Integrating Bicycle And Pedestrian Considerations Into State And Local Transportation Planning Design And Operations

This guide is intended to provide information on how to identify safety and mobility needs for pedestrians with the roadway right-of-way. Useful for engineers, planners, safety professionals and decision-makers, the guide covers such topics as: the Walking Environment including sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks, roadway lighting and pedestrian over and under passes; Roadway Design including bicycle lanes, roadway narrowing, reducing the number of lanes, one-way/two-way streets, right-turn slip lanes and raised medians; Intersections with roundabouts, T-intersections and median barriers; and Traffic calming designs.

This report focuses on how sidewalks and trails can be made accessible and usable by the widest possible segment of the population. Sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration, a project to research existing conditions on sidewalks and trails for people with disabilities was designed in two parts. Part I, covers literature surveys, site surveys and interviews along with the history of accessibility legislation, travel characteristics of the disabled and engineering and construction design practices. Part II provides data on implementing the requirements of parts of two acts, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The fiscal year 1991 U.S. DOT Appropriations Act directed the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a National Bicycling and Walking Study. The five objectives of the study as specified in the Act were to: (1) Determine the current levels of bicycling and walking and identify reasons they are not better used as means of transportation; (2) Develop a plan for the increased use and enhanced safety of these modes and identify the resources necessary to implement and achieve this plan; (3) Determine the full costs and benefits of promoting bicycling and walking in urban and suburban areas; (4) Review and evaluate the success of promotion programs around the world to determine their applicability to the role required of the U.S. DOT to implement a successful program; and (5) Develop an action plan, including timetable and budget, for implementation of such Federal transportation policy. The purpose of this Interim Report is to document progress in addressing these five objectives. In dealing with each objective, this report summarizes available information, discusses what additional information is required, and outlines the approach to be used in collecting it.