New state-of-the-practice for designing safe, bikeable streets
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 7, 2025
CONTACT:
Alex Engel, alex [at] nacto.org
Jaime Jennings, jjennings [at] islandpress.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) today launched the newly revised edition of the seminal Urban Bikeway Design Guide, updated for the first time in a decade with innovative street design practices that support people getting around cities, and elevating planning from building great individual bike lanes to building great complete bike networks.
Developed for cities, by cities, the Urban Bikeway Design Guide is a blueprint for changing decades-old practices on city streets. Endorsed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and recognized in federal law, the Urban Bikeway Design Guide is used by hundreds of municipalities, state DOTs, and regional agencies across the U.S. and Canada to design streets that are safe and accessible for people biking. Because of the Urban Bikeway Design Guide, treatments such as protected bike lanes are now commonplace across the U.S. and Canada.
“We commend NACTO for their work with local planners and designers to build safer streets and more connected bikeway networks,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “The newest edition of the Urban Bikeway Design Guide will be an important resource for communities as they improve safety and design for cyclists, pedestrians, and everyone who uses our streets and roads.”
“The story of urban design over the last decade is the story of how innovative and easy-to-implement cycling infrastructure transformed thousands of city streets into safe, bikeable places,” states Janette Sadik-Khan, NACTO’s Board Chair and a principal at Bloomberg Associates. “The Urban Bikeway Design Guide is the source code for this explosive new cycling era, now updated with the latest designs and technical insights from hundreds of projects across the country.”
“Access to transportation means access to opportunity,” said Ryan Russo, Executive Director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). “The third edition of the Urban Bikeway Design Guide takes all that we’ve learned from hundreds of projects across North America. It provides more than just a kit of parts for designing a bike lane: it provides the how-to blueprint and strategies for creating a whole bike network for people of all ages, abilities, and identities.”
The new edition includes detailed policy, planning, and project development guidance to ensure connected bikeable streets become standard practice. It also shows how to center equity and access in every step of planning and implementing a bike network–addressing inequities caused by the transportation system and building collaborative partnerships with historically marginalized groups of residents.
With more detailed technical guidance than previous editions, the Guide points the way for cities to plan and implement bike networks that account for the many different types of people who may be using the street. The third edition also reflects the increasing use of new types of vehicles using bike infrastructure and features best practices to integrate more types of bikeway users–including those riding e-bikes, scooters, and cargo bikes–into the design process. More detailed intersection design practices focus on improving safety for everyone–walking, biking, scooting, and driving.
Beyond design guidelines, the new edition of the Guide broadens its scope to include network planning, community engagement, design context, project delivery, and maintenance needs to ensure that high-quality bike routes remain functional and comfortable–even during construction disruptions.
The Urban Bikeway Design Guide illustrates a vision for cities that features safe streets, economically strong local business districts, and vibrant streetscapes. It shows how effective leadership strategies can unlock the resources, structure, and backing necessary to change city streets.
The Urban Bikeway Design Guide, Third Edition, will be available from Island Press in hardcover and ebook format on January 14, 2025. For more information, visit nacto.org/bike-guide.
About the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
NACTO is an association of 100 North American cities and transit agencies that exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues. The organization champions bold, people-first urban transportation by mobilizing a network of cities and transit agencies. See more at nacto.org.
About Island Press
Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 1,000 titles in print and some 30 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice. Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information, visit islandpress.org.
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