Bryan Barnett-Woods is new to the Traffic and Transportation Division in the city’s Department of Public Works as a principal transportation planner/pedestrian and bicycle coordinator. He is also Rockville’s new Vision Zero coordinator. He joined the city on Aug. 23. We asked him a few questions to introduce him the Rockville community.
What’s your role as the city’s Vision Zero coordinator?
My role is to manage, coordinate and support the implementation of the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan. This includes collaborating with the Mayor and Council, Rockville City Police Department, Department of Recreation and Parks, Maryland Department of Transportation, Montgomery County Public Schools and the county’s Department of Transportation, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority WMATA, and the public to carry out the action plan to increase traffic safety and eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries in Rockville. This also includes assessing the progress made and evaluating opportunities to shift strategies to better meet the program’s goals.
What should people know about Vision Zero?
Vision Zero is a data-driven and multifaceted program to increase transportation safety in the City of Rockville for everyone. That includes people driving, walking, rolling, bicycling and riding transit. The ultimate goal is to eliminate all transportation-related deaths and serious injuries.
Through this program, we recognize that no one is perfect when traveling, and our transportation system and policies must ensure that these inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injury or death. To meet this goal, the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan provides 30 different strategies that are categorized into four action areas: engineering, education, enforcement and policy. Within these action areas, we acknowledge the complex and multiple variables that impact traffic safety and work towards a system that equitably provides safe travel for all. The Department of Public Works provides the Mayor and Council with a quarterly progress report, which can be found along with the action plan at www.rockvillemd.gov/visionzero.
Anything else we should know?
If you’re interested in walking or bicycling in Rockville, there are plenty of ways to get involved. The Rockville Bicycle Advisory Committee (www.rockvillemd.gov/RBAC) and Rockville Pedestrian Advocacy Committee (www.rockvillemd.gov/RPAC) have monthly meetings. We’re also just getting started on the city’s Pedestrian Master Plan, which will present a vision and policy framework to support walking throughout Rockville. We’ll have more news about that in the coming months.