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Vermont Agency of Transportation expands active-transportation team, cites Complete Streets gains
Summary
Joshua Schultz told the House Transportation Committee that the agency has increased staff and coordination for bicyclist and pedestrian safety, rolled out Complete Streets guidance and formed an Active Transportation Alliance to coordinate statewide planning, training and project reporting.
Joshua Schultz, who oversees the Operations and Safety Bureau at the Vermont Agency of Transportation, told the House Transportation Committee on Jan. 16, 2025, that the agency has expanded its active-transportation effort, increased staff dedicated to bike-and-ped issues and is coordinating training, guidance and reporting for municipalities and regional partners.
Schultz said the agency now has two dedicated active-transportation staff -- up from a single coordinator in earlier years -- and has renewed focus under Chief Engineer Jeremy Reid to integrate active modes into safety and project delivery. "Active transportation is an important part of what we do," he said, adding that the team emphasizes safety, mobility and connectivity for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Why it matters: Schultz said walking and biking support vulnerable populations, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, improve public health and aid downtown economic vitality. The agency's active-transportation work informs project design and maintenance priorities and helps towns that lack technical capacity to plan for multimodal facilities.
Schultz reviewed a sequence of agency milestones: the Complete Streets statute passed in 2011; a Vermont Active Transportation strategic plan was developed in 2021; a Complete Streets guidance document was published in 2023 and agency designers received training in 2024; a project-reporting tool was also launched in 2024. He said the agency formed a Vermont Active Transportation Alliance of state, local and nonprofit partners that has met monthly over the past year to coordinate priorities and share resources.
The active-transportation team works with regional planning commissions, Local Motion, the Department of Health, AARP and other partners. Schultz said the group helps towns with design guidance and reviews projects for accessibility and equity concerns. He also noted data challenges: counting pedestrians and bicyclists requires targeted, location-specific collection, and the agency is working with regional partners to improve counts and asset data for sidewalks and bike routes.
Committee members described the initiative as long-running and evolving. Representative comments credited prior legislative work and local advocates for pushing multimodal planning into standard agency practice; representatives also urged use of the agency's Complete Streets guidance when evaluating projects.
Schultz invited legislators and town officials to use the agency's materials and training and said staff will continue to expand partnerships and technical support for municipalities. He offered his contact information and reiterated that a web form exists for towns to report maintenance or safety needs.
