KQED's Forum San Francisco Has Tried to Make its Streets Safer for Pedestrians – Has it Worked?
Apr 2, 2026
David Zipper, transportation writer and podcast co-host, offers national context on road safety. Viktoriya Wise, SFMTA Streets director, explains data-driven street design and enforcement. Jodie Medeiros, Walk SF leader, describes community campaigns for speed cameras and quick-build redesigns. They discuss recent pedestrian deaths, safety strategies, street engineering wins, vehicle trends, and automated enforcement.
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High Injury Network Concentrates Risk
- San Francisco's High Injury Network shows 13% of streets account for 78% of fatalities and severe injuries.
- Viktoriya Wise says focusing limited resources on that network targets the places with the biggest impact.
Test Street Fixes With Quick-Build Designs
- Use quick-build street designs to test lower-cost safety changes before making them permanent.
- Jodie Medeiros points to the Tenderloin where six years of quick-builds cut pedestrian collisions 30–50% and produced zero pedestrian deaths in 2025.
Use Speed Cameras To Cut Speeds
- Deploy automated speed cameras to reduce speeding because human enforcement is inconsistent.
- Viktoriya Wise reports a 78% reduction in people speeding where cameras and citations are used.