Vision Zero spending was cut in the city budget. But officials point to related traffic-safety spending elsewhere.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s spending cuts to the Vision Zero traffic-safety program remained in the budget passed Thursday by City Council, despite a push to restore them from advocates for pedestrians and cyclists, neighborhood groups and several Council members.

The Parker administration will spend $1 million for Vision Zero projects, down from $2.5 million last year under Mayor Jim Kenney.

Parker signed an executive order March 21 recommitting the city to Vision Zero, a set of policies many cities have adopted to eventually reduce deaths from traffic crashes to zero.

“She needs to put money behind the words,” said Nicole Brunet, policy director of the Bicycle Coalition, which advocates for a bigger emphasis on traffic safety.

City officials, however, also count other spending under different budget lines as part of Vision Zero efforts.

“The city does not consider the Vision Zero spending in the FY25 [budget] to be a budget cut,” the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems said in a statement Friday.

A $1.25 million expenditure for unspecified speed-cushion and traffic-calming measures is included in the Streets Department’s traffic control line item, for instance. In addition, the city plans to install cameras to automatically enforce speed limits on Broad Street later this year, which Council authorized Thursday and Parker has vocally supported.

The budget allocates $3 million of state money for automated speed enforcement. There also is city matching money for federal infrastructure grants that can be used on special projects related to Vision Zero, OTIS said.

But advocates say the city must spend much more to build projects that install multiple traffic-calming infrastructure on stretches of dangerous city-owned roads — such as protected bike lanes; prevention of parking at corners for clearer sight lines; road “diets,” which remove vehicle travel lanes and reallocate space to pedestrians and cyclists; as well as cushions.

“I am a little disappointed, but also optimistic,” said Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, among those who asked Parker to consider increasing the line item. He said there is momentum to increase Vision Zero funding in upcoming budgets.

“We do have other interventions happening, including the speed cameras coming to Broad Street ...,” Thomas said. “There is a lot of demand and support for making it safer to travel around the city of Philadelphia.”

Six registered community organizations (RCOs) wrote a letter Thursday to Council members and city transportation officials decrying the cut to the Vision Zero program, which pays for the popular Neighborhood Slow Zones program, which they believe should be expanded.

Last year, 37 RCOs submitted detailed proposals for slow zones based on safety priorities identified by residents, but only two projects were funded, said Brandon Tubby, a board member of the East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association.

“It’s so unattainable based on the level of funding from the city,” Tubby said, saying the targeted, small-scale slow zones are a crucial tool for local traffic dangers. “It’s from the ground up,” he said, and the projects work for a relatively low cost.

Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke said the Vision Zero mission of ending fatalities seems farther away, saying that speed-enforcement cameras are important, “but so are other elements like traffic calming, protected bike lanes, and ‘road diets.’“

He added: “I am worried that the budget cut will limit the City’s capacity to implement these initiatives holistically, and my office will monitor the impact closely.”