Vision Zero
Vision Zero is the global movement to eliminate all traffic deaths and serious injuries through adopting safe street design, safety-focused transportation policy, and improved enforcement of traffic laws. More than 42,000 people die on American roads each year, and many thousands more are severely injured. These deaths and injuries are preventable. The Vision Zero approach seeks to create a transportation system where crashes never result in fatalities or serious injuries. In contrast, crashes resulting from human error cannot be eliminated. The traffic environment can be designed so that the force of any crash does not exceed the human body's tolerance. Vision Zero, therefore, rejects the traditional approach of traffic safety, which places responsibility for crashes on road users, and instead looks to roadway designers to create safer roads for all users. Learn more about Vision Zero from the U.S Department of Transportation.
Street Safety Action Plan
The City of New Braunfels is committed to eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries on all its streets by improving roadway design, expanding safe driving enforcement, and supporting safe and healthy mobility options for all ages and abilities.
Creating a safe road network for drivers and pedestrians begins with policies supporting each party. The residents and the city identified the areas that they considered the most concerning road safety in New Braunfels: unsafe speeds, a lack of accommodation for pedestrians, and unsafe road behaviors. The city created policies addressing each, lowering speeds with smart design, reevaluating posted speeds, including multimodal infrastructure requirements in new development and redevelopment, and enforcing safe driving behavior to protect vulnerable road users.
Quick Links
-
Street Safety Action Plan
Click here to see the full Street Safety Plan
-
Submit a Street Safety Issue
An easy to use tool to report issues with sidewalks, streets, crosswalks, traffic signals, and other safety concerns.
-
Street Safety Action Proclamation
Click here to view the Street Safety Action Plan Proclamation
-
Street Safety Action Plan Dashboard
Use these interactive maps related to the SSAP, including project areas, traffic incidents, and road work closures
Policy Goals
Since street design influences how fast someone feels comfortable driving, physical solutions are needed to make speeding difficult or impossible, especially in high-crash zones. Street design combined with traffic calming infrastructure and traffic control devices can reduce the speeding rate on New Braunfels’s streets, reducing the likelihood of crashes.
Action Items:
- Update the speed hump policy to a comprehensive traffic calming program.
- Amend the code of ordinances to allow the city engineer to authorize traffic signals, speed limits, and speed zone locations.
Providing dedicated space on New Braunfels’s streets for bikes and pedestrians, in addition to cars, improves safety for all road users. In many cases, wide vehicular lanes can be narrowed to provide more space for pedestrians and cyclists without impeding traffic flow. Dedicated facilities reduce the risk of car crashes with vulnerable road users, having the potential to save lives.
Action Items:
- A connected multi-model street network is required for new developments and redevelopments.
While traffic calming features and redesigning streets can discourage people from driving recklessly, changes to the law are also needed to ensure safe street behaviors. Working with the Police Department and changing the Code of Ordinances can facilitate the fair enforcement of traffic laws and safe street behavior.
Click here to view marketing communications promoting street safe behaviors.
Action Items:
- Improve safety ordinance for vulnerable road users
- Prohibit parking, idling, and driving in bike lanes
Program GOALS
As the City of New Braunfels begins to improve and change streets and policies, public awareness is a priority for the program. The City will make data available and actively reach out to educate and inform the public as changes occur. Additionally, the City will provide information on alternative transportation options so residents can choose safer or more convenient travel methods.
Action Items:
- Creation of a Street Safety Webpage on the City of New Braunfels Website.
- Create and implement educational campaigns.
- Support transportation options during high-risk periods.
Putting these policies into practice will require dedicated resources and a unified effort to implement them effectively. By dedicating city staff and collaborating with partner agencies, the City can more efficiently create a safer road network. This will also include developing design and safety standards that ensure safety for all road users and will be used for all projects moving forward.
Action Items:
- Designate City of New Braunfels team members to develop and implement policies and programs.
- Collaborate with agency partners on the safety of streets.
- Establish a safe system approach for speed management.
- Establish a process for allocating roadway space to improve safety.
- Establish roadway design guidance for all modes.
- Add streetlights in areas of high pedestrian and cyclist activity.
Safe road use is another important aspect of safety that cannot be overlooked as the City works to improve speed limits and other road changes. Enforcement of new and existing street safety rules will help to maintain a safer and more comfortable environment for all road users.
Action Items:
- Evaluate and Monitor Safe Street Implementation
Timeline & Progress
In July 2025, staff presented on our current progress towards zero crash injuries and fatalities in New Braunfels. The presentation covers recent crash history, an update on the status of projects that were identified in the SSAP, and the update to our high-injury network. New Braunfels is generally following national trends, seeing the dip in crashes in 2020 due to low traffic during Covid become a high peak in 2021 that is slowly coming down. As of 2024, we are not at pre-2020 levels. More crash information can be found on the Vision Zero Dashboard.
View the full Vision Zero presentation given to New Braunfels City Council in July, 2025.
Progress Timeline
This timeline represents the City's goal checkpoints to reach Vision Zero by 2040.
Progress Table
This table outlines all of the City's policy and programming goals that will help New Braunfels reach Vision Zero by 2040.
Partners & Resources
Contact Us
-
Elizabeth Dupont
Transportation PlannerPhone: (830) 221-4639