 Riders must be 18 years of age or older to use most shared e-scooter or e-bikes! Those under 18 have other options, including using non-motorized bikes/scooters or taking transit. Arlington residents enrolled in K-12th grade are eligible for a free iRide SmarTrip card! Learn more about scooter/bike safety.
As outlined in Arlington’s Vision Zero Action Plan, the County performs before and after evaluations to assess the efficacy of new strategies or infrastructure improvements to create safer roads for all users. We recently completed a Tool-Based Before/After Studies project with the support of a contracting team. The project’s objective was to evaluate how five engineering tools affected safety at various locations in the County. Each of these interventions is designed to make roads safer for all users, whether drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians.
The tools assessed and topline findings in the study include:
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Curb modifications: Resulted in minor decreases in right turn vehicle speeds; More effective when markings accompanied by flex posts; More effective when bike lane not present.
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Hardened centerlines: Resulted in significant decreases in left turn speeds and percentage of vehicles crossing the yellow line while turning; More effective when both mini speed humps and flex posts are installed for hardening.
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Tactical Speed humps: Resulted in significant decreases in speeds and speeding in school zone corridors; More effective when placed away from STOP sign locations.
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Speed limit pavement markings: Resulted in minor decreases in average 85th percentile speeds but helpful in reducing vehicles traveling above 30mph.
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No-turn-on-red signage: Resulted in moderate reduction in vehicles turning right on red; Some locations showed an increase in the amount of pedestrian/vehicle conflicts on the vehicular green/concurrent walk signal phases.
As a part of the Vision Zero Action Plan the County performs a hot spot analysis of all reported crashes to identify individual intersections or locations that experience high crash rates with the target to implement quick-build crash mitigation measures.
Starting with the list of 60 hot spots, the Vision Zero team organized and prioritized new hot spots by number of crashes, crash type, crash factors, and crash severity. Traffic engineers then reviewed hot spots, collaboratively assessed treatment options, recommended treatments, and designed final plans for implementation.
Next, staff reviewed the latest crash data at previous hot spots to ensure any previously implemented strategies were successful at reducing crashes at the intersection. If crashes persisted, the engineer assessed and recommended additional crash mitigation measures.
As part of these analyses, the team identified hot spots at which there was a recent/ongoing/upcoming project. If there was a pre-existing project, staff reviewed the hot spot in partnership with the project team to ensure that the recent/ongoing/upcoming project addresses or would address existing safety concerns.
In all, there were:
- 18 locations with existing or ongoing projects at the time of analysis,
- 28 locations at which County staff implemented safety improvements, and
- 14 locations where County staff are in the process of implementing or assessing new safety features.
View the complete 2024 Hot Spots Action Summary.
Look out in next month’s newsletter for an update on the 2025 hot spots analysis. We plan to start evaluations this summer.
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In April 2025, the Vision Zero team held several pop-up events to hear from community members about transportation safety issues in the County. Our team received 672 online responses, 14 mailed responses, and had 1,005 in-person interactions.
Results show that most people feel safe while driving and taking the bus/Metro in Arlington, but there is less agreement related to safety while walking and biking. The top three concerns were the same for pop-ups and feedback form and are the same as 2024’s survey: Speeding/aggressive driving, drivers not following laws, and distracted travelers.
View the short summary or the full-length report for more details.
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The Vision Zero team is presenting at the Arlington County Police Department’s (ACPD) Quarterly community meetings. All are welcome to attend. These meetings will cover topics including, but not limited to:
- Information on how to spot, avoid and report scams
- Back-to-school safety tips
- A transportation safety presentation by Vision Zero
- Answers to questions from community members
Attendees are encouraged to submit question(s) through ACPD’s Quarterly Community Meeting Question Form no less than three business days ahead of the meeting they plan to attend.
ACPD’s Summer 2025 Quarterly Community Meetings will be held at the following times and locations (meetings are hybrid: both in-preson and virtual options):
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Thursday, August 7, 2025, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Fairlington Community Center, Room 118, 3308 S. Stafford Street August 7 Quarterly Community Meeting Teams Link
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Tuesday, August 12, 2025, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Lubber Run Community Center, Oak Room, 300 N. Park Drive August 12 Quarterly Community Meeting Teams Link
We look forward to seeing you!
It’s construction season, which means County crews are busy installing safety tools throughout the county. Below are updates on construction and installations:
Pilot Safety Projects:
Tactical Speed Humps
- Campbell Elementary: 7th Rd S- Installed
- Tuckahoe Elementary: N Trinidad St -Installed
- Washington-Liberty High: 15th St N - Installed
- Nottingham ES: N Ohio St
- Randolph Elementary: 16th St S
- Discovery Elementary/Williamsburg Middle: N Kensington St
- Arlington Science Focus Elementary: N Lincoln St
Downhill Bike Lane & Right Turn Conflict Pilot Safety Project
- All locations have the device installed. Next staff will collect after data.
- Clarendon Blvd & 17th St N-Installed
- Clarendon Blvd & N Scott St - Installed
- Clarendon Blvd & Driveway Across from N Troy St - Installed
- Wilson Blvd & N Manchester St- Installed
Speed Management Pilot Safety Project
- Before data has been collected for most locations and design plans are underway. Installation activity will begin shortly.
High-Injury Network Safety Audits:
- 2nd St S – July 2025, Pending documentation
- S Manchester St –June 2025, Pending documentation
- Clarendon Blvd – March 2025, pending documentation
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Langston Blvd Audit – February 2025
Quick-Build Safety Projects:
Capital-Driven Safety Project Updates:
On June 30th members of the Transportation Engineering & Operations group provided a Vision Zero program update to the Arlington County Transportation Commission. Commissioners gave positive feedback and stated they supported tools like tactical speed humps, centerline hardening, and temporary bus loading platforms—all of which have been shown to be effective for speed reduction. They encouraged staff to explore possible solutions to make tactical speed humps more comfortable for bicyclists.
We were very thankful for the opportunity to present our work and to receive these thoughtful responses from the Commissioners. View the meeting documentation and recording here.
 Over four days in June, four children died in hot cars nationwide, and we need your help to spread the word to parents and caregivers: Hot cars kill children. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking you to remind people that no child should ever be left in a vehicle, not even for a minute. Twelve children have died from heatstroke in hot cars in 2025 – this is a matter of life or death.
According to media reports, five children who died were forgotten in vehicles so far this year, while four more were knowingly left behind by a parent or caregiver. One child gained access to an unlocked vehicle and died. The specific circumstances behind two additional deaths have not yet been reported publicly.
Please click here for more tips on how to prevent hot car deaths. Graphics and videos are available online, and we encourage you to use them in your stories.
Visit the Vision Zero Safety Projects page to learn more about safety-driven quick build projects, capital projects, pilot projects, High-Injury Network safety audits, and more.
Also, check out our Crash Data Dashboard that shows crash data over the last 10 years, how and where we implement safety tools from the multimodal safety toolbox, our various safety initiatives, speed reduction corridors, and where we are doing outreach/engagement.
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