To design and build streets that work for all people, engineers and planners use a wide range of design tools, guides, and resources. Research on topics related to bicycling and walking is changing rapidly, and new guidelines are developed regularly to translate these important research findings into practice.

Multiple design resources can inform design decisions. Organizations like the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and many others offer general guidelines and project-specific tools to help professionals make these decisions. These guidelines promote design flexibility to ensure context-sensitive applications.

Finding the right tools and guides for a specific issue can be daunting due to the sheer volume of available resources. To make this process easier, PBIC developed the Design Resource Index, which identifies relevant design resources and helps the reader navigate to the appropriate section of each tool. The Design Resource Index is useful for understanding how these design tools and resources interact with one another, and helps agencies easily navigate the landscape of design guidelines.

Resources

The Design Resource Index helps agencies navigate relevant design tools and guidelines.

PEDBIKESAFE describes the process for selecting and implementing countermeasures and includes an interactive selection tool and case studies.

Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide describes research and recommendations for planning and designing separated bike lanes.

Achieving Multimodal Networks: Applying Design Flexibility and Reducing Conflicts presents practitioner-oriented guidance for agencies who want to apply context-specific design to reduce conflicts and connect their networks.

More Resources >

 

Examples

The Truth about Lane Widths discusses impacts on operations from narrowing lanes.

Boston Complete Streets showcases design standards and guidelines for implementing the City's complete streets policy.

Trail Intersection Improvements displays several types of treatments installed along the Springwater Corridor in Portland, Oregon to mitigate conflicts with motorists at street crossings.

Cycling Infrastructure compiles 29 cases of innovative treatments to form a set of design resources for the Australia Bicycle Council.

More Examples >