2020 was the year that we will remember for COVID. It was also the year that NACTO shared its ‘Streets for Kids’ design guidelines.

In traditional road design, it’s strange to imagine designing streets around kids. In traditional ways of thinking streets are designed for efficiency, which means the greatest throughput possible and at the highest speeds. 

Pressure from car manufacturers in the earliest days of traffic engineering meant that ‘efficiency’ became equated with car movement. As a result, the most vulnerable, including our children, are usually at the very bottom of the pyramid of needs we use when we think about road design.

Arriving at a time of fear and despair, the very idea of ‘Streets for Kids’ is one of hopefulness. 

It’s about cherishing our shared future and engaging in hope for the future.