Complete Streets policies and projects aim to improve safety for all using streets and sidewalks, including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. AARP’s Public Policy Institute recently put out a fact sheet explaining the value of Complete Streets efforts for older adults.

The fact sheet notes that traffic fatalities disproportionately impact older adults as adults 65 and older accounted for 18 percent of all pedestrians killed—twice the share of those under 21 (9 percent) and more than their share of the population (17 percent). For people of all ages, cities and towns without Complete Streets policies in 2021 had higher overall crash fatality rates (6.4 fatal crashes per 100,000 people) than those with policies in place for more than a decade (5.4 fatal crashes per 100,000 people).

AARP’s policy research also notes that ,although pedestrian fatality rates have been on the rise across the board, early adopters of Complete Streets policies (defined as adopting policies between 2006 and 2010) had a slower increase in overall fatality rates for pedestrians between 2010 and 2021 (16 percent increase) than did communities with recent or no policies (42 percent and 43 percent increase, respectively).

Information about Complete Streets funding and policy work in Massachusetts is available here.