City: Plans & Policies

This section – Cities: Plans and Policies – looks at public policies created by cities and published through a formal process. These plans and policies provide a basis for coordination between a city and other entities so that all stakeholders involved in transportation decision making have a common understanding of the goals of the city for bicycling and walking.

This section looks at three principle sources of public policy for bicycling and walking at the city level:

• BICYCLE AND/OR PEDESTRIAN PLANS: These plans can serve a variety of purposes and be developed in a variety of ways. Common purposes for bicycle and/ or pedestrian plans include reviewing relevant city policies, developing project prioritization processes, and coordinating policies and funding decisions with stakeholders.
• COMPLETE STREETS ACTIONS: Complete Streets policies ensure that streets are planned, designed, and operated  with the needs of all users in mind including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Complete Streets actions can take a variety of forms, such as legislation, policies adopted by the city’s Department of Transportation or equivalent agency, and design guidance that gives planners and engineers the tools to put a policy into practice.
• PARTICIPATION IN VISION ZERO EFFORTS: The Vision Zero Network and the Road to Zero Coalition both pursue the goal of ending traffic fatalities. A discussion of both groups can be found under the Traffic Safety topic.

Data on this page:

• City Plans Supporting Improvements for Pedestrian & Bicyclists
• Complete Streets Actions for Integrating Pedestrians and Bicyclists in Transportation Projects
• City Support for Efforts to Reach Zero Traffic Deaths
• Website References for Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans

City Plans Supporting Improvements for Pedestrians & Bicyclists

Footnote ⁷³

Complete Streets Actions for Integrating Pedestrians & Bicyclists in Transportation Projects

Footnote ⁷⁴

Complete Streets actions are widespread, although they are not uniform in type or quality. Only 10 of the largest 50 cities have not taken any Complete Streets action according to data from the National Complete Streets Coalition. More large cities (17) have taken more than one action than have taken no action.

The most common types of actions taken in large cities are policy actions, either specifically internal to an agency or not, and resolutions, which are typically non-binding and may or may not have any implementation steps. Among the other cities reviewed for the Benchmarking Report, legislation – which typically results in binding ordinances that city agencies and staff must follow – are the most common type of Complete Streets action.

City Support for Efforts to Reach Zero Traffic Deaths

Footnote ⁷⁵

» ABOUT VISION ZERO CITIES

According to the Vision Zero Network, to be recognized as a “Vision Zero City” a city must meet the following minimum criteria:

• A clear goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries has been set.
• The Mayor has publicly, officially committed to Vision Zero.
• A Vision Zero plan or strategy is in place, or the Mayor has committed to doing so in clear time frame.
• Key city departments (including police, transportation and public health) are engaged.

» ABOUT ROAD TO ZERO COALITION MEMBERS

The Road to Zero Coalition is free to join. Interested organizations must complete a form that includes the statement of purpose: “Our goal is safe mobility for all people in the United States of America.” ⁷⁶

Website References for Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans