City of Santa Fe, New Mexico

The City of Santa Fe, New Mexico leveraged Urban SDK to evaluate road safety concerns in a two-square-mile study area located south of Cerrillos Road and generally west of Yucca Street. Stakeholders sought to verify residents’ concerns about speeding. They also wanted to identify areas on the network where road safety concerns may exist but had not yet been reported.

Officials intended on using the study area as a pilot neighborhood to develop a replicable process for identifying hot spots, as well as evaluating and recommending road safety enhancement tools, mitigation measures, and interventions.

By working with Urban SDK, officials created a systematic and proactive process, rather than a reactive approach, focused on responding to neighborhood complaints.

This study was centered around the Vision Zero road safety concept; a now globally adopted philosophy that all fatalities and serious injuries incurred on the road network are ultimately preventable. A key focus of Vision Zero road safety initiatives is the paramount importance of vehicle speeds in determining the risk to other road users.

Research has clearly demonstrated that faster vehicular traffic increases both the risk and severity of collisions with those vehicles. Therefore it was imperative that road safety interventions be focused around the most effective method of preventing deaths and serious injuries on the road network: reducing vehicular speeds.