Public Awareness Campaigns

National Work Zone Awareness Week

National Work Zone Awareness Week brings national attention to motorist, pedestrian, cyclist, and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones. At NYC DOT, safety is our top priority, particularly when it comes to our workforce who provide the essential public-service of repairing and maintaining transportation infrastructure, specifically roads and sidewalks.

We're Working Here: Work Zone Safety Billboard

The We're Working Here: Work Zone Safety Billboard Design Competition, announced in December 2024, encouraged students to think of ways to change dangerous behaviors and prevent work zone intrusions that can lead to injuries and deaths for both the public and work crews.

The 2025 winners are:

  • First place: Taino Mendez, Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical High School in the Bronx
  • Second place: Sabrina Pavlick, Thomas Edison Career and Technical High School in Queens
  • Third place: Barry Zheng, Tottenville High School on Staten Island

The first place design is installed on billboards at the corner of Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Street in Queens and Hamilton Avenue and 14th Street in Brooklyn, and on display at Whitehall and St. George Ferry Terminals.

A black and white illustration of a woman at road-side construction site wearing a hard hat and orange safety vest over the shadow of her young daughter’s silhouette. Text overlay reads “Slow Down! My Mom Works Here. Your Caution, Her Safety.” With logos for N Y C D O T, N Y C, and Vision Zero.
First place winter Taino Mendez' billboard design "Slow Down! My Mom Works Here. Your Caution, Her Safety."
  • Icons of a family with one person wearing construction gear, next to an orange alert traffic sign and traffic cone next to an icon of a someone digging at a road-way construction site. Text overlay reads “Slow Down! We have families, too. This crew takes care of our roads, let’s take care of them.
    Second place winner Sabrina Pavlick's billboard design "Slow Down! We have families, too. This crew takes care of our roads, let's take care of them."
  • Car driving on a wet road at night with a yellow diamond-shaped 'SLOW' sign and logos for N Y C D O T, N Y C, and Vision Zero.
    Third place winner Barry Zheng’s billboard design “Work Zone, Safety First. Slow Down.”

Speeding Ruins Lives Campaign

"Speeding Ruins Lives" is a multi-platform public awareness campaign led by the NYC DOT that aims to reduce traffic related injuries and fatalities citywide. The campaign uses powerful imagery of pedestrians and cyclists in slow motion to show the impact of a crash paired with a direct call to action for drivers to slow down.

Vision Zero campaign ad shows a blurred image of a person flying in the air after being hit by a car. Overlay text reads “Speeding ruins lives. Slow down.” The N Y C D O T and Vision Zero logos are placed on the bottom right hand corner.