EQUITABLE COMPLETE STREETS: Data and Methods for Optimal Design Implementation

Abstract

The Complete Streets concept references roads designed to accommodate: (1) diverse modes, including walking, cycling, public transit, and automobile; (2) different users, e.g. affluent and low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and senior citizens; (3) and a mix of land uses such as office, retail, businesses, and residential to ensure streets are safe, balanced and inclusively support diverse economic, cultural and environmental uses. Today most of our streets are poorly designed and do not offer safe places to walk, bike, or take public transportation. Such streets are particularly dangerous for disadvantaged segments of the population, including people of color, older adults, children, and those living in low-income communities. Successful Complete Streets projects prioritize multi-modal transport systems and have been demonstrated to be effective in fostering more livable communities, increasing equity, and improving public health. This project analyzes different components of Complete Streets' design and uses with the goal of creating fast, low-cost, and high-impact (transportation) changes in our communities. In recent years, “complete streets” has been an emerging concept in North American transportation planning and design. To be considered a “complete street”, a road should be designed to be safe for users of all traffic modes. This report presents three studies: safety evaluation on the complete streets by simulating different modes, quantifying the benefits of complete streets in terms of equity and improved access across different segments of the population (especially low-income), and road space allocation on the complete streets.