Phoenix built a program that kills pedestrians at twice the rate of its own comparable streets.
“Non-motorists are involved in 1% of crashes during reverse hours and account for 82% of fatalities.”
7th Street and 7th Avenue run north-south through the heart of Midtown Phoenix. During peak commute hours, the City reverses designated lanes to move more traffic toward downtown in the morning and away from it in the evening. The program has operated for decades with minimal independent safety review.
Independent analysis shows the crash rate on the 7s is double that of 16th Street and 19th Avenue — comparable corridors with nearly identical road characteristics and traffic patterns, located within the same study area. More troubling: non-motorists account for just 1% of crashes during reverse-lane hours yet represent 82% of fatalities. The lanes produce a disproportionate and largely invisible death toll among walkers and cyclists.
In 2021, the City commissioned a traffic study of the reverse lanes. That study used inflated traffic counts, omitted comparison to comparable corridors, fed flawed inputs into its simulation models, and never addressed non-motorist fatality rates. A public records request for the study’s procurement records — filed May 31, 2021 — has never been answered.
The City is studying the lanes right now. Here’s the data they started without.
One of the Midtown Core Transportation Study’s stated goals is to “evaluate the 7th Avenue and 7th Street reversible lanes to determine their long-term role within the transportation network.” The first public meeting is tonight. The feedback window is open through May 29, 2026. Citizens who show up with the crash data are better equipped to speak than citizens who don’t.
The meeting will be recorded and posted on the City’s page within 72 hours. You may submit questions in writing during the meeting. The meeting will also be offered in Spanish.
Register to Attend →The City is accepting public input on the Midtown Core Transportation Study through a feedback form and an interactive map. You don’t need to attend tonight’s meeting to participate. Bring the crash data. Use it.
Five findings. Each damaging on its own. Together, conclusive.
Crash Rate
Crash rates on 7th Street and 7th Avenue are double those on comparable non-reverse corridors — 16th Street and 19th Avenue — even after adjusting for traffic volume.
Non-Motorist Fatalities
Non-motorists account for just 1% of crashes during reverse-lane hours. They account for 82% of fatalities.
Taxpayer Cost
Crashes on the 7s have cost Phoenix taxpayers over $316 million in the last 20 years — an economic burden the 2021 study did not calculate.
Daily Commute Delay
Injury crashes on the corridor cost commuters roughly 15 minutes of travel time per day — a cost the City's operational analysis did not account for.
Studies Reviewed
An independent review of 49 traffic studies found no support for the City's claimed volumes. The highest observed AADT was approximately 45,000 — not the 65,000 the 2021 study used.
Commissioned to assess the lanes. Found what it was looking for.
On May 31, 2021, Safer 7s submitted a Public Records Request to the City of Phoenix for all records related to the procurement of the 2021 Reverse Lanes Traffic Study — to determine whether the study’s conclusions were shaped before the analysis began. As of May 2026, the City has not produced a single responsive record.
Failure to Compare
The study made no comparison to 16th Street or 19th Avenue — nearly identical corridors that serve as natural control groups. Without this comparison it is impossible to isolate the effect of reverse-lane operation on crash rates.
Inflated Traffic Counts
The study reported AADT volumes up to 65,000 vehicles per day on 7th Street. An independent review of 49 traffic studies found no supporting data. The 65,000 figure traces to a single study with a data-entry error — counts were doubled. The 2021 study used the figure without verification.
Flawed Simulation Models
The simulation models that produced the study's travel-time and congestion conclusions were built on the inflated traffic counts. Incorrect inputs produce incorrect outputs. The study's operational-benefit findings cannot be trusted.
Misread Percentages
The study cited a lower percentage of injury crashes during reverse-lane operation as evidence of safety improvement. This is a methodological error: when total crash counts increase, a lower share of one crash type can still represent the same or higher absolute number of that type.
Non-Motorist Impact Ignored
Pedestrian and bicycle crashes are briefly mentioned but never analyzed in proportion to their severity. The study does not address that non-motorists — 1% of reverse-hour crashes — account for 82% of fatalities. The corridors' most catastrophic safety failure is invisible in the study's conclusions.
The paper trail.
The documented record.
Every step has been documented. The City’s formal study is now underway. The public input window closes May 29, 2026.
Jerry Van Gasse, President
jerry@goodgoat.net
Document requests: include exhibit number.
Matter GG-2026-010 · Safer 7s