By Heidi Simon · October 28, 2024

As the National Complete Streets Coalition works with communities to develop, adopt, and implement Complete Streets policies, we look to Transportation for America’s three key principles for guidance on what to prioritize and how to move to a brighter future in transportation.

This month, our colleagues at Transportation for America announced three key principles to guide transportation investment. These three principles offer a roadmap for policymakers to support a brighter future for mobility in communities across the U.S. At the National Complete Streets Coalition (NCSC), we are working hard to support places on their own paths to not only embrace these ideas but put them into practice. Here are some ways NCSC uses T4A’s principles to guide communities as they create change in the everyday lives of their residents.

Design for safety over speed

The recent Dangerous by Design release details the roadway safety crisis the U.S. is currently facing due to repeated decisions to prioritize speed over safety. The NCSC supports communities in adopting Complete Streets policies and creating streets designed to prioritize the safety of all users, especially people walking, biking, and taking transit.

One way to do this is by implementing quick-build demonstrations through programs like the Complete Streets Leadership Academies. It provides communities the opportunities to address known dangers and work together with decision-makers to test solutions for long-term change.

Fix it first

There might not be ribbon cuttings for repaired sidewalks, repainted crosswalks, or lightbulbs changed along a dark corridor. However, this regular maintenance can have a big impact on whether someone is able to safely walk or bike through their community. That’s why the National Complete Streets Coalition emphasizes maintenance and ongoing operations in Complete Streets policies. There are opportunities to address the safety and accessibility of the infrastructure we have now if we commit funding and resources to doing so. At the end of the day, you can’t do both—when money continuously goes to big new road projects, maintaining networks for active transportation gets pushed down the to-do list.

Invest in the rest

At some point, the bottom line needs to become the bottom line. Decision-makers can’t claim to prioritize alternative modes of transportation without putting the money behind them. That is why it is so important that Complete Streets policies include ways to fund the projects that will support this new approach. Programs like Safe Streets and Roads for All can be catalysts for communities facing pedestrian safety challenges. NCSC supports local efforts to secure federal funding and tries to bring information about funding opportunities to its network. However, the amount of funding available is a drop in the bucket compared to spending on even more dangerous roads, which is why it’s imperative that investing in options to travel safely (whether you walk, bike, bus, or roll) becomes a priority in local, state, and federal budgets.

We have a long way to go before we can consider Complete Streets a success and we will never get there with the current federal policy landscape. The principles released by Transportation for America will support the change we need to address the roadway safety crisis and the work already being done by communities across the U.S.