denverstreetspartnership.org
Sign-On Letter: Response to Mayor Johnston’s Statements on Transportation
**March 31, 2026**
Dear Mayor Johnston,
We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our deep concern about your recent statements and decisions regarding transportation policies and practices in Denver, and to urge your administration to treat street safety and accessibility with the urgency it demands.
In a recent episode of City Cast Denver, you noted that only 2% of Denver residents commute by bike, compared with 24% of voters who supported Donald Trump, suggesting that those seeking safer, more accessible ways to get around without a car represent a small minority that can be ignored. This framing misrepresents both public sentiment and the stakes of transportation policy in our city. More importantly, it undermines efforts to address one of Denver’s most pressing public safety crises.
Last year, 93 people in Denver were killed in predictable and preventable traffic crashes, a record high since Denver first committed to Vision Zero and the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries in 2016. For comparison, 37 people were killed in homicides during the same period. Both issues demand urgent action, yet traffic violence has not received a commensurate response from your administration.
We do not wait for people to swim across–or even worse, drown in–a river before building a bridge across it. Likewise, current bicycling rates do not prove lack of demand. Surveys consistently show around 60% of residents are interested in biking but are hesitant due to safety concerns. And it’s not just biking – ample evidence indicates most people want multiple options for getting around Denver. Fifty-six percent of voters approved the Denver Deserves Sidewalks initiative, agreeing to pay for more walkable and rollable neighborhoods that are accessible to people of all ages and abilities. A recent Denver Streets Partnership poll found 86% of residents say improving public transit is important—including 70% of people who don’t currently use it.
This desire for better, safer ways of getting around beyond just driving is reflected in city plans shaped by years of community input. Denver Moves Everyone calls for complete, connected networks for walking, rolling, biking, and taking transit—not just driving. Reducing dependence on driving is also essential for achieving widely supported goals, including not only eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries, but also cutting air and noise pollution and climate emissions while making the city more affordable and equitable—particularly for the one-third of residents who cannot drive because of age, disability, or cost.
Further, of the 93 people killed last year, 29 were in an automobile. It is wrong to assume that people who advocate for safe streets only care about those who get around one way or another. We’re fighting to ensure that everyone, regardless of how they move, makes it home to their loved ones without being injured or dying a predictable and preventable death on Denver streets. Effective traffic calming measures, like those originally proposed for Alameda, make our streets safer and more accessible for everyone, including people in cars.
As you stated prior to taking office, “Denver can’t simply give lip service to Vision Zero and expect to achieve its goals—reducing traffic deaths requires real changes to our transportation infrastructure.” We agree.
Yet, so far, your administration has been reluctant to support meaningful changes that will improve safety on Denver’s deadliest roads, while preventable crashes continue to injure and kill people each week. You have argued that reducing traffic lanes on corridors such as Colfax or Alameda will simply divert car traffic elsewhere, and local businesses will suffer. Decades of research show otherwise. When street space is rebalanced, many people choose other ways of getting around, travel at different times of day, combine multiple trips into one, or simply take fewer discretionary trips. When more people can comfortably walk, roll, bike, and take the bus on these rebalanced streets, local businesses and communities thrive.
You also suggested such changes might be acceptable on one street but not across the network because that would make travel too difficult. In reality, the opposite is true. The benefits of transforming individual streets multiply exponentially when they connect into a complete, citywide network that provides a variety of safe, accessible, reliable, and affordable ways to get around. Besides, why should top car speeds outweigh broader public safety and climate goals?
The more residents who can truly choose alternatives to driving, the fewer cars will crowd our streets. That makes travel safer and more reliable for everyone, including those who need to drive. Rather than being miserly with multimodal street transformations, we should hurry to rebalance as many streets as we can. Indeed, rebalancing our streets is key to achieving at least five of your administration’s 2026 City Goals: a Denver that’s vibrant, affordable, safe, climate-resilient, and child-friendly.
We stand ready to partner with you to achieve these shared goals. Denver deserves leadership that treats safe mobility as a necessary investment in a vibrant Denver, not a niche concern.
Sincerely,
Jill Locantore, Executive Director, Denver Streets Partnership
Sara Schueneman, State Director, AARP Colorado
Peter Piccolo, Executive Director, Bicycle Colorado
Avi Stopper, Founder, Bike Streets
Jaime Lewis, Transit Advisor, Colorado Cross Disability Coalition
Rob Toftness, Co-Founder, Denver Bicycle Lobby
Jamie Anderson, Executive Director, Denver Food Rescue
Coleen Samuels, Executive Director, Denver Regional Mobility & Access Council (DRMAC)
Cody Bryan, Co-Lead, Greater Denver Transit
Joe Sak, Chair, Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee
Amanda Roberts, District 6 Representative and former Vice Chair, Mayor’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Ben Fiedler, President, Miller Park RNO
Alejandra X. Castañeda, Co-organizer, Pedestrian Dignity
Shelby Drulis, President, Platt Park People’s Association (3PA)
Matt Frommer, Transportation & Land Use Policy Manager, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
Tyler Winstead, Vice President, Strong Denver
Evon Lopez, Valverde Neighborhood Association
Christina Noto, President, West Washington Park Neighborhood Association (WWPNA)
Robert Greer, Steering committee member, YIMBY Denver
