Connecticut Avenue NW in DC. by Mike Maguire licensed under Creative Commons.

Mayor Muriel Bowser made multiple transportation announcements Wednesday that have the potential to affect traffic safety and transit in the District.

Among the announcements issued in a press release are:

  • $10 million is set to be invested in Vision Zero traffic safety initiatives;
  • Bowser’s office is nominating the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) interim director, Everett Lott, to lead the department permanently; and
  • The DC Circulator will continue to be free in 2022.

“We need drivers to slow down – not just because they’re avoiding a ticket, but so they don’t kill people on our streets and sidewalks,” Bowser said in a statement. “The investments we’re making today are intended to slow drivers down and protect pedestrians, cyclists, and everyone moving around DC.”

Addressing traffic fatalities will be a major challenge for Lott, who took over as interim DDOT director after Jeff Marootian left to join the Biden Administration.

According to Wednesday’s press release, DC will put a total of $10 million in additional funding toward Vision Zero initiatives this year and next. The Vision Zero framework is a strategy with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries — something DC has seen far too many of in the past year.

First, DDOT will reallocate $5 million for a “Vision Zero Summer Safety Campaign.” The funds will be used to install driver speed feedback signs, flashing beacons to make it easier to see pedestrians, and more speed cameras.

Then, Bowser plans to put another $5 million in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget toward automated traffic enforcement equipment upgrades.

Bowser’s funding announcement comes at a time when the success of DC’s Vision Zero program is in doubt. Traffic fatalities as a whole have been up since the start of 2020, and 2021 is shaping up to be even deadlier for pedestrians — as of the start of May, the number of pedestrians killed in 2021 was already almost as high as in all of 2020.

Bowser’s press release also tied keeping the Circulator free to Vision Zero, calling it a way to “encourage more people to use public transportation and get more cars off the road.” Before the fee was paused during the pandemic, Circulator fare was $1.