Category: Complete Streets Resources

From New York City’s new report, Measuring the Street.

With its new report Measuring the Street: New Metrics for 21st Century Streets, New York City illustrates how its Complete Streets approach meets new goals – and builds local economies.

Communities implementing Complete Streets policies must adopt new performance measures for transportation projects and the networks of streets as a whole. Such measures should provide clarity on how those projects are meeting community needs and goals for the transportation network. Success can be measured in a number of ways, including improved safety for all users; physical changes to the built environment; number of people walking, riding bikes, taking transit, or riding in cars; and improving travel conditions and access for all.

New York City has focused on three overarching goals: designing for safety, designing for all users of the street, and designing for great public spaces. To meet these goals, the City’s Department of Transporation uses five key strategies: designing safer streets, building great public spaces, improving bus service, reducing delay and speeding, and efficiency in parking and loading. New approaches to street design reflect a “blending [of] new technologies with time-tested tools to create 21st Century Streets for all users,” and have resulted in safer streets, more efficient travel, and big boosts for local businesses.

Communities across the United States adopted 146 Complete Streets policies in 2011, and over 350 policies are now in place across the country. A new report looks at some of the best of these policies, and a new resource can help community leaders bring these practices to their town or city.

New research shows a relationship between strip-mall development and a higher likelihood of death or injury in traffic crashes for those 75 or older — building on previous research that streets safe for our most vulnerable users are better for everyone, regardless of who they are and how they travel. The complex variety of potential street users provides an opportunity for us to take a holistic approach to transportation and community planning, making our streets and towns safer and stronger.

A new poll released by America Bikes yesterday is a telling indicator that Americans support Complete Streets — over 80% of respondents, in communities large and small, would like to see federal funding for bicycling and walking maintained or increased. These findings are consistent with other state and local polls that have shown American citizens want streets that work for everyone.

It’s a Safe Decision: Complete Streets in California, a report from the National Complete Streets Coalition and the Local Government Commission telling the successes of a Complete Streets approach in California, was released last week at an event with Representative Doris Matsui (CA-5), one of the Congressional sponsors of a federal Complete Streets policy.

When we started the Complete Streets movement, we didn’t look at where we would like every community to arrive. We looked at where communities are now. Complete Streets policies, and their implementation, provide the clear path between what we have and where we want to be.

The National Complete Streets Coalition is working to address concerns and misconceptions of Complete Streets, and we need your help. We believe the best arguments come straight from real-life stories, and we’ve developed several points based on what we’ve gathered so far. But we need more of them.

The Model Design Manual for Living Streets is a new and important resource for communities looking to implement their Complete Streets policy. Reflecting national best practices in multimodal street design and environmental sustainability, it should be a tool in any city’s toolbox.