Community Highlights

Ann Arbor is designated as a Gold-level community due to the city’s outstanding planning practices, excellent sidewalk network, and walking volumes. Highlights of Ann Arbor’s application include:

• The Moving Together Towards Vision Zero Comprehensive Transportation Plan establishes aggressive targets for safety and mobility in Ann Arbor and is guided by an implementation subcommittee that meets regularly.
• Ann Arbor’s journey to work walking mode share of 17.1% is substantially higher than the US average. An additional 9.4% of residents commute by transit.
• Ann Arbor focuses on creating a comfortable and interesting walking environment by providing sidewalk furniture, planters, wayfinding signage, fountains, and information kiosks. The city also stipulates that 1% of city funds must go to public art.
• Ann Arbor’s infrastructure and pedestrian connections make walking possible for many trips, and the City has dedicated millage to support sidewalk construction and filling gaps in the network.
• The City developed and uses Crosswalk Design Guidelines in response to the recommendations of the Pedestrian Safety Access Task Force. The Guidelines provide recommended standards for improving safety at both controlled and uncontrolled crossing locations.
• The City uses a community engagement toolkit that encourages proactive engagement emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). There is now a DEI committee that is tasked with providing input on various elements within engagement processes.
• The Ann Arbor Healthy Streets Program was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and sought to increase opportunities for physical activity for residents. A variety of installations were performed to reduce traffic on key routes and reconfigure certain corridors to allow for more biking and walking.