LightNews LightNews
rachelweiner.bsky.social
@rachelweiner.bsky.social
200 followers 170 following 76 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
rachelweiner.bsky.social
That’s an idea! Spanberger just named as her transportation secretary Nick Donohue who helped make a lot of these P3s happen in Virginia
December 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
rachelweiner.bsky.social
I wrote about their work here — www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...
America’s plan to protect pedestrians failed. A young woman’s death reveals why.
U.S. officials adopted Europe's Vision Zero initiative, but many cities have seen an increase in pedestrian fatalities despite efforts to improve road safety.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 7, 2025 at 10:16 PM
rachelweiner.bsky.social
I hear you — I had pitched a story for this project on MD-210 and it’s still on my list. But we’ve written repeatedly about DCs Vision Zero program and the mandate on this was to look elsewhere
December 4, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted
actfortransit.bsky.social
U.S. officials encouraged cities to adopt Vision Zero to save lives. Driver opposition and a lack of money derailed it.

Reporting by @rachelweiner.bsky.social & Ian Duncan. Data analysis by Emmanuel Martinez. Graphics by Dylan Moriarty.

In the Washington Post.
LOS ANGELES — As the sun set over the Pacific Ocean one Sunday this past spring, Cecilia Milbourne returned from a walk on the beach with her dog, Gucci. To reach her parked Tesla, she had to cross a road that city officials have known for years poses a danger to people on foot. Eight years ago, as part of a national initiative to stem traffic deaths called Vision Zero, the city shrank the number of lanes on the road, Vista Del Mar, and several connecting streets in the shoreside community just south of Venice. But they restored it to four lanes after an uproar by drivers — among them Octavio Girbau, who railed against a city official in a 2017 Facebook post stating he was stuck on one of those intersecting roads “in the traffic hell you created.” With a photo of Cecilia Milbourne, a young women smiling at the camera, and a photo of her dog, a small dog wearing a little shirt. On March 16, Girbau was driving south on Vista Del Mar as Milbourne was about to cross in a spot with no crosswalk and no sidewalk — just a concrete curb separating her from the moving cars. Girbau bumped another car, lost control and struck Milbourne on the side of the road, sending her flying as his Mercedes flipped onto the beach, according to a police report. Milbourne, 29, a hairdresser and actor who had moved to Los Angeles from Atlanta, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her dog died with her. Milbourne’s death on the hazardous road encapsulates the widespread failure of Vision Zero, a plan endorsed by the federal government during the Obama administration and adopted by cities across the country. The core concept, which emulates a Swedish model, is that the government — through engineering, vehicle standards and police enforcement — can ensure that the mistakes of drivers are not deadly. But the program has foundered in city after city in the United States, according to an examination of pedestrian death data by The Washington Post, even though lifesaving measures such as lower speed limits and more pedestrian crossings can be relatively inexpensive. Vision Zero’s failures in more than two dozen cities fit a predictable pattern, according to the Post analysis and interviews with experts in traffic safety. Motorists are hostile to measures that slow traffic and favor pedestrians. Local leaders give token or tepid support. Spending on pedestrian-friendly improvements is not prioritized. The U.S. government, meanwhile, never backed up its pledge with federal action or significant funds. A Post analysis found that of 27 cities that had at least five pedestrian deaths each year before adopting Vision Zero, all but one now have the same or higher pedestrian death rates than when those declarations were made. That includes Albuquerque, where the pedestrian death rate nearly doubled in the five years since the city announced it was signing on to Vision Zero. It also encompasses Long Beach, California; Sacramento; and Greensboro, North Carolina. Nationally, annual pedestrian deaths surged 70 percent from 2010 to 2023, as authorities have continued to prioritize the flow of motor vehicle traffic. Graphic showing the Vision Zero cities with the largest increases in pedestrian death rates (pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people). The date the city announced its commitment to Vision Zero is also on the graphic. The x axis goes from 2010 to 2023. The y axis goes from 0 to 10, but Fort Lauderdale has two spikes above 10. The cities are Albuquerque, Long Beach California, Greensboro North Carolina, Sacramento, Houston, Portland Oregon, San Diego, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and Seattle. The data source is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
December 4, 2025 at 2:17 PM