Calgary is on pace to see nearly 40 pedestrian deaths this year — and the city’s own data suggests new safety infrastructure may not be going in where it’s needed most.

Last year, pedestrian fatalities reached an 11-year high, with 15 people killed by a vehicle. Between May 2025 and 2026, there were 413 incidents involving pedestrians, according to data from Open Calgary.

During a media availability on May 12, Insp. Rob Patterson with the Calgary Police Service’s traffic section said that there have been 10 pedestrian deaths so far this year, and that the city is on track to reach 40, which is more than last year’s total. 

“Pedestrians are almost 50 per cent of our fatalities at this point in time, which is not something we want to see,” he said. 

Patterson credited the rise in incidents to speeding caused by poor time management and a lack of patience among drivers. He said that there is an element of selfishness in these actions and urged more residents to drive carefully.

“We need everyone to just slow down, pay attention, and take some responsibility,” said Patterson. 

“It is not going to actually get you there much faster — it’s actually just going to make more risk for everyone around you.”

Even though most of these result in minor injuries, he said the downtown area sees the highest rate of pedestrian incidents. Patterson said that the police have increased officer deployment at high-collision locations and worked with the city to improve the timing of traffic signals.

Despite these efforts, pedestrian traffic incidents continue to trend upward, and one city councillor said that installing additional traffic signals would improve the safety of crosswalk users in high-frequency areas. 

New signal locations not aligning with incident hot spots

Since January, a total of 19 new traffic control signals have been installed across the city. These include overhead flashers, regular signals, T-intersection signals, and rectangular rapid flashing beacons that alert drivers to a pedestrian crossing.

The downtown core and northeast quadrant accounted for the majority of pedestrian-related road incidents last year, but of all the signals installed since the new year, only four were installed in these hot-spot areas.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said it is “concerning” that only a handful of new signals have been installed in areas with notable patterns of pedestrian incidents. He said the city should consider this when deciding where to install future signals. 

“We should be going by where we are seeing an uptick in pedestrian fatalities or near misses, or where data shows that areas are more vulnerable to future incidents,” he said. 

“Infrastructure upgrades, additions, and improvements should be based on the data.”

In an email statement, the city said that the location of each traffic signal is informed by a road’s volume, collision history, and proximity to schools, transit stops, and pathway connections. 

“The City of Calgary uses a comprehensive, data-informed approach when determining where to install new traffic control signals,” read the statement. 

“Each location is evaluated individually to understand the specific conditions and risks.”

A spokesperson said that, with more traffic signals installed in developing communities so far in 2026, this is likely the result of proactive efforts funded through off-site levies. 

The city explained that traffic control signals in established areas are funded through the city council’s capital budgets.

Regardless, it emphasized that they are not the solution to pedestrian safety, saying that there is not correlation between where traffic signals are located and where pedestrian incidents happen.

Downtown councillor calls community safety programs the solution

Ward 8 Coun. Nathaniel Schmidt is scheduled to present his notice of motion on the morning of June 9, asking city council to direct the administration to finance upwards of $6 million for traffic safety. 

Specifically, the document proposes allocating funding equally among wards to support community-based road safety strategies and to bolster those outlined in the Calgary Safer Mobility Plan.

Coun. Schmidt said that the pitch follows the provincial government’s December 2024 decision to prohibit photo radar on provincial highways, ultimately restricting the technology to capturing speeding at school, playground, and construction zones, as well as red-light infractions.

“It’s just getting another tool in our toolkit about being able to react better to what’s happening,” he said. 

“These are all preventable deaths in one way or another…part of this is education and street design.”

Initiatives such as the Temporary Corridor Safety Improvements and Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon programs are listed in the document. 

Schmidt said these are already items identified in the city’s plan, but diversifying funding to include community initiatives could help accelerate change.

“We need buy-in from everybody, and so if we’re able to involve our communities in coming up with ideas or to give us feedback about where they would like to see some changes in their own neighbourhoods, then it gets them engaged, it gets them thinking about the issues,” he said. 

“Not only does that build awareness on a bigger level, but I think it might actually enable us to make better decisions, so that we can put this infrastructure in place where it’s needed most.”

The notice of motion will be presented to city council and put to a vote during the executive committee meeting on Tuesday. If approved, it would then move on to a full meeting of Calgary city council.