Mayor Muriel Bowser pledges $10M for more speed cameras and street improvements.

Traffic deaths are increasing at an alarming rate in the D.C. area, and Mayor Muriel Bowser has recently announced that she's dedicating $10 million to add more speed cameras throughout the District, as well as make improvements at dangerous intersections, through the Vision Zero Summer Safety Campaign.

The initiative aims to reach zero transportation-related deaths by 2024.

At the press conference, Mayor Bowser said, "We are very troubled by the significant increase in fatalities … and we know that too many of the deaths on our roads are due to drivers recklessly speeding through our streets. We need drivers to slow down, not just because they’re avoiding a ticket, but so they don’t kill people on our streets and sidewalks."

In 2021, D.C. has had 16 traffic deaths—nine were pedestrians, two cyclists, two drivers, two motorcyclists, and one passenger.

Of that $10 million, about half will help updated equipment and technology for the automatic traffic enforcement program. Bowser wants the D.C. Department of Transportation to reallocate the other $5 million to "rapidly deploy safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists at dozens of locations across the District."

D.C. currently has more than 120 cameras in place; however, there's no information on how many more cameras will be used, where they'd go, and when they'd launch.

Learn more here.

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