Across the country and on Capitol Hill, Complete Streets policies have been gaining traction as more places realize the benefits of having safe, accessible, and healthy streets in their communities. This Atlas lists places that have adopted some form of a complete streets policy. In many cases, full policy implementation takes several steps; for example, it could start with a resolution, then move to a more detailed ordinance or policy document. Forty-three jurisdictions nationwide adopted policies in 2009. In total, 120 jurisdictions have adopted policies or have made written commitment to do so.
The map below shows where policy change is happening.
Key: BLUE: Laws & Ordinances | RED: Resolutions | YELLOW: Tax Ordinances | PURPLE: Internal Policies or Executive Orders | MAGENTA: Plans | GREEN: Design Manuals or Guides
Policy Inventory
Written complete streets policies vary in their coverage of all modes and their ability to affect road planning decisions. For more on components of a specific policy adopted in 2008 or earlier, look it up in this inventory conducted by the National Complete Streets, which was first published in the AARP report “Planning Complete Streets for an Aging America.” The full text is available as a free download on the report’s web page, and the inventory is available in Appendix A (.pdf).
The Coalition also offers a chart of selected policies (.pdf), featuring communities of all sizes and geographic location and a variety of policy types.
