Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.

Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.

While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.

• Maryland Complete Streets Policy
• Montgomery County Complete Streets Design Guide
• Prince George's County Complete Streets Program
• DC Complete Streets Policy
• Arlington County Complete Streets Program
• Alexandria Complete Streets Program
• Fairfax County Complete Streets 
• Virginia Complete Streets 

Done right, Vision Zero is a transformative approach to traffic safety and transportation planning. Developed in Sweden, it is built on two core principles: crashes are preventable, and the only acceptable number of deaths from traffic violence is Zero. It provides a clear framework for decision-making that prioritizes safety for everyone over speed and convenience for drivers.

DC launched a Vision Zero initiative in 2015, with surrounding jurisdictions following suit over the next few years.

While there have been laudable projects launched under the Vision Zero banner across the region, the adoption of Vision Zero programs have not been the transformational shift required to reverse the increase in deadly traffic violence.

WABA's Vision Zero advocacy focuses on using legislation and policy to permanently change they way decisions are made: requiring that transportation planning and engineering put safety over driver convenience in every decision.

WABA works with grassroots advocates at the local, county and state level to support laws and policies that make it easier and safer to walk, bike, and take transit. And we work to changes ones that make biking less safe, make it harder to build bike infrastructure, or that deprioritize the safety and convenience of people walking, biking, or taking transit.

In practice that means advocating for robust and transformative Vision Zero programs, enforceable Complete Streets policies, and funding for new infrastructure that supports biking, walking and transit.

Other regional legislative priorities include:

• Reforming Contributory Negligence (passed in DC, in the works in Maryland and Virginia).
• Getting rid of the Level of Service engineering standards in transportation decision-making.
• Funding E-bike purchase rebates.

WABA is a 501(c)3 and does not endorse candidates.

During election seasons, WABA invites all candidates for office to complete surveys about their views on transportation, which we share on our website. We also host candidate forums in some races to allow members of the public to meet candidates and ask questions about biking and transportation.

First convened in 2016 by WABA, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, REI, and a host of other regional stakeholders, The Capital Trails Coalition is a collaboration of public and private organizations, agencies, and volunteers working to advance completion of an interconnected network of multi-use trails for metropolitan Washington, DC.  The Coalition convenes and coordinates among the public and private stakeholders who are critical to accomplishing the vision of an interconnected network.

Check out the CTC's website here, and explore the interactive map of existing and planned regional trails here.

Trails are the best. They are low-stress bike infrastructure,  access to nature, parks, landmarks, and community gathering spaces all rolled into one.

WABA's trail advocacy is focused on connecting gaps in our region's trail network; ensuring existing trails are maintained and upgraded to meet current design standards; and expanding the network into underserved parts of the region.

In 2023, Maryland’s Highway Safety Office awarded WABA a grant to establish a Vision Zero Youth Leadership Institute in Prince George’s County, MD. This Institute is dedicated to empowering youth to become Vision Zero and transportation safety ambassadors in their communities through hosting youth focused events, highlighting the critical importance of achieving Vision Zero in Maryland. To implement this project, WABA has a dedicated Youth Organizer who oversees the institute. Additionally, WABA has four paid youth interns who are part of the inaugural cohort. 

The students work to develop a youth friendly Vision Zero Toolkit to teach other youth about transportation safety, and how to implement transportation safety projects in the community, such as how to host a walk audit, or how to contact an elected official about transportation safety. Additionally, the cohort worked with PGCPS schools to host a trail ride at Bladensburg Waterfront Park as part of the PGCPS Environmental Alliance Summit in April ‘24. Throughout the year, the cohort met with Prince George’s County elected officials, county planners, Maryland Department of Transportation staff, and transportation safety advocates to fully understand how these different entities work together to create safer infrastructure in the county. Finally, the cohort held a WABA first- Youth Transportation Safety Town Hall in April ‘24, at the Hyattsville Library. At the town hall, the cohort addressed the audience on Vision Zero, the benefit of pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure, and transportation and the environment.

Virginia's legislative sessions are brief and hectic. Over the course of the year, WABA works with a variety of partners including the Virginia Bicycling Federation to build support for bike-friendly legislation, as well as funding for trails and street safety improvements.

Past victories include law requiring drivers to pass bicyclists with at least three feet of space, allowing bicycles on VRE Trains,  and funding for the Long Bridge bike and pedestrian crossing over the Potomac River. Current priorities include legalizing the Bicycle Stop-as-Yield, an e-bike purchase incentive program, and allowing bicyclists to proceed on the Leading Pedestrian Interval at stop lights. 

WABA's legislative work in the District of Columbia falls roughly into three categories:

Funding for (and a requirement to build) specific projects: this is how projects like the Florida Ave NE and 9th St NW protected bike lanes have become a reality. We push for this kind of legislative intervention when there's political pressure on the District Department of Transportation to delay a project, or propose a less safe alternative.

Systemic change to the decision-making process that make it easier to build safer streets (and harder to maintain the deadly status quo): The 2021 Vision Zero Omnibus bill included a number of these changes, including requirements that DDOT incorporate pedestrian and bike infrastructure on large projects.

Policy change that makes our streets safer: beyond changes to the built environment, we also push for policy improvements. Past successes include reforming Contributory Negligence so that insurance companies can't deny claims from people who've been hurt by drivers; incorporating bike and pedestrian safety into driver's tests at the DMV; and requiring construction companies to provide safe accommodations when they close bike lanes and sidewalks during construction. Current priorities include implementing automated enforcement ticket reciprocity with Maryland and Virginia so that suburban drivers can't drive dangerously without repercussions, and deprioritizing the Level of Service engineering standard.

Montgomery County's budgeting process, both for its annual budget and its 6-year Capital Improvement Program, takes place in the spring. WABA works with grassroots advocates and partner organizations to build support on the County Council for funding individual projects and to ensure that the relevant agencies (usually Parks, Planning, Transportation) have the resources required to grow and maintain the County's active transportation network.

Current priorities include funding the Montgomery County Equitable Bikeways proposal, completion of the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring, and developing an e-bike purchase rebate program.

Active Fairfax launched in 2020 to consolidate the county's various policies and plans guiding the development of trails and bikeways. WABA has worked with Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling and grassroots advocates across the county to ensure that the plan lays the groundwork for a robust bike network across the county.

The resulting draft map and Active Transportation Toolkit lay out a vision for where and what a comprehensive all-ages-and-abilities active transportation network could and should look like. What it does not do is fund or otherwise begin to build out this ambitious network – we’re certain to face a budget battle in the future, but hopefully one we’re well-equipped to win by having the right plan in place.

Prince George's County's budgeting process, both for its annual budget and its 6-year capital budget,  takes place in the spring. WABA works with grassroots advocates and partner organizations to build support on the County Council for funding individual projects and to ensure that the Department of Public Works and Transportation and the Parks Department  have the resources required to grow and maintain the County's active transportation network. 

Current priorities include expanding Capital Bikeshare in the county, funding trail development to expand the Capital Trails Network, additional design, engineering, and grant-writing staff at DPWT, and an e-bike purchase rebate program.

Bike lanes are most effective when they connects to other bike lanes, protected bike lanes, even more so.

WABA works with teams of grassroots volunteers across the District to demand a network of low-stress places to bike. A network where you, your kids, nephews, nieces, or grandkids, can all get where you need to go safely, easily, happily on bikes.

WABA’s Complete State Roads initiative aims to remake state highways in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties as complete streets, boosting safety and mobility for people who walk, bike, roll, or use transit as well as for drivers and their passengers. 

The Complete State Roads–Montgomery County report is available at waba.org/stateroads and you can watch a presentation delivered about it at WABA’s 4th Great Montgomery County Bike Summit in 2023. 

As part of the Complete State Roads initiative, WABA backed the development of legislation for introduction in the 2024 Maryland legislative session. 

WABA’s Complete State Roads initiative aims to promote remaking state highways in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties as complete streets, boosting safety and mobility for people who walk, bike, roll, or use transit as well as for drivers and their passengers. 

Prince George’s County presents a particularly urgent safety challenge, with 129 road deaths in 2023, including 39 pedestrians and 3 bicyclists, far higher rates than neighboring Montgomery County. WABA has been pursuing safe-streets and bikeways advocacy, including in state-road corridors in the county, for some time. And as part of the Complete State Roads initiative, WABA backed the development of legislation for introduction in the 2024 Maryland legislative session. Follow the link for information on that campaign.

Montgomery County's piecemeal approach to building bike infrastructure is not aligned with its stated climate, safety, and equity goals,

In 2021, WABA assembled a proposal that prioritized projects in the county's existing (and laudabe!) Bicycle Master Plan within county-designates Equity Focus Areas. You can read the report here.  With around $110 million, the County could build all of the Tier 1 bikeway projects in most of the equity emphasis areas in the County. This dollar amount spread over the FY 23-28 six year capital budget period is consistent with current commitments to biking and walking

WABA develops and advocates for state legislation to make bicycling in Maryland safer and more accessible and for state funding to expand Maryland’s bicycle network, working directly with legislators and Maryland Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) leadership and as part of the Bike Maryland coalition. We also work on broader road-safety, transit, and environmental legislation and funding, typically as part of larger statewide coalitions. The annual Maryland legislative session runs from January to April, but our work developing legislation starts the preceding summer.

We’re thrilled that several bills we worked on or supported were enacted in 2024, directing an MDOT Vision Zero Coordinator and public review process; the Better Bus Service Act, allowing bus-lane enforcement cameras (with bikes allowed); authorizing stop-sign cameras near schools in Prince George's County; and the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act, addressing penalties for hitting a cyclist in a bike lane.

Our 2024 advocacy included unsuccessful efforts that we will likely pursue in future years. (It often takes years to pass a bill. ) These include a Great Maryland Trails Act, an E-bike Rebate and Voucher Program bill, and a bill addressing maintenance responsibility for sidewalks and bike paths along state roads. Another topic on our list for 2025 is contributory negligence, a prejudicial statute that says that if a crash victim is even only 1% at fault, then they are liable and may not recover (full) costs and damages from the party largely at fault.

Whether you're heading to work, out for a scenic ramble, or chasing a PR, or Rock Creek Park is wonderful place to ride a bike.

WABA has worked with grassroots advocates for decades to ensure that Rock Creek Park has the bicycling infrastructure it needs so you can relax and enjoy the scenery.

Recent successes include a recently widened and resurfaced trail, and large sections of Beach Drive that are now permanently closed to cars and open for biking and other forms of recreation.

Current priorities include longer hours for the Zoo tunnel, and more safe ways to get into the park on a bike.

Connecting neighborhoods between Silver Spring, Maryland and Union Station in DC, and paralleling the Metrorail Red Line, the Met Branch Trail is busy corridor for recreation and active transportation.

First conceived by WABA and others in the early 1990's, the trail is a showcase of both innovative urban trail design, and the challenges of multi-jurisdiction trail development.  The trail broke ground in 1998, and major sections have opened in 2010, 2015, and 2021, but it remains incomplete. An interim, on-street route bridges a gap between Fort Totten and the DC/Maryland border.

The Suitland Parkway Trail runs directly next to Suitland Parkway, from Sheridan Rd SE in the Anacostia neighborhood, connecting to Stanton Rd SE and Irving St SE before an abrupt dead end at the Maryland Border, failing to connect to Alabama Ave SE or Southern Ave SE.

In addition to missing critical neighborhood connections, the trail is uncomfortably close to a busy highway, with only inches of separation from traffic on some stretches. WABA DC Trail Rangers regularly remove the trash and remnants of car crashes that frequently block the trail.

WABA is working with the Capital Trails Coalition, the National Park Service, and a host of community partners to turn this trail into a safe, comfortable, well-connected community resource.

The Arboretum Bridge and Trail is a planned connection between the National Arboretum and the Anacostia River Trail in the Deanwood neighborhood. It's an incredible opportunity to create a new connection for residents to get across the Anacostia River and to provide access to some of the District’s most unique outdoor gems: Anacostia Park and the U.S. National Arboretum.

Currently in the planning stages, the project received a federal RAISE grant in 2023. Construction is projected to start in 2025 and be complete by 2027.

The Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail connects College Park, Riverdale, and Hyattsville to the Anacostia River Trail network. Unlike

After many years of grassroots organizing and budget advocacy, a final connecting segment between the Northwest Branch Trail and downtown Hyattsville opened in 2024, plugging this neighborhood resource into a network of more than 80 miles of trails.

Virginia and DC are planning to build a new rail crossing over the Potomac River next to the existing one, called the Long Bridge. After an extended campaign from WABA and the Capital Trails Coalition, the jurisdictions agreed convert the existing span into the first dedicated bike and pedestrian crossing over the Potomac River.

The project received a $20 million federal RAISE grant in 2022 and is slated to be complete by 2030.

The Arlington Boulevard Trail is a proposal WABA released in 2014, stretching from Fairfax County to the Potomac River by way of West Falls Church and Seven Corners. Several stretches of the trail have been built, but a continuous bike ride through the corridor remains a stressful experience.

Arlington Memorial Trail (sometimes referred to as the Cemetery Wall Trail) is a proposed connection running along the perimeter of the Arlington National Cemetery from Memorial Drive south to Columbia Pike along the west side of Route 27 and north side of Route 110. The trail fills a critical gap and would connect northern Arlington neighborhoods like Rosslyn with the growing National Landing area, along with facilitating additional east-west connectivity across the Potomac.

The tangle of roadways and corresponding management responsibilities in this sensitive area have tied up the project for years but there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. Arlington County assumed control of the project from federal authorities in 2024 and the Arlington National Cemetery is proactively including the trail in renderings for its proposed entry corridor improvements project.

Connecticut Ave NW is a busy corridor that connects downtown DC to Bethesda, Maryland. It's a high-speed, multi-lane road without adequate infrastructure for safe biking and walking. In 2019 The District Department of Transportation began studying ways to make the corridor safer. Working with Ward 3 Bike Advocates and a host of grassroots volunteers, WABA organized broad support for a variety of safety improvements, including protected bike lanes from Woodley Park to the Maryland border. In December of 2021, Mayor Bowser announced that the District would move forward with a design concept that included protected bike lanes.

Despite this broad support, and the 2021 announcement, in the spring of 2024, DDOT announced that it would be moving forward with a bike-lane-free design for the corridor, apparently because of  concerns about parking. WABA is working with local advocates, business owners, and the DC Council to move the project forward.

The painted, unprotected bike lanes on Q and R Streets Northwest are the longest east-west bike corridor in DC's core.

Bicyclists who use these lanes must navigate stopped vehicles, drivers veering into the bike lane, inch-close dangerous passing, and the constant threat of being “doored.” Unsurprisingly, these lanes do not meet DDOT’s own low-stress bikeway design standards.

WABA is working with group of grassroots advocates to persuade DDOT to convert these lanes to protected bike lanes.

In response to a series of fatal crashes along the corridor, and sustained pressure from WABA, Montgomery County Families for Safe Streets, Action Committee for Transit, and other grassroots advocates, the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration installed three miles of protected bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road (MD 187) in North Bethesda.

The lanes proved effective: in the 15 months after they were installed, there were no pedestrian or bicyclist injuries on the corridor. Despite this safety improvement, the project continues to face some opposition as a result of misconceptions about its impact on car traffic.