Moving procurement from a bureaucratic checkbox to a source of innovation, cities across the country are discovering that their purchasing power can advance city policies in dramatic ways. Some of the most resourceful communities are using their equipment needs to advance Vision Zero goals, while getting the performance results of well-oiled machines.
Hear from Chicago’s experience in clearing snow from its protected bike lanes, and the equipment purchases that make it possible. Boston has introduced side guards across the city’s extensive fleet of oversized vehicles, equipping a large number of vehicles on the road with the safety technology needed to eliminate fatalities from the city’s streets. The Volpe Center, the research and deployment lab of the USDOT, has partnered with San Francisco, New York City, Boston, and other cities to roll out new vehicle safety technologies, including side guards and innovative mirror systems, on city-owned, city-contracted, and even private truck fleets that are increasingly protecting bicyclists and pedestrians from deadly crashes.