As city officials tout the first year of traffic improvements under Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero plan, with the mayor claiming that 2014 was the safest year since record-keeping began in 1910. But according to a WNYC analysis, that's not exactly clear.

City officials are also acknowledging there is room for improvement.

Twenty cyclists were killed last year. That's an increase over 2013, when 12 cyclists died. And Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said it's cause for concern.

"Unfortunately, as great a year as we had, obviously our progress was not perfectly linear, and we are not happy about the increase in the number of cyclist fatalities," she said.

Trottenberg said one solution is to build more protected bike lanes, which separate cyclists from vehicles.

That was welcome news to safety advocate Paul Steely White, the head of Transportation Alternatives.

"The Vision Zero effort got off to an inspiring start in 2014. The city set a safer speed limit, deployed more safety cameras, improved traffic enforcement, and took important steps to fix dangerous intersections," he said. "As a result of all that hard work, traffic fatalities were down 12% -- or, to put it another way, the city saved 35 lives last year. That’s a monumental achievement. But as impressive as a 12% decrease may be, if we continue that rate, the city won’t get to zero deaths until 2064."

De Blasio also announced plans to tame the so-called Boulevard of Death: Queens Boulevard. He said it'll be one of his traffic safety priorities this year.

"Queens Boulevard may be, you know, arguably the toughest nut to crack, but we're convinced we can make a huge difference here."

He said the city will seek public input on improving the roadway. Possibilities include adding bike lines, building better pedestrian islands, and re-timing traffic lights.

According to city data, two pedestrians were killed on Queens Boulevard last year. A total of 351 people were injured.