Champion Spotlight: Kalamazoo, MI

This case study was written as part of our Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance program. This initiative brought together champions from across the country to advance street safety efforts through data collection and storytelling. This study was written by Nolan Bergstrom from the City of Kalamazoo. West Michigan Avenue, from Howard Street to the city … Continued

Complete Streets Transportation

Walking in Memphis: These streets are Dangerous by Design

Memphis is the deadliest city for pedestrians. According to our new report, Dangerous by Design 2024, Memphis holds the #1 spot, with a rate of 5.14 per 100,000 pedestrians who are hit and killed by cars while walking—nearly triple their rate from 2009. But why is walking in Memphis so dangerous? Our new video shares … Continued

Complete Streets Transportation

Webinar: How street design contributes to the pedestrian safety crisis

On Thursday, June 6 from 1-2:30 p.m., we’re hosting a webinar to dive into our upcoming report, Dangerous by Design 2024, which will be released May 30th. Register here. 7,522 people were struck and killed while walking in 2022. This crisis isn’t new—pedestrian fatalities are on a consistent upward trajectory and have increased by 75 … Continued

Complete Streets Transportation

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