Denver Vision Zero Action Plan

Denver, CO

Project Summary

Denver, CO is confronting deaths and serious injuries on city streets with a solid commitment to Vision Zero principles. With the support of the Denver Vision Zero Coalition and the assistance of Toole Design, the City of Denver developed an award-winning Action Plan that has been cited as a model for its clarity and specificity. We provided data analysis, facilitated extensive stakeholder and community engagement, and prepared a plan that lays out clear, actionable steps by dozens of city agencies to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Denver to zero.

Expertise Applied

“It’s a lot more likely that you’re going to see solid follow-through when you have the very clear actions laid out and timelines and ownership, as the Denver Action Plan does. I think this is a really great example of a model plan for other communities.”
Leah Shahum
Executive Director, Vision Zero Network

The project began with detailed multiyear crash analysis, which culminated in defining Denver’s High Injury Network–or the most dangerous streets in Denver with regards to traffic safety. This is where the City will focus its Vision Zero efforts. The High Injury Network makes up only 5% of Denver’s total road network, but accounts for 50% of fatalities that occur on Denver streets.

To supplement data with community perceptions, Toole Design designed and conducted intercept surveys along the High Injury Network to reach the city's most vulnerable people - those who walk, take transit, or who have low incomes. These conversations helped identify the necessary outcomes for an effective Action Plan.
Because nearly half of the pedestrian deaths are concentrated in the most vulnerable communities in Denver, the project team focused on equitable actions that would avoid past injustices such as disinvestment, potentially dangerous street design, and disproportionate police enforcement.
The Denver Vision Zero Acton Plan was awarded a Metro Vision Award by the Denver Regional Council of Governments in 2018.

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