Signature reports

The Best Complete Streets Policies 2025

Over the past two decades, communities across the U.S. have increasingly embraced the Complete Streets approach. The 2025 Best Complete Streets Policies report evaluates and ranks the 43 policies adopted in 2023 and 2024, highlighting what sets the top performers apart.

Despite the average upward trajectory of scores, scores are still too low

Overall, new policies continue to score higher than policies adopted in previous years. The average Complete Streets policy score for the 2025 Report is 52 out of 100 points, which shows an improvement from the previous reports. The 2023 report had an average of 45 Points, which was an increase from 39 points in 2018. While an upward trajectory is encouraging, an individual policy with an overall score of 52 points is less likely to make a significant impact on how a community plans, designs, and builds its streets, based on our policy framework. Some policies reviewed for this report scored in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but our review also included many policies that scored in the 40s, 30s, 20s, and even the teens.

The consequences that stem from policies that lack critical components could mean that tangible, long-term community changes are not implemented or not implemented in a manner that meets all users’ safety needs. For example, many policies with lower scores did not include how the processes, responsibilities, and funding would be changed to make sure transportation systems work to safely move all people.

Despite the average upward trajectory of scores, scores are still too low

The top ten policy scores are lower on average than the 2023 report

The average score for the top 10 policies in this report is 79 points out of 100—a decrease from 89 points in 2023, but still higher than the 72-point average in 2018. Diving deeper into this trend, a pattern seems to have emerged. Policies receive inconsistent marks on elements specifically related to prioritizing underinvested communities and implementation (Elements #2, #9, and #10 in the Complete Streets Policy Framework). SGA revised its policy framework in 2018 to include these elements and without these commitments, it is much less likely that a policy will result in positive changes. This leads to frustration and disenchantment around Complete Streets in some places because, although jurisdictions are indicating an interest in Complete Streets, they are not making the requisite commitments to change things.

The number of policies adopted in the last two years is less than in previous years

In the U.S., there are over 19,000 incorporated places, more than 3,000 counties, and 50 states and territories, and the vast majority of jurisdictions still lack a Complete Streets policy. While there has been a steady stream of new policies—16 in 2023 and 27 in 2024—there remains significant opportunity for further adoption to meet the growing demand for effective policies.

The number of policies adopted in the last two years is less than in previous years

Geography

While communities from coast to coast have adopted a Complete Streets policy in the past two years, the distribution across the US is uneven, revealing both promising clusters of new policies and troubling gaps.

For example, thirteen of the new policies adopted between 2023-2024 come from New Jersey alone, while no new policies were adopted in western states outside of Washington and California. Similarly, southeastern and Gulf Coast states—home to some of the most dangerous places in the country for pedestrians—saw very few new policies. These inconsistencies underscore the importance of more widespread Complete Streets policy coverage to improve road safety across the country.

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