From Vision to Action: Building Community Capacity for Safer Streets Through a Public Health Framework

Posted on February 13, 2026 by Elyse Keefe

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Mar 2026

In our newly published article, “Advancing Transportation Safety Using a Public Health Approach: The North Carolina Vision Zero Collaborative Support Model,” we describe how North Carolina communities are working together to tackle one of the most persistent and preventable public health challenges in the United States: roadway deaths and serious injuries. While Vision Zero and the Safe System approach are increasingly familiar concepts, far less attention has been paid to “how” to realize the Vision Zero goal. Our article focuses on one approach to address this gap, offering a practical example of how communities can be supported as they move from aspiration to action through a public health-led, statewide collaborative.

Roadway injuries are not random events; they are the predictable outcome of transportation systems that tolerate high speeds, prioritize vehicle throughput, and fail to account for human error. Public health has long emphasized prevention, systems thinking, and an emphasis on root causes, which are all principles that align closely with Vision Zero and the Safe System approach. Yet in many US communities, responsibility for traffic safety remains fragmented across sectors, and local champions are tasked with leading transformative change without sufficient guidance or support. The North Carolina Vision Zero Collaborative was designed to address these challenges.

Since 2020, an interdisciplinary team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has worked alongside communities across the state of North Carolina to build capacity for Vision Zero planning and implementation. Rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all solution, the collaborative support model centers on growing relationships, learning, and building systems that can adapt to change. Communities are engaged through monthly peer touchpoint meetings, quarterly “all-hands” convenings, and an annual, team-based Vision Zero Leadership Institute. These activities are grounded in established public health and implementation science frameworks, including Community Coalition Action Theory, Active Implementation Frameworks, adaptive leadership, and systems thinking.

One of the most important lessons highlighted in the article is that Vision Zero is not simply a plan or a policy, but a long-term transformative process that will require breaking down silos and instituting systems change. Many communities begin in an “exploration” phase, building coalitions, identifying champions, and conducting needs assessments. Progress often requires time, trust, and persistence. The North Carolina experience shows that structured peer learning and consistent technical assistance can help communities navigate these early stages and move toward installation and initial implementation, wherein communities start implementing evidence-based safety practices and standardizing their coordinated efforts.

The evaluation findings described in our article demonstrate meaningful progress. From 2020 to 2025, participation in the collaborative grew from 7 to 33 North Carolina communities. Among those engaged for more than one year, more than half advanced to a higher stage of Vision Zero implementation. Community partners reported utilizing the tools provided by the support team to guide coalition development, secure funding, communicate effectively with stakeholders, and maintain momentum. Just as importantly, participants emphasized the value of learning from peers who experience similar barriers and opportunities.

Read the Article

Another key insight from the article is the central role of leadership, particularly adaptive leadership, in advancing transportation safety. Vision Zero challenges long-standing norms in traffic safety practice, including overreliance on individual behavior change and siloed efforts. Leaders must be prepared to facilitate difficult conversations, reframe problems, and bring together partners who may not traditionally work side by side. The Leadership Institute described in the article creates space for this kind of growth, allowing teams to practice systems thinking, align practices around shared goals, and translate Safe System principles into local action.

The article is also forthright about ongoing challenges for widespread Vision Zero implementation. Communities reported difficulty sustaining progress as initiatives become more complex, particularly when implementing performance management systems or institutionalizing new practices across agencies. Larger or more advanced communities expressed a need for additional resources tailored to later stages of implementation. These findings underscore that capacity building is not a one-time intervention but an ongoing investment.

For public health practitioners, planners, engineers, and policymakers, the North Carolina Vision Zero Collaborative offers an important takeaway: reducing roadway deaths requires more than technical fixes. It requires new practices and processes in collaboration, learning, and accountability. Public health is well positioned to help build such infrastructure by applying its strengths in systems thinking, community-based coalition building, and prevention to transportation safety.

As we note in our new article, the support model described here represents a promising practice—not only for Vision Zero, but for other complex public health challenges that demand cross-sector collaboration and systems change. By focusing on people, processes, and partnerships, communities can begin to turn the goal of zero traffic deaths from vision to reality.

About the Author

Elyse Keefe: Elyse Keefe, MSW, MPH, is a Project Coordinator at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center and holds master's degrees in Public Health and Social Work from UNC-Chapel Hill. Ms. Keefe works on several projects and programs focused on advancing Safe Systems approaches to road safety using a public health framework. Currently she provides technical assistance and leadership development efforts for road safety professionals and has extensive experience using applied research methods in injury prevention.