The meeting was called to order at 12:26 by President Dawn Johnson. After reciting the Four Way Test, long-time member Kofi Gyan gave the inspiration (transcript). Although Kofi now lives in Maryland, he still maintains his RCAA membership and is a member of the International Humanitarian Projects Committee (IHPC). Kofi spoke of Rotary’s global connections and efforts to improve education and provide clean water as vital to our future.  Welcome home, Kofi.

Dave Keosaian, with Jodi Tull de Salis on the piano, led the song Slow Down by Paul Simon.

Announcements

• Guests were introduced and upcoming birthdays and membership anniversaries of over 15 years were celebrated. Mark Foster has been a member for 26 years, and John Barrie has been a member for 16 years. Congratulations to both!
• Rosemarie Rowney, masquerading as Alice in Wonderland’s White Rabbit, reminded everyone to sign up for the Gold and Pickleball Outing (GPO). “You’re late…You’re late,” she proclaimed. We need more volunteers, participants, and donations for the silent auction. This is our major fundraiser and everyone is needed.
• Our August 20th meeting will feature Debbie Dingle at Cobblestone Farms in order to avoid the traffic challenges of U of M’s Move-In Week. Sign up now!
•  President Dawn thanked John White for the weekly paper printouts on our tables
• Next week, our speaker will be District Governor Wendy Jones.
• President Dawn announced that Dan Romanchik and team will create a webpage on the Rotary website with strategic planning information and documents by mid-August.
• Dan Romanchik then gave us a brief history of our bowling team, noting that the Rotary bowling team was one of the original members of the Ann Arbor Service Clubs League, which started in 1952. In the beginning, the league consisted of teams from local service clubs, but in 2018-2019, the final year for the league, only our Rotary club fielded a team. Fittingly, our team won the league championship that year. The team bowls on Monday evenings. If you’d like to join the team, please contact Dan or FanFan Zheng, team captain.

Vision Zero aims to traffic deaths

Our speaker was Trevor Brydon, Transportation Program Manager for Ann Arbor. He presented the City’s plan—called Vision Zero— for eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries with a systems-based approach.

He explained that Vision Zero contrasts with traditional traffic safety approaches by recognizing that deaths are preventable and that saving lives is economically beneficial rather than expensive. The discussion focused on three key areas: safer people, safer speeds, and safer roads, with solutions including physical road design features, traffic signals, and enforcement strategies.

He outlined the trade-offs between speed, access, and safety, introducing concepts like limited access highways, slow streets, and stroads (a combination of streets and roads). He also described the city’s speed management program, which uses various tools such as horizontal deflection, cross-section modifications, vertical deflection, and traffic control devices to adjust driving experiences and promote safer speeds.

Mr. Brydon also presented an overview of Ann Arbor’s bike network, explaining different types of bike facilities and their locations. He discussed upcoming projects, including new bike lanes and shared use paths. The presentation covered how to report issues to the city and various communication channels available.

Mr Bryden remained after the meeting to answer questions, and the meeting was adjourned at 1:31.