The county has adopted Best Foot Forward, pairing public education, enforcement, engineering and evaluation with a regional effort to improve pedestrian safety.
St. Johns County has adopted the Best Foot Forward pedestrian safety programme, extending a data-led approach to crosswalk safety into Northeast Florida. The programme is designed to encourage more drivers to stop for people in marked crosswalks, and the county is the first in Northeast Florida to adopt it. The expansion, announced by St. Johns County on July 28, 2026, is supported by the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization and the Florida Department of Transportation.
The programme’s local adoption was formally backed by the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting on July 21, 2026, when the board issued a proclamation supporting its mission. The county’s proclamation describes Best Foot Forward as a data-driven initiative combining community education, high-visibility enforcement and low-cost engineering recommendations. It also links the programme to existing county safety work, including traffic operations, crash-trend evaluation, Complete Streets planning and Vision Zero-aligned strategies.
Best Foot Forward focuses on Florida’s crosswalk laws, which require motorists to stop for people in marked crosswalks. According to the announcement, the programme works with local sheriff’s offices on high-visibility enforcement operations, partners with transportation agencies on safety-focused infrastructure improvements and collects data on driver-yielding behaviour. As part of the St. Johns County rollout, baseline data collection has begun at selected crosswalks to guide future education campaigns, enforcement operations and engineering improvements.
The programme’s operating model spans four connected areas: education, enforcement, engineering and evaluation. Its organisers say community outreach and presentations help explain crosswalk laws, while enforcement operations reinforce driver responsibility and data collection measures how often motorists yield. Engineering recommendations can include changes to signage, markings, lighting and visibility, allowing local agencies to assess conditions and prioritise interventions based on observed behaviour.
Best Foot Forward was launched in the Orlando region and has worked with local governments, law enforcement agencies, transportation professionals and community partners for more than a decade, according to the release. Its expansion into St. Johns County forms part of a wider Northeast Florida effort that also includes Duval County and brings the programme’s stated reach to 11 Florida counties. For St. Johns County, the immediate emphasis is on establishing local evidence and coordinating public agencies around a clearer expectation at marked crossings.
