deaths."