Glossary

Mobility

Mobility is the potential for movement of people and goods from one place to another, usually through one or modes of transportation. (via Modeshift)

Transportation Equity

Transportation equity is the goal of ensuring that all community members have their needs met by the transportation systems available to them. (via Harvard Kennedy School)

Complete Streets

Complete Streets is an approach to planning, designing, and building streets that enables safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. (via Smart Growth America)

• Background: The National Complete Streets Coalition, which is a program within Smart Growth America, is a non-profit alliance that is committed to the development of Complete Streets policies and practices. They establish and maintain Complete Streets Standards and best practices.

  The term “Complete Streets” was coined by Barbara McCann in 2003 in a memo to the biking community, as a proposed improvement to the term “routine accommodation” of bicycles into street projects. “Complete the Streets for safer bicycling and walkable communities.”

• Complete Streets in Central Ohio:

• MORPC has had a Complete Streets Policy since 2010, with updates in 2021 and 2024. All projects receiving MORPC-attributable federal funding must comply with their policy.

• https://www.morpc.org/tool-resource/complete-streets/

• The City of Columbus passed a Complete Streets Resolution in 2008 to show support of further Complete Streets policy development

• https://www.columbus.gov/files/sharedassets/city/v/1/public-service/design-and-construction/design/design-memos/1.00_introduction.pdf

Complete Streets Policy

Cities, municipalities, or state Departments of Transportation can write their own Complete Streets policies, which can behold planners and designers that any future construction projects must uphold the practices outlined in the policy. However, these policies don’t have to be approved by the National Complete Streets Coalition, and not all Complete Streets Policies are created equal.

“15 minute city”

15-minute city is a planning concept that envisions a city wherein “within the distance of a 15-minute walk or bike ride, people should be able to access work, housing, food, health, education, culture, and leisure.” (via Congress for the New Urbanism)

The phrase was coined by Pantheon-Sorbonne professor, Carlos Moreno, in 2016, who describes the vision as, “within the distance of a 15-minute walk or bike ride, people should be able to access work, housing, food, health, education, culture and leisure.”

Last mile/last mile “solution”

The “last mile problem”, as it relates to transit, refers to the segment of a rider’s journey from the transit system to their final destination. 

The “last mile solution”, then, refers to the efforts made by planners to provide different modes of mobility for people to traverse their “last mile” with ease. This could include shuttles, smooth and accessible sidewalks, electric scooters, or e-bikes.

Open Streets

Open Streets is the concept of reclaiming streets that are normally occupied by cars and allowing people to congregate in that reclaimed space.

The Open Streets Project, is an advocacy project that provides resources for the planning, financing, marketing, and logistics of an Open Street Event.

• Examples of Open Streets events in Columbus include the 2024 and 2023 Holiday Hop events in the Short North, the 2024, Short North Gallery Hop, the 2024 Cirque du Pearl in downtown, and 614 day in Franklinton. Columbus City Council approved funding for these events.