Rethinking Streets for People on Bikes: An Evidence-Based Guidebook

Abstract

This project is a follow up to a successful previous NITC project and subsequent nationally distributed book, called "Rethinking Streets: An Evidence-Based Guide to 25 Street Transformations." The success of the first book demonstrated a need for easy access to evidence-based transportation information that can be used by practitioners, community members, policymakers, educators, and researchers. This project produced a follow-up guidebook, but with a focus on streets redesigned to accommodate bicycle transportation in ways following current best practices. Whereas the first book purposefully focused on "average" street retrofit projects to communicate the normalcy of such projects around the country, this project focused on the more ambitious approaches a variety of cities have taken to retrofit their streets to better accommodate normal people using bicycles as a normal mode of transportation. Complete Streets policies are being adopted across the United States, but local officials have few documented guidebooks to help them to retrofit streets for people on bikes based on completed projects using best practices. This project fills that gap. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Bicycle facilities, cycle tracks, protected bike lanes, advisory bike lanes, No restrictions. Copies available from NITC: protected intersections, raised bicycle facilities, off-street bike paths www.nitc-utc.net 19. Security Classification (of this report) 20. Security Classification (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified

A Comprehensive Study of a Road Diet Implementation in the US and Abroad

“…This minor arterial saw a drop in ADT from 17,900 to 14,600 vehicles per day in the before and after conditions, though this may be explained by an improvement in a nearby interstate since other local streets saw no increase. Crashes were reduced by 68% and the corridor became a new home for a transit route (Schlossberg et al, 2013). In addition, the fatal/incapacitating crash rate was reduced by 33%, sideswipe crash rate by 90%, angle crash and left turn crash rate by 64%, pedestrian crashes by 62%, and bicycle crashes by 47% (Project for Public Spaces, 2013).…”

“…Charlotte, North Carolina was the site of a road diet along a 1.6-mile stretch of the East Boulevard arterial (Schlossberg et al, 2013). The road diet was com-…”

“…At the very least, traffic demand appears to be handled by the new roadway alignment. As of 2013, the city of Seattle alone has performed 35 road diets (Schlossberg et al, 2013).…”

Sustainable Complete Streets Design Criteria and Case Study in Naples, Italy

“…Furthermore, there is a need for flexibility in applying current design guidelines and the use of creative design in addressing site specific project needs [1]. In North America, an emerging concept is to accommodate all users of the transportation system, be they pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit users, or motor vehicle drivers and passengers, a concept that has been variously labelled 'complete streets' and 'walkable thoroughfares' [2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…Adding environmental design considerations toward community sustainability would complement this complete streets design. For example, creating a destination for pedestrians and cyclists to shop, socialize, and rest, would transform and enhance a street previously occupied by automobiles, more so than just designing it as a complete street to travel through [8]. Moreover, this form of communitysustainability-oriented retrofit of an existing street, and building on complete streets design principles, could be a catalyst for adjacent land use change and increased private investment.…”