Key Takeaway: Data collection and evaluation processes must incorporate and reflect the perspectives of individuals with disabilities. Expanding accessibility data collection beyond current norms will enable the SFMTA to create more inclusive programs and street designs that prioritize safety and usability for everyone. There are ample opportunities to enhance our current efforts in analyzing street quality and safety, as well as evaluating the impact of our interventions.
Safety Data
In 2014, San Francisco adopted Vision Zero, an initiative to eliminate traffic deaths and reduce severe injuries in the city. As part of this initiative, the San Francisco Department of Public Health created a map displaying areas where roadway injuries to seniors and people with disabilities are concentrated and where seniors and people with disabilities live and travel. This map helps guide the SFMTA as the agency prioritizes and plans Vision Zero projects to address traffic safety for seniors and people with disabilities.
Parking Data
The Digital Curb Program is a combination of data collection, data maintenance, mapping and workflow upgrades that will bring together all curb assets and regulations and provide the public and staff with a complete and up-to-date picture of every asset and regulation on the curb. A comprehensive database of all blue zones in the city will support this project, allowing people with disabilities to more easily find and park in blue zones. It will also allow planners to apply curb management policies more effectively, helping to maintain existing blue zones and identifying areas of need.
Project Evaluation Data
After policies and projects are implemented, it is also critical to evaluate their effectiveness and monitor program performance in relation to accessibility. Although programs like the SFMTA’s Safe Streets Evaluation Program found that pedestrian, bicycle and traffic calming projects are decreasing collisions and close calls, making streets safer for everyone, there is an opportunity to ask additional questions to evaluate the impact of these interventions on people with disabilities.
The SFMTA could benefit from improved data management processes to better understand and enhance current street conditions with regard to disability. For example, while local collision data includes age information, San Francisco does not currently track the disability status of individuals involved in traffic collisions. This gap is partially due to privacy concerns and data reporting challenges. Recording the disability status of those in collisions would require direct inquiries by police officers, potentially leading to assumptions about an individual’s disability status. Studies do indicate, however, that wheelchair users may face a higher risk of fatalities in car collisions compared to other pedestrians.