I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2071 

To ensure the safety of all users of the transportation system, including 

pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, children, older individuals, and individuals with disabilities, as they travel on and across federally funded 

streets and highways. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2015 

Ms. MATSUI (for herself, Mr. JOYCE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. 

ESTY, Ms. TITUS, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. 

LOBIONDO, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. REED, Mr. VALADAO, and Mr. GIBSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To ensure the safety of all users of the transportation system, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, children, older individuals, and individuals with disabilities, 

as they travel on and across federally funded streets 

and highways. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Streets Act of 

5 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COMPLETE STREET.—The term ‘‘complete 

4 street’’ means a roadway that safely accommodates 

5 all travelers, particularly public transit users, 

6 bicyclists, pedestrians (including individuals of all 

7 ages and individuals with mobility, sensory, neuro8 logical, or hidden disabilities), motorists and freight 

9 vehicles, to enable all travelers to use the roadway 

10 safely and efficiently. 

11 (2) COMPLETE STREETS POLICY; COMPLETE

12 STREETS PRINCIPLE.—The terms ‘‘complete streets 

13 policy’’ and ‘‘complete streets principle’’ mean a 

14 transportation law, policy, or principle at the local, 

15 State, regional, or Federal level that ensures— 

16 (A) the safe and adequate accommodation, 

17 in all phases of project planning and develop18 ment, of all users of the transportation system, 

19 including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit 

20 users, children, older individuals, individuals 

21 with disabilities, motorists, and freight vehicles; 

22 and 

23 (B) the consideration of the safety and 

24 convenience of all users in all phases of project 

25 planning and development. 


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1 (3) LOCAL JURISDICTION.—The term ‘‘local ju2 risdiction’’ means any unit of local government. 

3 (4) METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZA4 TION.—The term ‘‘metropolitan planning organiza5 tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

6 134(b) of title 23, United States Code. 

7 (5) ROADWAY.—The term ‘‘roadway’’ means— 

8 (A) the defined Federal functional classi9 fication roadway system; and 

10 (B) each bridge structure providing a con11 nection for such a roadway system. 

12 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Transportation. 

14 (7) SENIOR MANAGER.—The term ‘‘senior man15 ager’’ means— 

16 (A) the director of a State department of 

17 transportation (or a designee); 

18 (B) the director of a metropolitan planning 

19 organization (or a designee); and 

20 (C) the director of a regional, county, or 

21 city transportation agency that is primarily re22 sponsible for planning and approval of trans23 portation projects (or a designee). 

24 (8) TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PRO25 GRAM.—The term ‘‘transportation improvement proVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2071.IH H2071

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1 gram’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘TIP’’ in 

2 section 134(b) of title 23, United States Code. 

3 SEC. 3. COMPLETE STREETS POLICY. 

4 (a) LAW OR POLICY.—Not later than October 1 of 

5 the fiscal year that begins 2 years after the date of enact6 ment of this Act each State and metropolitan planning 

7 organization shall have in effect— 

8 (1) in the case of a State— 

9 (A) a law requiring that, beginning on the 

10 effective date of the State law, all transpor11 tation projects in the State shall accommodate 

12 the safety and convenience of all users in ac13 cordance with complete streets principles; or 

14 (B) an explicit State department of trans15 portation policy that, beginning on the effective 

16 date of the policy, all transportation projects in 

17 the State shall accommodate the safety and 

18 convenience of all users in accordance with com19 plete streets principles; and 

20 (2) in the case of a metropolitan planning orga21 nization, an explicit statement of policy that, begin22 ning on the effective date of the policy, all transpor23 tation projects under the jurisdiction of the metro24 politan planning organization shall accommodate the 


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1 safety and convenience of all users in accordance 

2 with complete streets principles. 

3 (b) INCLUSIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A law or policy described in 

5 subsection (a) shall— 

6 (A) apply to each federally funded project 

7 of each State department of transportation or 

8 metropolitan planning organization transpor9 tation improvement program; 

10 (B) include a statement that each project 

11 under the transportation improvement program 

12 makes streets or affected rights-of-way acces13 sible to the expected users of that facility, of all 

14 ages and abilities, including pedestrians, 

15 bicyclists, transit vehicles and users, freight ve16 hicles, and motorists; 

17 (C) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

18 apply to new road construction and road modi19 fication projects, including design, planning, 

20 construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, 

21 maintenance, and operations, for the entire 

22 right-of-way; 

23 (D) indicate that improvements for the 

24 safe and convenient travel by pedestrians or 

25 bicyclists of all ages and abilities on or across 


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1 streets shall be fully assessed, considered, and 

2 documented as a routine element of pavement 

3 resurfacing projects; 

4 (E) delineate a clear procedure by which 

5 transportation improvement projects may be ex6 empted from complying with complete streets 

7 principles, which shall require— 

8 (i) approval by the appropriate senior 

9 manager, in accordance with subsection 

10 (d)(2); and 

11 (ii) documentation, with supporting 

12 data, that indicates the basis for such an 

13 exemption; 

14 (F) comply with up-to-date design stand15 ards, particularly standards relating to pro16 viding access for individuals with disabilities; 

17 (G) require that complete streets principles 

18 be applied in due consideration of the urban, 

19 suburban, or rural context in which a project is 

20 located; 

21 (H) include a list of performance stand22 ards with measurable outcomes to ensure that 

23 the transportation improvement program ad24 heres to complete streets principles; and 


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1 (I) directs agency staff to create an imple2 mentation plan. 

3 (2) EXCEPTION.—A law or policy described in 

4 subsection (a) shall not apply to a new road con5 struction or modification project for which, as of the 

6 effective date of the law or policy, at least 30 per7 cent of the design phase is completed. 

8 (c) EXEMPTION REQUIREMENTS AND PROCE9 DURES.—A law or policy described in subsection (a) shall 

10 allow for a project-specific exemption from an applicable 

11 complete streets policy if— 

12 (1)(A) an affected roadway prohibits, by law, 

13 use of the roadway by specified users, in which case 

14 a greater effort shall be made to accommodate those 

15 specified users elsewhere, including on roadways that 

16 cross or otherwise intersect with the affected road17 way; 

18 (B) the cost to the exempted project in achiev19 ing compliance with the applicable complete streets 

20 policy would be excessively disproportionate (as de21 fined in the 2001 Department of Transportation 

22 Guidance on Accommodating Bicycle and Pedestrian 

23 Travel), as compared to the need or probable use of 

24 a particular complete street; or 


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1 (C) the existing and planned population, em2 ployment densities, traffic volumes, or level of tran3 sit service around a particular roadway is so low, 

4 that the expected users of the roadway will not in5 clude pedestrians, public transportation, freight vehi6 cles, or bicyclists; and 

7 (2) the project-specific exemption is approved 

8 by— 

9 (A) a senior manager of the metropolitan 

10 planning organization that approved the trans11 portation improvement program containing the 

12 exempted project; 

13 (B) a senior manager of the relevant State 

14 department of transportation; or 

15 (C) in the case of a project for which nei16 ther the metropolitan planning organization nor 

17 the State department of transportation is the 

18 agency with primary transportation planning 

19 authority, a senior manager of the regional, 

20 county, or city agency responsible for planning 

21 and approval of the project. 

22 (d) INTEGRATION.—Each State department of trans23 portation and metropolitan planning organization imple24 menting a complete streets policy shall incorporate com25 plete streets principles into all aspects of the transporVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2071.IH H2071

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1 tation project development, programming, and delivery 

2 process, including project planning and identification, 

3 scoping procedures, design approvals, design manuals, and 

4 performance measures. 

5 (e) REPORTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State department of 

7 transportation shall submit to the Secretary a report 

8 describing the implementation by the State of meas9 ures to achieve compliance with the requirements of 

10 this section, at such time, in such manner, and con11 taining such information as the Secretary may re12 quire. 

13 (2) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.—On re14 ceipt of a report under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

15 shall determine whether the applicable State has 

16 achieved compliance with the requirements of this 

17 section. 

18 SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a 

21 method of evaluating compliance by State departments of 

22 transportation and metropolitan planning organizations 

23 with the requirements of this Act, including a requirement 

24 that each State department of transportation and metroVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2071.IH H2071

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1 politan planning organization shall submit to the Sec2 retary a report describing— 

3 (1) each complete streets policy adopted by the 

4 State department of transportation or metropolitan 

5 planning organization; 

6 (2) the means of implementation by the State 

7 department of transportation or metropolitan plan8 ning organization of the complete streets policy; and 

9 (3) the process for providing an exemption, 

10 from the requirements of the complete streets policy 

11 of the State department of transportation or metro12 politan planning organization. 

13 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

15 Congress a report describing— 

16 (1) the method established under subsection 

17 (a); 

18 (2) the status of activities for adoption and im19 plementation by State departments of transportation 

20 and metropolitan planning organizations of complete 

21 streets policies; 

22 (3) the tools and resources provided by the Sec23 retary to State departments of transportation and 

24 metropolitan planning organizations to assist with 

25 that adoption and implementation; and 


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1 (4) other measures carried out by the Secretary 

2 to encourage the adoption of complete streets poli3 cies by local jurisdictions. 

4 SEC. 5. ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS. 

5 (a) FINAL STANDARDS.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Architectural and 

7 Transportation Barriers Compliance Board established by 

8 section 502(a)(1) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

9 U.S.C. 792(a)(1)) shall promulgate final standards for ac10 cessibility of new construction and alteration of pedestrian 

11 facilities for public rights-of-way. 

12 (b) TEMPORARY STANDARDS.—During the period be13 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending 

14 on the date on which the Architectural and Transportation 

15 Barriers Compliance Board promulgates final standards 

16 under subsection (a), a State or metropolitan planning or17 ganization shall apply to public rights-of-way— 

18 (1) the proposed Accessibility Guidelines for Pe19 destrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way of the 

20 Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compli21 ance Board dated July 26, 2011, and supplemented 

22 on February 13, 2013; or 

23 (2) if the standards referred to in paragraph 

24 (1) do not address, or are inapplicable to, an af25 fected public right-of-way, the revised draft guideVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 May 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2071.IH H2071

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1 lines for accessible public rights-of-way of the Archi2 tectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance 

3 Board dated November 23, 2005. 

4 SEC. 6. RESEARCH, TECHNICAL GUIDANCE, AND IMPLE5 MENTATION ASSISTANCE. 

6 (a) RESEARCH.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

8 research regarding complete streets to assist States, 

9 metropolitan planning organizations, and local juris10 dictions in developing, adopting, and implementing 

11 plans, projects, procedures, policies, and training 

12 programs that comply with complete streets prin13 ciples. 

14 (2) PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall solicit 

15 participation in the research program under para16 graph (1) by— 

17 (A) the American Association of State 

18 Highway and Transportation Officials; 

19 (B) the Institute of Transportation Engi20 neers; 

21 (C) the American Public Transportation 

22 Association; 

23 (D) the American Planning Association; 

24 (E) the National Association of Regional 

25 Councils; 


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1 (F) the Association of Metropolitan Plan2 ning Organizations; 

3 (G) the Insurance Institute for Highway 

4 Safety; 

5 (H) the American Society of Landscape 

6 Architects; 

7 (I) representatives of transportation safety, 

8 disability, motoring, bicycling, walking, transit 

9 user, aging, and air quality organizations; and 

10 (J) other affected communities. 

11 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—The research under para12 graph (1) shall— 

13 (A) be based on the applicable statement 

14 of complete streets research needs of the Trans15 portation Research Board, as described in TR 

16 Circular E110; and 

17 (B) seek to develop new areas of inquiry, 

18 in addition to that statement. 

19 (b) BENCHMARKS AND GUIDANCE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The research conducted 

21 under subsection (a) shall be designed to result in 

22 the establishment of benchmarks and the provision 

23 of practical guidance on methods of effectively im24 plementing complete streets policies and complete 

25 streets principles that will accommodate all users 


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1 along a facility or corridor, including vehicles, pedes2 trians, bicyclists, and transit users. 

3 (2) FOCUS.—The benchmarks and guidance 

4 under paragraph (1) shall— 

5 (A) focus on modifying scoping, design, 

6 and construction procedures to more effectively 

7 combine particular methods of use into inte8 grated facilities that meet the needs of each 

9 method in an appropriate balance; and 

10 (B) indicate the expected operational and 

11 safety performance of alternative approaches to 

12 facility design. 

13 (c) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary shall collabo14 rate with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the 

15 Federal Transit Administration, and appropriate commit16 tees of the Transportation Research Board— 

17 (1) to collect data regarding a baseline non18 motorized and transit use survey to be integrated 

19 into the National Household Travel Survey; and 

20 (2) to develop a survey tool for use by State de21 partments of transportation in identifying the 

22 multimodal capacity of State and local roadways. 

23 (d) TECHNICAL GUIDANCE.— 

24 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 15 months after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 shall prepare and make available to all States, met2 ropolitan planning organizations, and local jurisdic3 tions a report that describes the best practices by 

4 which transportation agencies throughout the United 

5 States have implemented complete streets principles 

6 in accordance with, or in anticipation of, the require7 ments of this Act. 

8 (2) TOPICS FOR EMPHASIS.—In preparing the 

9 report under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

10 place particular emphasis on the following topics: 

11 (A) Procedures for identifying the needs of 

12 users of all ages and abilities of a particular 

13 roadway. 

14 (B) Procedures for identifying the types 

15 and designs of facilities needed to serve each 

16 class of users. 

17 (C) Safety and other benefits provided by 

18 the implementation of complete streets prin19 ciples. 

20 (D) Common barriers to the implementa21 tion of complete streets principles. 

22 (E) Procedures for overcoming the most 

23 common barriers to the implementation of com24 plete streets principles. 


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1 (F) Procedures for identifying the costs as2 sociated with the implementation of complete 

3 streets principles. 

4 (G) Procedures for maximizing local co5 operation in the introduction and implementa6 tion of complete streets principles. 

7 (H) Procedures for assessing and modi8 fying the facilities and operational characteris9 tics of existing roadways to improve consistency 

10 with complete streets principles. 

Æ 


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