From Policy to Practice: A Guide to Measuring Complete Streets Progress

How do you know if a community is benefiting from passing and implementing a Complete Streets policy? Our new guide offers strategies for effectively measuring the impact of Complete Streets. Download the full report (pdf) What happens after your community passes a Complete Streets policy? How do you know if you are achieving your community’s … Continued

Complete Streets

Safer Speeds are the Secret Sauce to the Safe System Approach

After a decade of increased pedestrian and bicyclist deaths and a historic spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) published its first-ever National Roadway Safety Strategy in 2022 – setting a goal of zero traffic deaths and adopting a Safe System Approach to achieve it. In explaining the Safe System … Continued

Complete Streets

How Do We Know if Complete Streets (or Any Streets) Are Meeting the Needs of Community Members?

As Smart Growth America releases its best practices to evaluate the success of Complete Streets efforts, we at Salud America! want to draw attention to how transportation needs and barriers have been conceptualized. This post was written by Amanda Merck from Salud America!  Across the fields of urban planning, public health, and health care, transportation … Continued

Complete Streets

From Policy to Practice: A Guide to Measuring Complete Streets Progress

Our new report, From Policy to Practice: A Guide to Measuring Complete Streets Progress, makes the case for why measuring Complete Streets is essential and shows how local agencies can effectively track their progress using 100 possible measures and three key metrics: Process: Funding measures, accountability, and community engagement Implementation: Infrastructure projects, network creation, places … Continued

Complete Streets

Milwaukee, WI: Capacity challenges slow, but don’t stall Complete Streets work

When Wisconsin repealed its state Complete Streets policy in 2015, the City of Milwaukee jumped on the opportunity to adopt its own city-level policy, crafting a strong resolution in 2018. Despite strong annual reports designed to track progress, the city continues to face numerous staffing and capacity challenges, but city staff and local advocates remain committed to achieving the vision outlined in their policy.

Complete Streets

Baltimore, MD: Consistent reflection is crucial to inform binding next steps

In 2010, Baltimore passed a non-binding Complete Streets resolution. Recognizing that the resolution did not have the intended impact, Baltimore delivered a strong and binding Complete Streets ordinance in 2018, showing their commitment to implementing Complete Streets. The updated ordinance included important requirements such as the development of a new Complete Streets Manual, regular staff training to build internal capacity, and publicly available annual reports assessing transportation projects and investments through an equity lens.

Complete Streets

Benefits of Complete Streets: Monroe, Louisiana

Monroe, Louisiana, seeks to improve unsafe streets to benefit all users. City staff, community advocates, and the mayor are working to improve the design and conditions of the South 2nd Street corridor. Adopting Complete Streets principles and increasing access for all users can yield significant health, environmental, and economic benefits. Monroe is a city of … Continued

Complete Streets