Complete Streets means that our roads are designed and operated to be safe and accessible for pedestrians, transit riders, bicyclists, and drivers - all users, regardless of age or ability. Why is this important? Because too often we build roads that simply aren't safe for pedestrians, people with disabilities, bicyclists, transit riders, and older drivers. Everyone is impacted by "incomplete" streets, which lead to more injuries, fatalities, and very real barriers in our transportation system.
Last Thursday, 40 people came out for an introductory meeting that hailed the beginning of the Minnesota Complete Streets Coalition. Complete Streets means that our streets and roadways are designed and operated to be safe and accessible for pedestrians, transit riders, bicyclists, and drivers-all users, regardless of age or ability.
Last night, the Hennepin County board unanimously passed a Complete Streets policy (pdf) that "will enhance safety, mobility, accessibility and convenience for all corridor users including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, commercial and emergency vehicles, and for people of all ages and abilities by planning, designing, operating, and maintaining a network of Complete Streets." Hennepin County joins the City of Rochester as the first two jurisdictions in Minnesota to pass explicit Complete Streets policies. St. Paul has also passed a Complete Streets resolution and will have a full policy in place by the end of the year.
On Monday, President Obama gave an impassioned speech on urban policy (watch or read full speech here) that included a continued push for more livable communities built around accessible transportation options.
"Pay-as-you-drive" insurance (PAYD) provides an alternative to standard flat-fee insurance and has been shown to save drivers money and cut driving, gas consumption, and global warming pollution. This is the type of win-win policy that just makes sense as we move forward toward reduced oil dependence. While many states--including Minnesota--have experimented with small-scale pilot projects in PAYD, California is now working on a statewide policy that would enable more widespread use. They have a public comment period open now and will likely have a policy by the end of the year. Minnesota needs to also take steps to move beyond pilot project to a more supportive statewide enabling policy.
If you haven't heard of PAYD before and are interested in more details, I would suggest the Environmental Defense Fund's summary.
It has been just over 120 days since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus) was signed into law. A big portion of the stimulus dollars went to transportation infrastructure with a focus on "ready-to-go" projects that could begin work quickly. Minnesota received about $600 million and had unprecedented flexibility to use the funds on many types of projects ranging from walking, biking, transit, rail, road repair, and more.
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration released its "High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program Guidance," which will be used to determine the projects that are funded through nearly $8.1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or stimulus) and this year's appropriations.
Back in March, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the exciting Sustainable Communities partnership. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined the partnership and the three agencies offered more details about how they will move forward.
Posted by: Ethan Fawley in walking, transportation, transit, policy, planning, legislation, land use, global warming, driving, biking on
Jun 16, 2009
Last Thursday, the Minnesota Environmental Partnership hosted the first forum for the 2010 gubernatorial race, and transportation and land use were key issues in the discussion. Two gubernatorial candidates explicitly mentioned (and others echoed the sentiments) the need to finalize the Building Sensible Communities bill as an important part of simultaneously addressing global warming pollution and other quality of life issues such as air pollution, congestion, personal transportation costs, and dwindling open space.
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