A new community-driven pedestrian safety campaign will launch this summer in Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn in response to the growing number of pedestrian fatalities and serious crashes in Maine. Developed in partnership with the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, the initiative uses local voices, experiences, and community input to encourage safer driving behavior and increase awareness of pedestrians in some of Maine’s busiest urban areas. 

According to a MBHS news release, the campaign comes as pedestrian deaths in Maine have risen significantly in recent years, with Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn disproportionately represented in statewide crash data. 

The campaign was shaped through months of conversations with residents, artists, business owners, commuters, neighborhood organizations, and community leaders. 

“As pedestrian fatalities continue to rise in Maine, we need approaches that connect with the people who live, work, and travel in these communities,” said Lauren Stewart, director of the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety. “What makes this campaign different is that the message came from residents. By listening first and building the campaign with the community, we can create messaging that is more authentic, relatable, and more effective.”

In Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn, the process included focus groups, small-group discussions, and outreach with neighborhood organizations and community leaders. Those conversations helped shape both the campaign’s messaging and graphics.

The resulting campaign emphasizes shared responsibility, awareness, and the idea that pedestrians are at the heart of city life.

One of the campaign’s lead messages in Portland is:

“Slow Down, Portland. We Walk Here.”

 “Portland is a city meant to be experienced on foot,” said Portland City Councilor Regina Phillips, Chair of the City’s Sustainability & Transportation Committee. “Whether you live here, work here, or are visiting, we all share responsibility for making our streets safer. This campaign builds upon Portland’s commitment to achieving Vision Zero, and it directly reflects the values of our community in an effort to encourage drivers to slow down, stay alert, and look out for one another.”

In Portland, discussions focused heavily on walkability, tourism, neighborhood identity, and the city’s strong culture of walking and community. In Lewiston and Auburn, conversations emphasized day-to-day driving, visibility, and the realities of more vehicle-dependent communities.

“What made this process meaningful was that residents were part of the conversation,” said Michael Dixon, president of the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization. “People who walk these streets every day were able to share their experiences, frustrations, and ideas. That makes the message feel like it belongs to the community and supports the broader work underway to make our streets safer for everyone.”

The campaign will use transit advertising, radio, social media, and digital placements to bring pedestrian safety messages directly into the spaces where people drive, walk, commute, and gather throughout Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn.

The campaign will launch in early summer and continue throughout the 2026 season.

About the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety

The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety coordinates federal, state, and local traffic safety efforts across Maine with the goal of reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other road users. The Bureau administers federal highway safety funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to support education, enforcement, outreach, and behavioral safety initiatives statewide.

About Community Voices for Road Safety

Community Voices for Road Safety is a community engagement initiative developed by Travelers Marketing that works directly with residents to create locally informed road safety campaigns. The program focuses on using authentic community input, lived experiences, and collaborative message development to create public safety campaigns that resonate with the people they are intended to reach.