Twenty years ago, a group of transportation professionals gave a new name to the approach of designing, building, and maintaining streets to meet the needs of all users–Complete Streets. Since then, over 1,700 Complete Streets policies have been adopted across the United States for communities to develop new transportation solutions that meet the needs of all users, including people walking, cycling, taking transit, and driving.

The Complete Streets approach involves practical and tangible changes—such as putting sidewalks under people’s feet, adding raised crosswalks, and building safe bicycle infrastructure. It also requires less visible changes like a public accountability system for implementation, evaluation processes, and more. Beyond these, though, adopting a Complete Streets approach is an acknowledgment that the old way of doing things wasn’t working and that communities deserve so much more. 

With pedestrian fatalities at near-record levels, Complete Streets policies are critical. Our streets are unsafe and create a number of hazards for all road users. Vulnerable roadway users such as people walking, cycling, and people with disabilities are at particular risk.