February 4, 2025

NYC DCAS’ 2025 Safe Fleet Transition Plan Update details the latest advancements in vehicle safety technology and proposes innovations to enhance road safety for New Yorkers

DCAS promotes pedestrian safety with emergency braking now in 6,900 city vehicles, and pilot turning alert technology in 200 city trucks

Consistent with Mayoral Executive Order 39, DCAS to add 782 surround cameras for city trucks

New York, NY – Today, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe), released the second update to the City’s Safe Fleet Transition Plan (SFTP). The report, titled 2025 NYC Safe Fleet Transition Plan Update offers insight into the best-practice safety technologies currently deployed across the fleet, while also outlining proposed innovations to further prevent and mitigate crashes. The plan directly supports the City’s Vision Zero initiative which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries, making roads safer for all New Yorkers. Since launching the Safe Fleet Transition Plan in 2017, DCAS has now introduced over 100,000 safety enhancements.

“This administration remains steadfast in its commitment to bold, innovative, and results-oriented initiatives that place the safety of all New Yorkers, and especially our dedicated City workforce, at the forefront,” said Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Administration Camille Joseph Varlack. “I am deeply appreciative of the work by DCAS to integrate cutting-edge technology into our fleet vehicles, further enhancing our efforts to create safer streets and a more secure City for everyone.”

“Our unwavering commitment to fleet safety drives us to implement the best possible tools and initiatives to protect New Yorkers on the road,” said DCAS Commissioner Louis A. Molina. “New York City’s streets are dynamic, shared spaces where safety is paramount. By continuously enhancing the City’s fleet vehicles with preventative technologies, we are taking proactive measures to ensure that, no matter the destination, New Yorkers are safe on their journeys.”

"Traffic safety is public safety, and all New Yorkers deserve to be safe on our roadways,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “The City of New York is leading by example by using technology and driver education to promote the safe use of City fleet vehicles. We applaud DCAS for their steadfast commitment towards our shared Vision Zero goals.”

The updated plan provides a detailed breakdown of DCAS’ safety fleet investments and integrations since 2017, showcasing the progress and performance of many vehicle safety technologies. Notably, the update highlights the successful implementation of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology, which reduced speeding incidences by 64% within its pilot phase. Additionally, the report highlights that 200 city trucks will soon be equipped with Truck Turn External Audible Alerts, a protective feature that signals to pedestrians as truck operators make turns. During the recent NYC Truck of the Future (ToF) pilot, one of the ToF fleets saw a 50% reduction in vulnerable road user (VRU) alerts within its first three months while deploying this alert technology. Alongside these features, DCAS has also expanded investments in truck surround cameras, rear and forward automatic braking, backup sensors, lane departure alerts, and more, demonstrating the decisive steps being taken to increase safety features for city vehicles and fortify the City’s fleet overall.

“Rethinking car and truck design is critical to achieving Vision Zero for safety,” states DCAS Deputy Commissioner and NYC Chief Fleet Officer Keith Kerman. “DCAS has partnered with US DOT Volpe to analyze safe design options and has invested in over 100,000 safety improvements including nation leading programs in intelligent speed assistance, truck side-guards, surround cameras, and telematics, along with forward and rear automatic braking, pedestrian alerts, backup sensors, and more.”

“The 2025 NYC Safe Fleet Transition Update focuses on some of the most crucial elements of fleet truck safety, including enhancing driver visibility and the use of proven and effective technology and telematics, which help protect vulnerable road users and lead to safer roads,” said Peter Goldwasser, Executive Director of Together for Safer Roads. “These priorities are also at the center of our work, and we are proud to continue to partner with NYC DCAS to improve fleet safety in New York, including our recent Truck of the Future Pilot.”

As outlined in the report, technologies have been added and recategorized within the SFTP to reflect transformations in vehicle safety technology and best practices since the previous 2019 edition. All technologies are classified amongst three divisions; DCAS requires technologies designated under tier 1, tier 2 are encouraged as best practices, and tier 3 will be further studied for future implementation.

Major highlights of the Safe Fleet Transition Plan Update include:

• Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) Adoption: After a successful pilot program reporting a 64% reduction in speeding, ISA technology has been promoted to a Tier 2 best practice. DCAS has 500 vehicles with ISA now and plans to bring ISA to 1,600 more.
• Enhancing Truck Operator’s Visibility: Consistent with NYC Mayoral Executive Order 39 of 2023, surround cameras are required for trucks when high-vision truck cabs are unavailable. This mandate works to improve the operator’s situational awareness of other road users in close proximity. DCAS now has over 2,000 trucks that are cab-over/high vision and/or using surround cameras with 782 additional trucks on order.
• Pedestrian Safety Alerts: Now recognized as a best practice technology, DCAS is rolling out turning alarms on an initial 200 trucks. The external alarm is designed to warn pedestrians of turning vehicles and prevent “close calls” before they turn into collisions.
• Forward and Reverse Automatic Braking: Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) has been designated as a best practice for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to help prevent collisions by automatically activating vehicle brakes. DCAS has now invested in 6,893 forward or reverse AEB systems and will work to make these standard on all fleet when available.
• Backup Sensors: DCAS has added backup sensors to 1,002 vehicles with a focus on trucks. The backup sensors complement backup cameras, providing drivers with specific alerts of any nearby objects or people when backing up.
• Lane Departure Warnings: DCAS is requiring lane departure warnings (LDW) for light-duty vehicles and exploring the future integration for trucks. LDW technology is designed to prevent certain crash types, including sideswipes, lane drifting, and single-vehicle rollovers resulting from veering off the road shoulder. DCAS has now installed 5,048 vehicles with driver alerts including lane departure and/or forward collision warnings.
• New Research Areas: To explore the future frontiers of road safety, License Plate Readers (LPR), telematic tracking for lights and sirens, and minimal sound detection for large electric vehicles have all been added to Tier 3 as exploratory technologies.

The 2025 Safe Fleet Transition Plan also addresses many additional mandates introduced under local laws and executive orders, reinforcing the City’s dedication to fleet safety and efficiency. In accordance with Local Law 56 of 2015 and Local Law 108 of 2021, sideguards are required for city trucks and all trade waste fleet vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) over 10,000 pounds. All city trucks are now equipped with sideguards, helping prevent collisions with surrounding cars and pedestrians. Additionally, under Executive Order 41 of 2019, city vehicles must be tracked using telematics. To date, 36,000 city vehicles and contracted school buses are equipped with live telematics. DCAS’ Fleet Office of Real Time Tracking (FORT) manages telematics, live tracking thousands of vehicles daily.

These advancements reflect DCAS’ ongoing efforts as a national leader in sustainable, safe, and efficient fleet operations, managing the largest electric vehicle (EV) fleet and charging networks in New York State with 5,400 EVs and 2,200 chargers respectively. DCAS is also the first large fleet on the East Coast to completely transition from fossil diesel fuel to renewable diesel. Moving forward, DCAS remains committed to transforming the City’s fleet with more innovative technologies and effectively developing a greener, and safer New York City for all.

About the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services

The NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) makes city government work for all New Yorkers. Our commitment to equity, effectiveness, and sustainability guides our work providing City agencies with the resources and support needed to succeed, including:

• Recruiting, hiring, and training City employees.
• Managing 55 public buildings.
• Acquiring, selling, and leasing City property.
• Purchasing over $1 billion in goods and services for City agencies.
• Overseeing the greenest municipal vehicle fleet in the country.
• Leading the City’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions from government operations.

Learn more about DCAS by visiting nyc.gov/dcas and by following us on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and listening to the Inside Citywide podcast.

Contact:
Dan Kastanis
Director of Media Relations, DCAS
communications@dcas.nyc.gov