Tennessee recently became the sixth state to formally endorse the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Urban Street Design Guide. The guide provides technical standards that departments of transportation can use to create streets that safely accommodate all road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders. Thirty-seven cities, including New York City, and six states have adopted NACTO standards, but New York State, New Jersey and Connecticut are not included in this list.

Leaders in Tennessee have set an example for the rest of the nation by publicly stating the goal of “having the best multimodal transportation system in the nation.” They have also taken an innovative approach to transportation planning by aligning transportation projects with public health goals and implementing transportation investment strategies that prioritize pedestrian and bicyclist projects and public transportation over building new roads.

It’s encouraging to note that until recently, places such as metropolitan Nashville were on a similar trajectory to much of the nation by building infrastructure that promoted suburban sprawl development, but have since responded to the demand for walkable, higher density development by planning for growth along existing corridors and downtowns. Analysis of recent commercial real estate trends shows that walkable urban and suburban places demand a 74 percent rental premium over auto-dominated suburban areas. Likewise, 85 percent of all recently built rental apartments have been built in walkable urban places.

Unfortunately, while state departments of transportation in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York have all formally committed to accommodating pedestrian and bicyclist travel by passing complete streets laws or policies, none of these states have adopted the NACTO standards.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, NACTO standards promote transportation systems that are more walkable and bikeable than the more widely used American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards on which these states base their transportation designs. While complete streets efforts are advancing in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York, policy implementation has not been as progressive or efficient as it could be. State departments of transportation in the tri-state region should follow the lead of Tennessee (as well as Washington, Massachusetts, California, Utah and Minnesota) in order to create the type of safe, walkable and vibrant corridors that residents are demanding.