Will LI communities follow Hoboken's vision on pedestrian safety?
A crossing in Hoboken, New Jersey, which saw the need to eliminate parking spots near intersections for safety and visibility. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
There’s a city in New Jersey, population 60,000, that has become an oasis — a place where drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists can travel without taking their lives into their hands.
Hoboken, New Jersey, hasn’t seen a single traffic fatality in more than seven years. Severe injuries are down 62% between 2022 and 2023 alone.
That’s not by chance. The safer streets in Hoboken are the result of strong leadership and a concerted, calculated effort to prioritize road safety through a program known as Vision Zero, a widespread effort to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. Vision Zero began in Sweden in 1997. Cities, counties and other communities have latched on to the program’s goals for more than a decade — with mixed success. While pedestrian deaths have fallen in New York City over the last decade, for instance, cyclist fatalities are on the rise. In Los Angeles, traffic-related deaths nearly doubled since Vision Zero was introduced in 2014.
On Long Island, meanwhile, crossing the street still means putting your life at risk.
Take the last three weekends. On March 3 in New Cassel, one car crash killed a pedestrian, age 44, while another crash ten minutes later left another pedestrian, age 17, in critical condtion. On Feb. 25, a 71-year-old pedestrian was killed in a car accident in Lynbrook. And on Feb. 17, an unidentified pedestrian was struck by a car and killed in East Farmingdale.
Those deaths came amid the region’s efforts to prioritize road safety and Suffolk County’s own recently started Vision Zero plan, begun as data showed significant increases in traffic-related fatalities across the Island, reaching 243 deaths in 2022 — a 29% increase from 2019. Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla has pointed to specific measures — from restriping crosswalks to large-scale road redesigns — as factors in the city’s success. The city has added multiway stops and school-zone speed restrictions, and also has focused on curb extensions, roadway resurfacing and accessibility.
Perhaps most important, Hoboken spotlighted the need for “daylighting” — the idea of eliminating parking spots near intersections to add visibility for both pedestrians and drivers alike. When you’re crossing the street, you can see where you’re going — and drivers can see you.
It’s easy to point to ways in which Hoboken is different from Long Island. It is a more dense city, with better mass transit options and a comparatively less suburban vibe. Its population is about double that of each of Long Island’s two cities. Much of that should mean success would come easier to Long Island. On the other hand, Hoboken’s central leadership and control over its roads might make change easier than it would be on Long Island, with our village, town, county and state thiefdoms — and mix of control over local roads.
But Hoboken is still a suburban city — in the shadow of Manhattan, with a population about the same size as the village of Hempstead. Its mayor has the same ability to lead as any mayor, town supervisor or county executive across Long Island. And the changes Hoboken made aren’t outlandish or unreasonable.
Reckless drivers are everywhere. Enforcement is still necessary to stop the speeding, thrill-seeking and brazen behavior behind our wheels. But Hoboken, while still the exception to the rule, shows that infrastructure changes can save lives.
Over time, Vision Zero has become a bit of a punchline from those who think it’s not really possible — that “zero” doesn’t really mean “zero.”
Hoboken has shown otherwise.
Which Long Island community will try to do the same?
Columnist Randi F. Marshall's opinions are her own.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.