Howard County, Maryland carved out an identity of its own as it developed from a once largely rural county to a locus of suburban and urban growth between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD. A groundswell of local advocacy for safer streets, paired with philanthropic support and county leadership, resulted in one of the strongest Complete Streets policies the Coalition has seen.
Biden’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 is now in congressional hands, where it’ll likely change substantially before returning to the president’s desk. Congress’s decisions will inform how dollars are spent on key housing, community development, and transportation projects. How do these investments move smart growth goals forward (or leave them behind)? Housing and community … Continued
Smart Growth America is seeking a qualified consultant to manage the layout and visual design for both a physical report and supporting web presence of an upcoming report that details how the current approach to transportation perpetuates and exacerbates inequity, and leads to loss of community wealth-building. The contract will run from (beginning date ASAP) … Continued
Last month, we opened nominations to recognize key community leaders who played an important role in making streets safer, more accessible, equitable, and more complete. We received a large number of nominations for individuals across the country and are thrilled to highlight the incredible work of our selected Complete Streets Changemakers. These 13 leaders are catalysts … Continued
Smart Growth America (SGA) is seeking consulting support to conduct research for and/or write several public-facing reports and resources. These resources will support the technical assistance, advocacy, and thought leadership of Transportation for America and the National Complete Streets Coalition. The updated deadline to submit is Monday, October 31.
The National Complete Streets Coalition is pleased to announce the selection of California, Connecticut, and Tennessee for Complete Streets Leadership Academies. In these Academies, three local jurisdictions in each state will learn about Complete Streets, explore new ways to coordinate with their state DOTs, and then plan and implement “quick-build” temporary demonstration projects on state-owned roads.
Our newest report—Dangerous By Design—is here. More than 6,500 people were struck and killed while walking in 2020, an average of nearly 18 per day, and a 4.5 percent increase over 2019. News reports tend to blame individual behavior for these crashes, but we have another explanation for the ongoing epidemic of traffic fatalities: our streets are dangerous by design.
the increasing size and weight of personal vehicles are also having an impact on the steadily increasing number of people struck and killed while walking. In addition to designing safer streets, improving vehicle design along four main criteria is also critical for reducing pedestrian fatalities.
This guest post from Strong Towns is a supplement to the 2022 edition of Dangerous by Design, our landmark report on the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking, and how the way we design our streets is part of the problem.
After reading a report like this, some reporters, residents, and local leaders may be tempted to reach for increased traffic enforcement and financial penalties as an obvious solution. But relying on enforcement and financial penalties to solve issues that stem from street design cannot solve the epidemic of traffic fatalities. And even a simple traffic … Continued