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Cities Release Bikeway Design Guide

New manual reflects spread of innovative street designs in U.S.

March 9, 2010 – A coalition of transportation commissioners from major American cities launched a new design manual for bicycle-friendly streets today, announcing its release in Washington, D.C. at the League of American Bicyclists 2011 Bicycle Summit.

The new “Urban Bikeway Design Guide” is a publication of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), an association that shares transportation practice and experience among its members and represents cities in national transportation issues.

NACTO undertook the project because many of its members found existing design manuals inadequate for their efforts to promote bicycle transportation.

To create the Guide, officials from NACTO cities and a team of top planners and designers launched NACTO’s Cities for Cycling project and conducted an extensive survey of expert knowledge, existing design guidelines from countries and cities around the world and innovative projects in the U.S.

“NACTO’s Urban Bikeway Design Guide gives American planners and designers the tools they need to make cycling accessible to more people,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City Transportation Commissioner and President of NACTO.” These guidelines represent the state of the art and should be adopted as the new standards around the country.”

The focus of the guide is street facilities, including cycle tracks or protected bike lanes, which provide more separation between cyclists and motor vehicle traffic. Guide users can view detailed plan drawings, three-dimensional renderings of the designs, and pictures of actual projects from around the country. The NACTO Guide can be adopted by individual cities, counties, or states as either a stand-alone document or as a supplement to other roadway guidance documents.

Development of the Guide was supported by the SRAM Cycling Fund and the Bikes Belong Foundation. The Urban Bikeway Design Guide is an interactive document that can be found online at www.c4cguide.org and www.citiesforcycling.org.

Meets APBP Guidelines: Racks fully adhere to the guidelines for bike parking as written by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.

 

Bike Friendly Containment: The rack captures the bikes tires in a well or cradle in such a way so that there is no wheel bending, yet the bike is secured enough to not slide or slip from its upright position.

 

Simple & Intuitive: Simple and intuitive racks exhibit few options for a cyclist to lock their bike. They offer minimal parking methods (front and back only) and minimize the possibility of securing a bike in an incorrect way that will cause unorganized or non-secure bike parking.

 

Security: The rack should be equipped with a feature (such as an arm or wing) to allow the bicycle to be locked to the rack with an external lock and a closed part of the bicycle frame, as well as offer the ability to lock the wheel, frame, and rack in unison.

 

Density: How well the rack contains and organizes large numbers of bikes in different configurations and locations while still keeping parking organized to allow cyclists sufficient access to their bikes.

 

Cost Per Bike: The approximate dollar amount an individual rack will cost in respect to how many bikes it will hold.

 

Cost Per Bike+Shipping: The approximate dollar amount an individual rack will cost in respect to how many bikes it will hold plus the cost of freight. Because different racks weigh more or less, and ship to and from different locations, the cost of freight varies and therefore can make a total purchase price more or less expensive than just averaging the cost per bike.