Celebrating Vision Zero Successes: Small Wins, Big Impact

Is your Vision Zero work being questioned by skeptics asking: “Is this worth it? We’re not closer to our goal after a few years.”

One response may point to successful examples of communities that have reached their goals of safe streets for all. This includes Helsinki, a city of nearly 700,000 people, which succeeded in a year of zero traffic deaths. Closer to home, we can point to Hoboken, New Jersey, which has seen eight consecutive years without a traffic death. Other U.S. cities are seeing positive results when they implement Safe System strategies. And there are dozens of other examples of entire nations significantly reducing traffic deaths in the past decade. 

A more nuanced – and, perhaps, more constructive – response is to help people recognize that meaningful and measurable change takes time – and political will and real leadership. This often starts with baby steps: small-scale changes that show measurable results and can be scaled up for far greater safety benefits. It’s possible – and it’s happening across the U.S.

In our July 2025 webinar, Small Steps, Real Results: Scaling Up Vision Zero, we shared some of the hundreds of Vision Zero stories across the country showing that when we invest in meaningful safety projects, we see progress. While some of these bright spots may seem small on their own, they offer valuable lessons about what’s possible and should embolden us to double down on what works.

(see 1-hour recording and slidedeck from July 29, 2025) 

The one-hour webinar shared on-the-ground Vision Zero successes in more than 12 communities across the nation. We were joined by Vision Zero leaders from Cleveland, Madison, Milwaukee and Santa Rosa, who shared insights into how they’re making progress.

Here are a few success stories we’re excited to uplift (see the full set of slides):

Setting Speed Limits for Safety

Madison, WI is making significant safety strides, in part, by lowering speed limits. In 2021, the city launched its 20 is Plenty program, piloting speed limit reductions in two neighborhoods. The pilots proved successful, leading to significant crash reductions: 41% fewer in one of the neighborhoods and 44% in the other. In the webinar, we heard from Ali Heinritz, Madison’s Vision Zero Co-Lead, that the pilot has been expanded to a citywide 20 is Plenty campaign, with speed limit reductions on nearly 60% of the city’s 896 miles of streets. As a result, the City of Madison has seen a 58% reduction in fatalities in 2024 compared to the launch of Vision Zero in 2020. This is a result of speed limit reductions throughout the city, along with infrastructure safety improvements.

Seattle, WA has also improved street safety by reducing speed limits. As part of a 2018 pilot, speed limits on residential streets were reduced from 25 mph to 20 mph, and arterials from 30 mph to 25 mph. The city focused on increasing the density of speed limit signs across residential streets and arterials, without launching a major communication campaign or increasing enforcement. This simple change led to an 18% reduction in serious injury crashes and a 7% reduction in 85th percentile speeds, demonstrating the impact of improving driver awareness through signage alone. The success of this pilot showed that lowering speed limits could effectively reduce speeds and injuries, prompting the city to expand speed limit reductions the effort citywide. Within just one year, Seattle had lowered the posted speed limit on 70% of their arterial roadway network.

Small Traffic Calming Steps Yield Big Learnings

When Milwaukee, WI piloted a new traffic circle on a residential street where a senior citizen had been struck by a driver, it showed just how powerful small changes can be. Prior to the installation, 18% of drivers were exceeding 35 mph, despite the 25 mph speed limit. Recognizing this safety risk, the city, in partnership with AARP, installed a temporary traffic circle to reduce motorist speeds and increase driver awareness. After the circle was added, the number of high-end speeders decreased to fewer than 1% – a 95% reduction. 

Based on these impressive results, the city made the installation permanent. On our webinar, Danya Littlefield, Milwaukee’s Senior Transportation Planner, highlighted the benefits of quick-build materials, particularly in winter climates and areas newer to traffic calming. Now, Milwaukee is exploring how to use more durable materials that offer better longevity as they scale up traffic calming measures to improve safety for more people.

In a similar test of traffic calming strategies, Cleveland, OH piloted speed tables in several neighborhoods, focusing on locations experiencing problems with high speeds. As Sarah Davis, Cleveland’s Active Transportation Senior Planner, explained on the webinar, the pilot was important to help residents understand how speed tables can improve safety, especially since they were a new addition to the city.

The test worked! Average speeds were lowered by nearly 8 mph at the locations with speed tables. The success of the pilot led to citywide expansion, with more than 100 speed tables installed in 2024 and plans for 100 more in 2025. Cleveland offers a powerful example of using pilot projects to generate data-driven momentum for wider adoption – and a chance to scale up what works for safety.

Winterville, NC, a community of about 11,000 people, took proactive steps to improve safety by installing painted bulb-outs with flexi posts at three busy intersections near schools. This low-cost, quick-build project aimed to reduce turning speeds, address immediate safety concerns, and introduce a new street design to the community. 

Five weeks after installation, evaluation showed progress in both reducing average speeds and high-end speeds, which are most dangerous. The project also led to some improvements in increasing or maintaining the rate of stopping at stop signs and yielding to people in crosswalks. Community feedback on the project was positive, with pedestrians reporting feeling safer and more visible while crossing the street, and drivers noting that they slowed down and had better visibility of pedestrians, with many expressing interest in more and wider bump-outs. 

Another school safety project In Cincinnati, OH reinforces that meaningful safety improvements don’t have to come with a hefty price tag. Linn Street, which connects the West End neighborhood to essential destinations such as an elementary school and busy recreation center, has a high volume of pedestrian traffic, especially from children walking to school. With more than 50% of households lacking access to a car, and approximately 74% of elementary school students walking to school daily, the street posed a significant safety risk.

While a $10 million rightsizing project was in the works for the area, the city wanted to apply quick-build interventions in the meantime. They installed a thermoplastic curb extension and removed a parking space to improve visibility at the intersection. Speeding decreased significantly (see image below). And, this was a quick and affordable solution: Construction took only two days and cost a total of $15,000.

Santa Rosa, CA showed that it is never too late to switch gears for safety. The city had originally planned a road-widening project near a school zone, which merited safety improvements. Impressively, instead of widening the road, they shifted to right-size it – reallocating a lane for school drop-off and multimodal use. This was an especially bold idea given the school’s location near a freeway off-ramp. The idea worked – reducing speeds by 14% during peak times.

In the second phase of the project, the city further modified the road by reallocating another lane, leading to a 17% decrease in vehicle speeds near the school. Survey results showed that 47% of respondents supported making the traffic calming measures permanent, while 42% opposed it. Interestingly, those who opposed the project still confirmed that it worked as intended, effectively slowing vehicle speeds.

Torina Wilson, Transportation Planner for Santa Rosa Transportation & Public Works, emphasized that the city gathered constructive feedback on both phases of the pilot. This approach allowed them to refine the project based on community input, demonstrating how data and feedback can be used to enhance safety measures.

Focused Redesign Efforts Make Big Gains

Montgomery County, MD, offers an inspiring example of how cities can scale up successful Vision Zero strategies. After seeing positive results from targeted, small-scale interventions, the county expanded its efforts across high-injury network (HIN) corridors. In 2024, Montgomery County launched 127 safety projects, prioritizing improvements where they are most needed. Key updates on HIN corridors included 29 new bikeways, nearly 7 miles of new sidewalks, and the installation of pedestrian hybrid beacons and traffic signals. 

Together, these targeted improvements contributed to a 28% reduction in serious and fatal crashes on HIN corridors—roads that make up just 3% of the county's network but account for 41% of severe crashes—compared to pre-COVID years. This success proves that scaling up focused, data-driven safety interventions can lead to sustained improvements, saving lives and reducing crashes over time. Montgomery County’s Vision Zero initiative exemplifies how a strategic, proactive approach can make a significant, long-term impact on road safety.

We Know That Investing in Vision Zero Works

As we’ve seen in these examples, when we invest in Vision Zero, we see real, measurable results. Whether it’s pilot projects or large-scale citywide efforts, these bright spots of progress show that change is possible. Even the smallest wins build momentum for bigger changes, and by celebrating these victories, we’re not just acknowledging what’s been achieved, we’re paving the way for more successes to come. Together, these local wins show us that Vision Zero isn’t just a lofty ideal, it’s achievable by using the strategies that work and showing leadership. 

Do you have a success story you want to share with us? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Please email Tiffany at tiffany@visionzeronetwork.org to share more about the results of a safety project that’s proving effective in your community.