LISC Greater Kansas City recently expressed to the Mayor and City Council of Kansas City, Missouri, our strong support for Vision Zero and urged them to adopt Committee Substitute for Resolution No. 200019, which sets into motion actions to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries in our community, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. LISC partners with residents and stakeholders to forge resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity – great places to live, work, visit, do business, and raise families. We believe Vision Zero will enhance our community by advancing active transportation, increasing mobility and access, and promoting healthy community design in our built environment.
In a two week timeframe from March 16-30, KCPD responded to 419 crashes, including one fatality and 134 injury crashes, an increase of 36 injury crashes during that same timeframe in 2019. This increase happened despite a 49% drop in passenger traffic from the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. These crashes are preventable. Each year, over 50 people are killed in traffic crashes in Kansas City - and hundreds more seriously injured. Nearly half of all crashes occur in “Environmental Justice” census tracts with high populations of people of color and those living with low-income, yet only 30% of our City’s population resides in those same census tracts. Consequently, it is imperative we treat this matter as more than a safety issue, but also as a public health and equity issue.
Click here to read our letter of support for Vision Zero. Click here to read KCMO Resolution No. 200019.