{"id":499944,"date":"2026-02-26T03:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T03:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499944\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T03:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T03:35:09","slug":"vancouver-rolls-out-slower-speed-limits-in-six-neighbourhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499944\/","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver rolls out slower speed limits in six neighbourhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The City of Vancouver began rolling out 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limits on residential streets in six neighbourhoods on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>It marks the first phase of a multi-year plan to reduce collisions, injuries, and fatalities on local roads.<\/p>\n<p>New signage is being installed in areas including the River District, the West End\u2019s Denman West, Grandview-Woodland, Mount Pleasant, the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona, and the St. George\u2019s neighbourhood near Dunbar Street.<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Ken Sim says the change from 50 km\/h to 30 km\/h is about protecting \u201ckids walking to school, families out for a stroll, and seniors crossing the street in our neighbourhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we slow down, we save lives,\u201d Sim added in a news release on the city\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>The move follows a <a href=\"https:\/\/vancouver.citynews.ca\/2025\/07\/03\/vancouver-city-council-speed-limit-reduction-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">unanimous council decision last summer to lower speeds.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to ICBC, there were more than 7,500 crashes resulting in injury or \u2014 much less frequently \u2014 death in Vancouver in 2024. Roughly half of those crashes happened on residential streets, which make up around 80 per cent of the city\u2019s road network.<\/p>\n<p>ICBC says speed is the leading factor in fatal crashes in B.C. and that slower driving gives motorists more time to react to the unexpected.<\/p>\n<p>City data shows the risk of a pedestrian being killed drops dramatically as vehicle speeds fall \u2014 from about 80 per cent at 50 km\/h to roughly 15 per cent at 30 km\/h.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom a safety perspective, it\u2019s really important we lower speeds on our roads,\u201d said Haakon Koyote, a volunteer with Vision Zero Vancouver.<\/p>\n<p>Koyote says the group would like to see the changes introduced more quickly across the city and paired with measures such as traffic calming and automated speed enforcement to ensure drivers follow the new limits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe police can\u2019t be everywhere at once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"4397311\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lower-speed-03-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Vancouver rolls out slower speed limits in six neighbourhoods\" class=\"wp-image-4397311\"  \/>Vancouver rolls out slower speed limits in six neighbourhoods. (CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"4397309\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lower-speed-02-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Vancouver rolls out slower speed limits in six neighbourhoods\" class=\"wp-image-4397309\"  \/>Vancouver rolls out slower speed limits in six neighbourhoods. (CityNews)<\/p>\n<p>Koyote also adds that slower neighbourhood speeds are unlikely to significantly affect commute times because drivers in Vancouver spend much of their trips stopped at lights and intersections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe traffic impact of crashes is quite a bit more substantial on our roads.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The city says the six neighbourhoods are the first of 25 slow zones planned over the next three years, as funding becomes available.<\/p>\n<p>Under provincial legislation, the default speed limit is 50 km\/h unless otherwise posted, meaning municipalities must install signs to enforce lower limits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Vancouver began rolling out 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limits on residential streets in six neighbourhoods on Wednesday.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-499944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}