
Do you experience dangerous streets? Here’s how to request traffic calming.
Vision zero says residents should report unsafe streets. But is this working for residents?
The city’s most recent Vision Zero report for 2024 showed promising results along Roosevelt Boulevard but alarming stats for pedestrians.
According to the report, preliminary 2024 data shows lower fatal crashes than in 2023 overall. The most common type of severe crashes in 2023 were hit pedestrian crashes, which accounted for 38%. Traffic deaths in that same group were 56 people; comparatively, the 2015-2019 yearly average was 34 people.
The report also found that Roosevelt Boulevard is now no longer the deadliest street in Philadelphia, suggesting speed cameras installed in 2020 are effectively slowing down cars. Vehicle speed is by far the biggest determinant of a crash fatality.
Broad Street is now Philadelphia’s most deadly street for crashes, with over one traffic death per month. Mayor Parker and Philadelphia City Council have enacted a new ordinance permitting speed cameras along Broad and part of Old York Road.
Vision Zero describes community input as a vital tool to create safer streets.
One way to provide feedback? Residents can report unsafe streets and request traffic calming measures through the city’s 311 app or website.
Traffic calming through 311
Nick Di Taranto is a member of Philly Bike Action, a group that advocates for protected bike lanes in Philadelphia. Di Taranto bikes, walks, and takes public transit to get around the city. He says he hasn’t had a car in years.
When Di Taranto bought his house in Kensington two years ago, he noticed how harrowing certain streets near him were to traverse on foot or bike. “Folks don’t stop all the time,” said Di Taranto. “I’ve had multiple instances where I was in the crosswalk, and someone was coming the other way and just kept going.”
Overall, drivers are driving faster and more aggressively post-pandemic. For Philadelphia residents like Di Taranto, this can impact their daily routines. He says wide roads like Frankford, Front, or Cumberland make it easy for people to speed. “There’s community concern,” he said.
Di Taranto placed seven traffic calming requests to Philly’s 311 line for multiple dangerous blocks. He prioritized a strip on Cumberland Street between Frankford Avenue and Kensington Avenue due to its high volume of schools. “It seemed like the best place to start doing [traffic calming] because we’re talking about kids. It should be obvious to make that fix.”
Five months later, he heard back. One request was approved. All of the rest of his requests were denied, with the response, “a traffic study was completed and determined the request was not warranted.” The city gave no further explanation.
“It was confusing,” said Di Taranto. He gave the same language in each of his requests, but was left wondering: Why this particular request, but none of the others? “No real information was given. Making it clear how the review process is working and how each request is being scored would be helpful. I would like to know what a good request looks like.”
Community advocacy leads to traffic calming.
Philly Bike Action’s co-founder, Caleb Holtmeyer, says that delays and lack of clear language are common in communication with 311. “I have not had success with 311,” he said.
Holtmeyer recently successfully advocated for traffic calming speed bumps in a school zone along a stretch of Callowhill Street – but not through 311. Instead, he participated in community action, collected signatures from the neighborhood and school, and directly contacted his city councilperson. The speed cushions were installed just over a year after initial contact.
Holtmeyer credits the safety cushions to “actually talking to people” – his neighbors – at community events. “That’s how you start making those relationships,” he said. “And then you can start talking about safety stuff as a community. A lot of people want safety; they just don’t always know how to do it.”
He encourages others to use 311 as a starting point. “Do 311 to document that you’ve tried to use the system that’s in place because that always helps your case, but at the same time, get your community organization involved and get them behind it.”
Want to get started? Here’s how to request traffic calming in your neighborhood.
If you notice a street is unsafe or difficult to navigate as a pedestrian – maybe cars are speeding too often or blowing through stop signs, for instance – you can report those problem areas to Philly 311.
Streets not eligible for review include state highways or curving/hilly roads. Intersections are also not eligible. See more about the requirements here.
Step 1: Navigate to the City’s traffic calming submission page to check if the street is eligible for review. Then, either scroll to the bottom, download the 311 app, or call 311.
Step 2: Put in the address of the request or drag the pin to mark the issue’s location.
Step 3: Choose from the dropdown list what issue you are reporting (speeding vehicles, vehicle crashes, etc.)
Step 4: Provide your name, email, and phone number.
Step 5: Write a description about what you have seen and experienced in area.
Step 6: Choose if you would like the issue to be public or private, and add a photo of the area if you can.
Step 7: Click submit.
Here’s what submitting a traffic calming request through the 311 app looks like:

Photo by James Harrison on Unsplash