A new community-driven pedestrian safety campaign is set to launch this summer in Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn as state officials respond to a rise in pedestrian fatalities and serious crashes across Maine.
The initiative, developed in partnership with the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, is designed to encourage safer driving behavior and increase awareness of pedestrians in some of Maine’s busiest urban areas. The campaign was officially launched during a press conference Thursday in Portland.
According to the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn have been disproportionately represented in statewide pedestrian crash data in recent years.
State officials said the campaign was built through months of conversations with residents, artists, business owners, commuters, neighborhood organizations, and community leaders in all three cities.
“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.”
The campaign development process included focus groups, small-group discussions, and outreach with neighborhood organizations and community leaders. Officials said those conversations helped shape both the messaging and graphics used in the campaign.
One of the campaign’s primary 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.”
Officials said conversations in Portland centered heavily on walkability, tourism, neighborhood identity, and the city’s culture of walking and community. In Lewiston and Auburn, discussions focused more on daily driving habits, 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 throughout Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn in an effort to bring pedestrian safety messaging directly into the spaces where people drive, walk, commute, and gather.
Officials said the campaign will launch in early summer and continue throughout the 2026 season.
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