In 2004, PedNet led Columbia to be one of the first cities in the U.S. to adopt a Complete Streets policy. But the policy hasn’t been updated and is now outdated, lacking street design best practices that create safe streets for everyone.
In this way, the transportation system was designed to serve the desires of the powerful—largely white, wealthy, temporarily able-bodied, middle-aged adults—at the expense of other groups, such as Black people, low-income families, children, older adults, and people with disabilities.
The project will build on our neighborhood grassroots organizing work, and fundamentally change Columbia’s transportation system by building equity-focused streets.
This equity-focused Livable Streets project will fundamentally transform the transportation system in Columbia, creating streets that eliminate underlying causes of health inequities, and enable all people to thrive.