July 9, 2025
RED FM News Desk
VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver City Council is set to debate a report on Wednesday that could significantly alter driving habits across the city, recommending a reduction in speed limits on minor streets to 30 kilometers per hour.
This proposal is a key component of the city’s ‘Vision Zero’ strategy, an initiative aimed at eliminating traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. The concept has already been successfully implemented in various parts of Europe, as well as in major North American cities like New York, Seattle, and Edmonton, where speed limits dropped to 40 kilometers per hour in 2021.
Sandy James, a former Vancouver City Planner and current managing director of Walk Metro Vancouver, strongly supports the proposed change. “Anything that slows vehicle traffic down will save lives,” James told 1130 NewsRadio. She emphasized the critical difference in survival rates: “If you’re hit by a vehicle going 50 kilometers an hour, as a pedestrian or a cyclist, you only have a 10 to 15 percent chance of survival. That increases to 80 percent if you are hit by a vehicle at 30 kilometers an hour.”
The proposal includes implementing these new rules in 25 designated “slow zones” across the city, at an estimated cost of $350,000. These zones, identified based on traffic volumes and proximity to parks and schools, include neighborhoods such as Hastings-Sunrise, the West End, Mount Pleasant, and Killarney.
If approved by council, the city plans to install new signage later this year to reflect the reduced speed limits.
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