City, state and industry experts will discuss a strategy for eliminating traffic fatalities in Nashville while increasing access to safe, healthy and equitable mobility options during a virtual event on Tuesday, May 19.
Vanderbilt University will host Walk Bike Nashville’s Vision Zero Speaker Series from 9 to 10 a.m. CT. The Zoom meeting, which is open to the public, will explore “What Vision Zero Means for Nashville.”
Register for the meeting here. >>
Mayor John Cooper announced a Vision Zero goal for Nashville in January 2020. Vision Zero seeks to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy and equitable mobility. First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero policies are now in place in more than 40 major American cities.
The May 19 virtual meeting will engage participants in a conversation about which Vision Zero policies might be most effective for Nashville, as well as the state of the city’s roadways and how Vision Zero policies can improve traffic safety.
Presenters include Erin Hafkenschiel, executive director of mobility at Vanderbilt; Faye DiMassimo, senior adviser for transportation and infrastructure to Mayor Cooper; and Preston Elliott, chief of the Bureau of Environment and Planning at the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
These speakers will be followed by a panel discussion featuring:
- Nora Kern, Walk Bike Nashville
- Bob Murphy, KCI Technologies
- Andy Clarke, Toole Design
The aspirations of Vision Zero align closely with MoveVU, Vanderbilt’s strategic transportation and mobility plan that falls under the FutureVU comprehensive campus planning initiative. Improving pedestrian safety, connectivity and transportation in and around the Vanderbilt campus is key to the FutureVU vision.
In addition, Vanderbilt has taken several steps toward achieving the “vision zero” goals of no pedestrian or bike fatalities or serious injuries. In collaboration with Metro Nashville, the university successfully reduced speed limits on campus below 20 miles per hour last year, among other efforts.
The Vision Zero Nashville Speaker Series is presented by Walk Bike Nashville and sponsored by Vanderbilt University, JUMP and Bird.