Vision Zero

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Traffic collisions are not accidents.

When councillors and staff talk to Kitchener residents, one of the most common issues raised are concerns about speeding and road safety. We want to make roads, sidewalks and trails in Kitchener safer for all ages, abilities and modes of transportation.

Vision Zero is a new way of thinking about creating safer roads. Our vision is to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero. This concept started in Sweden in 1997 and has become popular around the world.

Here’s how Vision Zero strategies approach road safety:

  • focus on reducing fatal and serious injury collisions
  • collisions are preventable and no preventable loss of life is acceptable
  • human mistakes and errors should be expected and anticipated
  • our transportation network should be designed to account for human mistakes and errors
  • road safety is a shared responsibility among the people who design, maintain, enforce rules on and use roads and intersections
  • proactively address issues before collisions

Our Vision Zero strategy offers guidance on building and designing roads, supporting law enforcement, educating and engaging the public, and finding solutions to the specific concerns in our neighbourhoods.

Learn more about Vision Zero


Vision Zero dashboard

Visit our Vision Zero dashboard to find collision statistics and our progress on Vision Zero.


Stay Informed

To get updates about this project, add your email to the ’Stay Informed’ box and click ‘Subscribe’.




Traffic collisions are not accidents.

When councillors and staff talk to Kitchener residents, one of the most common issues raised are concerns about speeding and road safety. We want to make roads, sidewalks and trails in Kitchener safer for all ages, abilities and modes of transportation.

Vision Zero is a new way of thinking about creating safer roads. Our vision is to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero. This concept started in Sweden in 1997 and has become popular around the world.

Here’s how Vision Zero strategies approach road safety:

  • focus on reducing fatal and serious injury collisions
  • collisions are preventable and no preventable loss of life is acceptable
  • human mistakes and errors should be expected and anticipated
  • our transportation network should be designed to account for human mistakes and errors
  • road safety is a shared responsibility among the people who design, maintain, enforce rules on and use roads and intersections
  • proactively address issues before collisions

Our Vision Zero strategy offers guidance on building and designing roads, supporting law enforcement, educating and engaging the public, and finding solutions to the specific concerns in our neighbourhoods.

Learn more about Vision Zero


Vision Zero dashboard

Visit our Vision Zero dashboard to find collision statistics and our progress on Vision Zero.


Stay Informed

To get updates about this project, add your email to the ’Stay Informed’ box and click ‘Subscribe’.



  • Vision Zero pop-ups to be rescheduled

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    We had planned to visit the Kitchener Market on Jan. 27 and Feb. 10 to have conversations with residents about street safety in our community. Unfortunately, we need to reschedule those to later this year. Once confirmed, we’ll announce the dates on this project page.

    In the meantime, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at VisionZero@kitchener.ca

    If you haven't already, please subscribe for email updates. Add your email to the Stay Informed section on this page, then click 'Subscribe'.

  • Kitchener makes progress towards Vision Zero goal

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    The City of Kitchener is reminding residents that we all have a role to play in eliminating serious injuries or deaths due to traffic collisions. The city has released a new promotional video, “Traffic Collisions are not Accidents,” as it continues various projects aimed at improving traffic safety throughout Kitchener.

    “Traffic safety is a top issue for Kitchener residents,” said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “We’re continuing to work with the Waterloo Regional Police Service, Region of Waterloo Public Health and Paramedic Services, Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region, and the City of Waterloo to implement evidence-based solutions to improve traffic safety. But we also have a role to play as individuals – by making safe driving decisions every day, we can significantly reduce the number of people being seriously hurt on our roads.”

    Along with ongoing public education efforts, the City of Kitchener’s Vision Zero strategy includes a number of engineering projects that improve traffic safety. These include annual hot spot improvements, traffic calming, and sidewalk infill work installed or currently underway at dozens of locations throughout Kitchener for 2023. This includes 450 meters of sidewalk infill, two pedestrian refuge islands, three raised crosswalks, two intersection improvement locations, and 22-speed humps/speed cushions locations.

    “I’m happy to see traffic safety improvements being implemented across Kitchener,” said Councillor Margaret Johnston, Community & Infrastructure Services Committee chair. “We often hear from residents about their traffic safety concerns, and I’m proud that we’re making strategic improvements in key locations. But Vision Zero is a long-term goal, and we have to all remain committed to doing our part as community members as we work toward this goal in the coming years.”

    To watch the latest Vision Zero promotional video, visit the City of Kitchener’s YouTube channel.

    The City of Kitchener’s Vision Zero Strategy provides a framework to improve street safety for all street users regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. This strategy aims to achieve zero serious injuries and fatalities on City of Kitchener streets. To find out more and read the full strategy, visit www.kitchener.ca/VisionZero.

  • Traffic collisions are not accidents

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    The City of Kitchener is reminding residents that we all have a role to play in eliminating serious injuries or deaths due to traffic collisions. The city has released a new promotional video, “Traffic Collisions are not Accidents,” as it continues various projects aimed at improving traffic safety throughout Kitchener.

  • Share your driving and street safety tips

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    We have just released a new Vision Zero street safety video. This is part of a public education campaign aimed at reducing serious injuries and death due to traffic collisions to zero in our community.

    Watch the video here

    The video sends a powerful message that traffic collisions are not accidents and always have a cause, which means they can be prevented. It is the first of three videos and sets a foundational message for the Vision Zero strategy. Future videos will focus on specific driving behaviours and will be released later this year.


    What are your best driving and street safety tips?

    Let’s learn from each other’s experiences and remind ourselves to drive safe. We invite drivers to share their best driving and street safety tips via comments, photos or videos. For example:

    • What do you do while driving that you wish other drivers would do too?
    • What thoughts motivate you to slow down and drive safely?
    • What mistakes have you made or seen behind the wheel?
    • Have you ever experienced a “close call” while driving? How might that have been prevented?


    Share your tips now

  • New! Vision Zero dashboard and ask us a question

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    We have just introduced some new resources and tools about Vision Zero that we wanted to let you know about.

    Vision Zero Dashboard

    A new dashboard that maps collision statistics on Kitchener roads is now available. It also shows our progress on the Vision Zero initiatives.

    Visit our Vision Zero dashboard

    Ask a Question

    We recently added a section to this page where you can share with us your questions, suggestions, and concerns about Vision Zero. Let’s keep the conversation going about how we can work together to achieve the vision of zero traffic accidents and deaths in our community.

    Do you have a question about Vision Zero? Ask it here

  • Kitchener launches Vision Zero street safety education campaign

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    Traffic collisions are not accidents. They always have a cause which means they can be prevented. This is the message of a new Vision Zero street safety education campaign launching this week by the City of Kitchener, in partnership with the City of Waterloo, Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services, and Waterloo Regional Police Service.

    “Kitchener is committed to making our streets as a safe as possible for all users – pedestrians, cyclists and motorists – joining other Vision Zero cities around the world in that goal,” said Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “Speeding and street safety are one of the concerns most often raised with city councillors, staff and myself and we all look forward to the day when we see no traffic fatalities in Kitchener and throughout our region.”

    The new education campaign is an outcome of the city’s Vision Zero Strategy (2022-2025), a long-term plan which aims to eliminate serious injuries and death due to traffic collisions over time. The Vision Zero concept was first introduced in Sweden in 1997 and has since been adopted by municipalities around the globe.

    “Kitchener’s Vision Zero Strategy is a long-term plan that includes improving our traffic and collision data, implementing safety improvements at the highest priority locations, creating educational campaigns, and more,” said Aaron McCrimmon-Jones, Manager of Transportation Safety and Policy, “This campaign is one way to share our coordinated strategy and overall message with residents that no loss of life due to traffic collisions is acceptable.”

    This first phase will build awareness around Vision Zero, with a focus on an important key message: ‘Traffic collisions are not accidents. They can be prevented.’ Utilizing website, social media, radio, posters and digital billboards, the goal is to get the community thinking about road safety as a shared responsibility. These efforts form the first phase a larger education strategy which will continue through 2024.

    “Vision Zero is a new way of thinking about creating safer roads,” said Ward 8 Councillor, Margaret Johnston. “We believe that no traffic deaths or serious injuries on our city streets are acceptable. We’re looking to identify road safety improvements that will make Kitchener streets safer for everyone.”

    To learn more, visit www.kitchener.ca/visionzero.

  • Kitchener Council approves Vision Zero strategy

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    Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Vision Zero strategy!

    Kitchener Council approved the strategy on December 13, 2021. To view the report and meeting recording, please visit calendar.kitchener.ca/council

    The city’s Vision Zero Strategy is a long-term street safety plan that includes, but is not limited to, changing road geometry, enhancing signage, pavement markings and undertaking educational campaigns. Action items were selected based on public and stakeholder engagement, data analysis, background research, and the city’s strategic goals. Vision Zero will also collect traffic and collision data to track progress towards the long-term goal of 0 fatalities and serious injuries.

    This strategy will be completed over the next four years, with annual updates and recommendations presented to Council. We will continue to use this page to engage residents in our ongoing work to reduce injuries and fatalities.

    Please subscribe for updates by clicking the Subscribe button at the top right-hand corner of this page.

  • Draft Vision Zero strategy to go to Council Dec 6

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    Thank you to everyone who answered our surveys and shared their ideas about the Vision Zero strategy! We will present the draft strategy to the Community and Infrastructure Services Committee meeting on Monday, December 6 from 6:00-8:30p.m.

    To see the agenda and report, visit calendar.kitchener.ca/council

    Watch the meeting live at kitchener.ca/watchnow

  • City seeks feedback on plans to increase road safety

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    We want to make roads, sidewalks and trails in Kitchener safer for all ages, abilities, and modes of transportation. The City is developing a Vision Zero strategy and we’re looking forward to your feedback and input on the plan.

    Vision Zero is a new way of thinking about creating safer roads. The City’s long-term vision is to reduce collisions involving serious injury and fatality to zero for any type of road users including drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, transit users and people using mobility devices. The strategy will offer guidance on building and designing roads, supporting law enforcement, educating residents, and finding solutions for specific concerns in our neighbourhoods.

    The City is taking a multi-step approach towards meeting the Vision Zero goal. The draft strategy includes clear actions items that will be informed based on your input and evaluated and revised to ensure continuous progress towards the Vision Zero goal.

    The survey is open until Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. Staff will be reviewing the input and preparing a four-year strategy for Vision Zero that will go to Council in December. To share your feedback on the Vision Zero strategy, visit www.engagewr.ca/visionzero.

  • Vision Zero survey launches

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    In March 2020, council directed staff to develop a Vision Zero strategy. We want to reduce the harm of potential collisions or other human mistakes by making our roads safer. We recognize that we need to make improvements that will contribute to safer roads, vehicles, speeds and road user behaviours.

    Through a Vision Zero strategy, we aim to minimize the risk of traffic related serious injuries or fatalities in our community.

    We expect to complete the Vision Zero strategy by the end of 2021. The strategy will include specific road safety improvement action items under these categories:

    • evaluation
    • engineering
    • enforcement
    • education
    • engagement


    To develop the strategy, staff will work closely with various stakeholders such as

    • Region of Waterloo
    • Waterloo Regional Police Services
    • Public Health
    • Grand River Transit


    There are significant road safety efforts being undertaken within the City by multiple departments and agencies. A few examples being the traffic calming programs, 40km/h neighbourhood speed limit pilot project, the separated bike lanes, etc. We will compare these efforts against best practices to identify gaps and areas for improvement.

    Please help us to ensure that the Kitchener transportation network is safe and accommodates all ages, abilities and modes of transportation. Our survey is the start of a conversation with Kitchener residents as we develop our Vision Zero strategy – we’re starting with simple questions about how often they use certain modes of transportation, and how safe they feel using each.

    We’ll be using that feedback as well as our traffic and speed data to identify “hot spots” where a serious collision is more likely to occur. We want to understand the factors that create dangerous situations and eliminate them from our roadways.

Page last updated: 23 Jan 2024, 11:48 AM