(Steal this Idea!)
Wondering how your State Highway Safety Office (SHSO) can meaningfully support local Vision Zero efforts? Check out North Carolina’s impressive model of leveraging readily available funds (yes, available in every state - more below) to foster collaboration and advancement of the Safe System approach.
In a recent webinar, hosted by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), we learned about the work of the North Carolina Vision Zero Community Collaborative and its NC Vision Zero Leadership Institute, which convenes community teams of diverse and essential stakeholders to learn together and innovate for stronger, multi-sector partnerships – all building on the Safe System approach. These programs are supported with funding from the state’s SHSO, the N.C. Governors Highway Safety Program, and are jointly led by the University of North Carolina (UNC) Injury Prevention Research Center and the UNC Highway Safety Research Center. Check out the slides and one-hour recording here.
About the exemplary programs
North Carolina’s Vision Zero Community Collaborative and Leadership Institute started in 2020 with just a few cities that had committed to Vision Zero and has since grown to 29 communities across the state, which are at varying levels of Vision Zero engagement. Each year communities are invited to bring a team of 3-5 people from different sectors (e.g., transportation, public health, elected officials, community advocacy) to participate in an annual, multi-day, in-person Institute that combines training with facilitated implementation workshops. The team further supports and helps build ongoing relationships, partnerships and skill-building across the state with virtual monthly community touchpoint meetings.
Importantly, the approach recognizes that this work is not easy, and it is often not linear. So, the program is designed to meet communities wherever they are in their Vision Zero evolution — for instance, some are just starting out and learning about the Safe System approach, some may be implementing an existing Vision Zero Plan and others are working to reinvigorate a Vision Zero initiative that may be stalled. Whatever stage they’re at, skilled facilitators help them build capacity for their own teams, access helpful resources and connect with peers to learn in an ongoing way.
Another part of the Collaborative is the NC Statewide Vision Zero Task Force. This is a group of diverse stakeholders that meets quarterly to provide direction and mobilize resources to help communities consider shared opportunities and challenges at the state level.
Source: NC Vision Zero
What’s so special about this?
Vision Zero Network staff have been honored to participate in the Collaborative and the Institute, and we see their tremendous value first-hand. Here are a few ways this approach is so worthwhile:
- Investing in long-term culture change: This is an immersive, ongoing program that has far greater impacts than just a single “project” or “campaign.” Many SHSO activities focus on traditional education and/or enforcement efforts that target behavior change and are often confined to certain geographic areas, topics and audiences (exs: addressing distracted driving amongst teens or pedestrian safety at night). The NC Vision Zero Collaborative work recognizes the need for broader systems change, as well as essential culture change amongst various institutions and communities.
- Breaking down silos: The NC effort helps communities evolve beyond the traditional “Es” (education, enforcement, engineering, emergency services) and break down silos to encourage more effective cross-sector collaboration. The Institute brings in diverse expertise areas, including coalition-building, equity best practices, public health principles and more. And it moves beyond “technical” road safety issues in order to lift up some of the “softer” but essential skills, including change management, leadership development, community engagement, effective communications, monitoring and metrics, and more.
- Supporting Peer Learning: Facilitating space for people to learn from each other in ongoing, supportive ways is one of the most valuable components of NC’s program. While a one-day, annual traffic safety summit can be helpful, there is additional value in setting up ongoing, consistent programs to foster peer-to-peer learning, team-based capacity-building and the development of relationships that last into the future.
As Mark Ezzell, director of the NC Governors Highway Safety Program, said during the webinar, “Community building is the secret sauce.”
When questioned by a webinar participant why the NC program was not yet yielding reductions in traffic deaths, Ezzell explained that real and lasting systems-level change and culture shifts take time. With the state’s investments in the Vision Zero work, they are “planting something that will grow,” he said.
Funding Available in EveryState: Explore Your Section 402 Funds
Each state has its own SHSO, which has specific road safety responsibilities and receives dedicated funding from the federal government. (Find out more about your state’s SHSO here.) Note that SHSOs are charged with different roles than each state’s department of transportation, which leads on infrastructure and related policies. While the SHSOs may be lesser known and receive far less funding than the states’ transportation departments, their impacts can still be significant.
Each SHSO receives funding – including Section 402 State and Community Highway Safety Grant program – from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to improve driver behavior and reduce deaths and injuries from motor vehicle-related crashes. These Section 402 funds are what the NC Governors Highway Safety Program uses to fund the Vision Zero work described above.
There is flexibility in how states use these Section 402 funds. Learn more about this funding from the League of American Bicyclists.
We encourage other states to consider investing Section 402 funds in proven, in-depth and lasting changes based on the Safe System approach, as NC is doing. We encourage you to check out your SHSO’s current funding areas and explore ideas to help steer transportation safety dollars to be most effective, efficient and equitable. Learn more about the North Carolina program.
Also, check out another SHSO opportunity. With support from NHTSA, a team of research practitioners at UNC is launching a pilot Transportation-Public Health Leadership Program in 2025 for SHSOs to learn about and support implementation for more holistic, collaborative approaches to transportation safety, such as the NC Vision Zero Community Collaborative.
Thank you to the GHSA, N.C. Governors Highway Safety Program and University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center for their work.