Pedestrian deaths drop in first year of Vision Zero

Fewer pedestrians died New York City in 2014 than in any other year over the last century, city officials announced Wednesday.

Preliminary figures show there were 250 traffic-related deaths last year, of which 134 were pedestrians.

There were 180 pedestrian deaths in 2013, marking a 27 percent drop since Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his Vision Zero initiative to reduce and eliminate traffic-related deaths.

“This is rapid progress,” de Blasio said Wednesday. “Those statistics indicate real lives, real people, real families who are walking the streets today – people who have a better life because these policies worked.”

The policies, unveiled in February 2014, included redesigns of major intersections, newly installed speed bumps and lowering the speed limit to 25 m.p.h. from 35 m.p.h.

However, there was a rise in bicycle related deaths over the last three years. Twenty cyclists died in 2014, compared to 12 the year before and 18 the year before that. Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said she was not happy with the spike.

“One fatality is too many, but that is a number we’re taking a close look at and trying to do diagnosis about what happened,” said Trottenberg.

The administration announced it would continue with improving 50 new intersections across the city and install 50 miles of new bike lanes.