LOS ANGELES, CA (January 19, 2017)
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Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) announce $500,000 in funding to conduct traffic safety education and outreach to support the City’s Vision Zero Initiative. A portion of this funding, $310,000 will go directly to eight local community-based teams representing 21 individual organizations to lead these education efforts within a local, community context. The outreach is part of a comprehensive Vision Zero Action Plan that will help eliminate traffic deaths by 2025 in the City of Los Angeles.
“We are making L.A.’s streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. And we can make improvements faster — and more effective — when the City works closely with local organizations that understand our neighborhoods’ specific needs,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Safety education and outreach is the first step in making all Angelenos part of the movement to end traffic deaths in our city.”
The highest concentrations of fatal and severe collisions on the City’s High-Injury Network have been identified as priority corridors. Focusing Vision Zero efforts on the priority corridors will help address the locations with the highest number of people being killed and severely injured in a collision. Over the next year, ten of these priority corridors will be part of a coordinated education and outreach plan in an effort to build support for engineering and enforcement solutions along these corridors and ensure that people move through our city safely.
“This work empowers local community-based organizations and artists to be emissaries for Vision Zero. We expect to learn from their work and follow their lead in understanding how to reach our urgent goal to reduce deaths from traffic violence,” says LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds.
These eight teams are made up of community-based organizations and local artists who will work closely with the City to plan, implement, and evaluate an on-the-ground engagement plan. The plans may include at least one of the following interventions: developing community-specific traffic safety education materials using local and cultural vocabulary; leading interactive activities that involve participation by residents in the area; creative interventions along the identified corridor(s), that may include (but are not limited to) graphics, visuals, or temporal projects that raise awareness on the issue of traffic safety; iterative processes that develop a project using on-going, continual public engagement to inform and refine a finished product and/or program. Each team will assemble “street teams” meant to engage directly with the community on Vision Zero. Our partners will also conduct pre and post intervention evaluations that will help the city evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy.
The format of the partnership allows the people who have worked within their communities to develop an outreach program Today, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) released an updated Request for Qualifications for community-based outreach and education to support the City’s commitment to Vision Zero.
tailored to each individual neighborhood. Organizations were selected by demonstrating their abilities and experiences in working with the communities that are most affected by traffic violence. Planning will happen from January to March 2017, community engagement will take place in Summer 2017 and evaluation will conclude September 2017.
“Tapping into our local creative human capital in Los Angeles to tell the story of Vision Zero ensures a meaningful impact for our communities,” said DCA General Manager Danielle Brazell.
Community Arts Resources (CARS) will serve in a technical advisory capacity for these partnerships as the City works toward expanding its resources within the community. As a leader in local public engagement, CARS will provide invaluable insight in planning and implementing engagement strategies. Other grant funding will go to support the individual teams’ direct costs, such as printing, documentation, and evaluation. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Department of Transportation continues to work together and partner with other agencies to ensure that people move safely through the city and region. Additional information regarding the City’s Vision Zero effort can be found at visionzero.lacity.org.