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Vision Zero is one of the newer strategies looking to eliminate deaths and severe injuries due to road traffic and unsafe infrastructure. First successfully implemented in parts of Europe, the strategy has recently gained traction in North American cities in addition to the direction of the new administration.1

Since the inception of roadways and traffic, most drivers were conditioned to think fatalities on the road were inevitable, but the reality is that there are now many resources that can prevent these tragedies. The key is to take a proactive, preventative approach that prioritizes traffic safety as a public health issue. With more than 40,000 people killed in crashes in the US in 2020, something needs to start changing immediately. The significant loss of life exacts a tragic toll. Moreover, pedestrian deaths in 2020 increased by 21 percent from 2019 – even with fewer vehicles on the road that year.2 Not only is there personal loss, but also deep community impacts including economic costs and emotional trauma as well as increasing taxpayer spending on emergency response and long-term healthcare costs.

Committing to Change with New Strategies and New Technology

Vision Zero specializes in showing a different approach to traffic safety. It is much different than the traditional approach used today in that it starts with the ethical belief that everyone reserves the right to experience safe use of the roadway, and it is the shared responsibility of policymakers, system designers and technology experts to ensure safer roadways. The traditional approach of traffic pushes responsibility onto an individual, however with system designers working together to create smart infrastructure through the new strategy of Vision Zero, various different aspects of the roads and traffic will ultimately become safer. Vision Zero also differs from the traditional approaches by acknowledging the many factors that go into creating safe mobility in communities.

Collaborations are integral between traffic planners, engineers, and policymakers alike. Committing to Vision Zero means unlearning old ways of the roads and making room for new strategies to better the transportation infrastructure we use every day. This means that system designers and policymakers are expected to improve the roadway environment and policies in addition to other related systems in order to dramatically lessen the severity of crashes. 1

Advanced technologies including video analytics solutions use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning approaches to analyze large quantities of video streams in real-time to then provide actionable insights on complex traffic situations including road hazards, congestion and traffic collisions. For example, companies like Waycare, Derq and Applied Information provide software that analyzes behavioral patterns of vehicles, pedestrians, and traffic flows from existing traffic infrastructure in real-time to identify and predict potential road incidents. These advanced video analytics can then activate a pedestrian blinking sign to alert a distracted driver from colliding with a pedestrian about to cross the road. They can also alert a city operator so emergency responders can be dispatched to the location of the incident if a collision is detected. Furthermore, real-time AI analytics provide additional context in the form of incident identification, near-miss heatmaps and accurate traffic counts to traffic engineers and operators, which ultimately allows them to better understand traffic patterns and proactively improve the safety of roads.

The U.S. Administrative Plan for Infrastructure

The Biden administration released a proposal to spend an estimated $1 trillion on infrastructure projects that both lawmakers and the White House will now work to get through Congress.3 The proposed bill was negotiated among a group of bipartisan Senators that includes a large piece of the bill targeting innovations for smart infrastructure. The administration’s transportation infrastructure goes hand in hand with the Vision Zero strategy as they are both working to fix the same problem. Through increased funding for roadway projects, the bipartisan proposal puts roadways on the right track to decrease fatalities, and hopefully lead to zero fatalities over the years.

It’s estimated that the infrastructure plan will spend $312 billion on surface transportation projects, with $109 billion invested in roads, bridges and other major projects.4 From there, $20 billion is estimated to be put toward improving the safety of all roadway users, with a specific emphasis on bicyclist and pedestrian safety.5 The proposed plan includes increasing funding on existing safety programs, while also creating a new program called “Safe Streets for All.” This new program will provide funding for state and local governments’ Vision Zero plans.

Preventing roadway incidents is key to Vision Zero, and advanced technologies like real-time video analytics play an integral role in smart infrastructure. While legislation is a good first step, it will not work without new technology to enable better road safety. It’s important that local city and community leaders adopt the mentality of Vision Zero to enable smart infrastructure advances. While access to the data collected through sensors being deployed is a crucial first step, the implementation of technology solutions is necessary to move forward to actually improve road safety and reduce traffic fatalities.

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About the Author: 

Dr. Georges Aoude is the CEO and Co-Founder of Derq, an MIT spinoff powering the future of connected and autonomous roads, making cities smarter and safer for all road users and enabling the deployment of autonomous vehicles at scale. Derq provides cities and fleets with an award-winning and patented smart infrastructure platform powered by AI that leverages existing traffic cameras and sensors to help them tackle the most challenging road safety and traffic management problems.

Sources:

1: https://visionzeronetwork.org/about/what-is-vision-zero/
2: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/mind-boggling-pedestrian-deaths-surged-2020-despite-fewer-cars-road-n1267910
3: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-senators-agree-to-roughly-1-trillion-infrastructure-plan-11624553972
4: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/24/infrastructure-deal-talks-biden-invites-bipartisan-senators-to-white-house.html
5: https://www.atssa.com/Advocacy/ArtMID/2254/ArticleID/423/Biden-proposes-2-trillion-infrastructure-plan

The ongoing US-China trade war has brought a renewed urgency in recent months resulting in my crisscrossing this tiny nation from the northern capital of Hanoi to the country’s economic epicenter to the south, Ho Chi Minh City – formerly known as Saigon, and every stop in between. Once viewed as an emerging market with potential, Vietnam today is considered the hottest “go-to” sourcing destination as supply chains uproot from China and President Trump and President Xi continue to work out their disagreements.

However, despite logging thousands of miles of travel and spending days upon days conducting factory audits in the remotest corners of the country, I’ve discovered Vietnam’s manufacturing industry and export products may not live up to the hype as China’s best alternative.

Myth #1: Vietnam manufacturing is on par with China.

One striking difference I noticed immediately is that Vietnam’s manufacturing is at least 10-15 years behind China. On my factory tours, I witnessed outdated machinery, lack of modern equipment and saw few signs of the latest supply chain best practices, including LEAN certification standards and supply chain manufacturing principles in action. In my daily research on vetting manufacturers, I consistently come across poorly designed websites- if I am lucky to find one at all, sales pages listing professional contacts using Gmail and Yahoo accounts, and often encounter few staff members who can converse or speak English well. These deficiencies contribute to the challenging task of sourcing products meeting global export standards.

Myth #2: Vietnam’s pricing is cheaper than China.

With labor about one-third of China, the cost of living and land is much cheaper than its northern neighbor, many falsely believe that Vietnam-made products automatically translate into big savings.

There are three contributing factors:

1. In nearly every industry, Vietnam lacks quality raw materials and must import them from China, thereby, increasing costs

2. As new foreign direct investments set record highs, industrial park land costs have increased dramatically to coincide with this boom

3. Manufacturers (well aware that the US-China trade war has put American buyers in a corner) have raised their prices accordingly.

These all contribute to the drowning out of any major cost savings. In my experience, several times North American buyers have responded that my Vietnam price offer is wildly off the mark and not competitive with their current China suppliers, China tariff included.

Myth #3: In Vietnam, you can expect to find everything as in China.

In the world of manufacturing and supply chain, I constantly hear: “Just start sourcing from Vietnam.” That would be all fine and dandy assuming an apples to apples comparison, but Vietnam is anything but China. Over the past two decades, China has perfected their manufacturing and supply chains to the point of employing robotics and automation churning out sophisticated products by the millions. Just take a trip to the hugely popular Canton Fair or attend one of the hundreds of trade shows and expos throughout the year; you will find every product imaginable, in every variant and color, too.

Furthermore, China has the most up-to-date and modern infrastructure—from container ports, highways, railways, and warehouses—to deliver goods globally. In contrast, Vietnam only in recent years has started to emerge onto the manufacturing scene, known mostly for light furniture, textiles, sewing, and electronics parts.

Exasperated by the US-China trade war, Vietnam’s manufacturing industry has been red hot, however, it’s not an equivalent replacement for China. Buyers can expect less-than-stellar quality products and choices than what China offers, met with challenging business practices and frustration due to the lack of manufacturing transparency, data, and information. While Vietnam might be a manufacturing dream destination for many of your gains, it might be just that in the end: a pipe dream.

Is Smart Infrastructure the Key to Vision Zero?

Myth #1: Vietnam manufacturing is on par with China.

Myth #2: Vietnam’s pricing is cheaper than China.

Myth #3: In Vietnam, you can expect to find everything as in China.

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