Creating a Vision

Together we will use strategies that are equitable, data-driven and collaborative as steps to achieve zero roadway deaths in the Kansas City region by 2050.

Equity

Vision Zero allows us to center efforts around the people most impacted by traffic crashes and build collective actions to make streets safe, ensuring that our actions support equity and do not exacerbate inequities in other areas, including proactively engaging the community and addressing equity related to traffic safety enforcement.

Map showing overlap of crashes and environmental justice areas

This plan acknowledges and works to eliminate racial, economic, and other disparities in traffic crashes by focusing on fair and just opportunities and outcomes for all people, taking care to acknowledge environmental justice areas.

People of color.
People with low incomes.
People with a disability.
People with limited English proficiency.
Older adults (65+).
Veterans.
People who use transit to get to work.
Households with no vehicle.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) defines environmental justice (EJ) as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, income, national origin, or educational level with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.

Data Driven

At the foundation of any successful effort is data, whether quantitative or qualitative, that demonstrates lives are being positively impacted. For a Vision Zero plan, it is important to use crash data to identify areas of concern and top contributing factors to create prioritized focus areas. However, crash data does not illuminate the entire safety picture for our region. This plan acknowledges that a data-driven approach means using the data we have effectively as well as identifying additional data sources to best improve the safety of our community.

Data dashboard

The Destination Safe Crash Data Dashboard is intended to help advocates and safety professionals understand traffic crashes throughout the region. With three tabs — Destination Safe, Crash Data by Time Period, and Map View — the data can be isolated by priority, county, year and more, and is updated quarterly.

View the data dashboard

Collaborative

Progress does not exist in a vacuum. The best way to move forward is by promoting meaningful collaboration among traffic safety stakeholders across the Destination Safe counites.

This can include jurisdictions, educators, engineers, hospitals, law enforcement, health departments, transportation and urban planners, advocates, and community members.

Destination Safe serves as a coalition of such representatives and will continue to create opportunities to discuss best practices, experiment with innovative interventions, and widen its membership.

Additionally, this plan encourages advocates to consider how efforts impact all communities. When making safety improvements or providing education, diverse and representative participation is imperative to ensure everyone impacted will have a voice in the process.