The city Department of Transportation is set to announce on Wednesday that pedestrian traffic deaths reached an “all-time low” for the first six months of this year since the launch of the city’s Vision Zero program to prevent such fatalities and serious injuries launched in 2014, amNewYork has learned.
There were 46 pedestrian deaths over the first two quarters of 2026 — marking a 13% drop from the 53 that occurred over the same period last year, the DOT told amNewYork ahead of its July 1 announcement. The only time there were less recorded pedestrian deaths over the same span was the first half of 2020, when the city’s streets were far emptier than usual, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, 2026 was the fifth-safest year on record for traffic deaths in the city, with overall fatalities down 25% since the launch of Vision Zero, according to DOT data. It comes behind 2017, 2025, and 2020 — with 2018 holding the record for the least traffic deaths over the same period since the program’s start.
The 94 traffic fatalities through June 29 of this year were just slightly higher than last year, which stood at 91, and lower than the three previous years.
“No New Yorker should fear walking to school, biking to work, or driving to visit a loved one,” said DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn, in a statement. “New York City’s streets remain among the safest they have ever been, but Vision Zero means one death is one too many.”
The entirety of 2025 marked the city’s lowest for traffic deaths ever, DOT revealed early this year, with 205 deaths.
Slight rise in e-bike/moped/scooter rider crashes
When it comes to other road users, there were 16 deaths among vehicle occupants so far this year, down from 29 during the same time in 2024 and 30 in 2023, DOT data indicates.
Fatalities among e-bike, moped, and motorized stand-up scooter riders have risen slightly over the first half of this year compared to last, from 16 to 18, according to DOT. However, they are still lower than the 23 deaths recorded across those modes during the same period of 2024 and 2023.
Meanwhile, there were just three bicycle rider deaths over the first six months of 2026.
Flynn said the overall success of Vision Zero is due in large part to the city’s investment in making streets safer through redesigns. Those projects include features such as protected bike lanes, bus lanes, concrete pedestrian islands, shortened crossings, and clearer lane organization.
The features work together to better organize traffic, calm traffic, and reduce conflicts among drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and micromobility users.
Since taking office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has placed a significant focus on completing street redesigns shelved, stalled, or outright killed by his predecessor, Eric Adams, and starting new ones.
The agency is also working with the NYPD to enforce against reckless driving, especially on corridors with the highest volumes of severe crashes, and the use of illegal micromobility devices, such as the motorized scooter whose rider crashed into a cyclist on the Queensboro Bridge in late May — killing them both.
The department has also deployed public education campaigns to demonstrate safer practices to riders of micromobility devices, who are often food delivery workers.
“Under Mayor Mamdani, we are doubling down on safer street design, targeted traffic enforcement, and expanded public education, because we must use every tool at our disposal to prevent catastrophic crashes and save lives,” Flynn said.
Annie Levers, director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations, said in a statement that Vision Zero’s effectiveness stems from various city agencies working in tandem and using data.
“The progress we’re seeing is the result of agencies working together, using data to identify challenges and act on them,” Levers said. “With 2026 on track to be among the safest years on record, that approach is delivering results. But our work isn’t done until fatalities reach zero.”