Bike signals improve identified safety or operational problems involving bikeways. They indicate bike signal phases and other bike-specific timing strategies, including allowing contraflow bike movements on one-way streets. They also provide signal clarity to bikeway users. Install two bike signals: one farside and one nearside.
Standard far-side bike signals use 8 or 12 in (200 or 300 mm) lenses. Orient bike signals vertically or horizontally. Use at least one bike signal head for each signalized bikeway approach. Where bike and motor vehicle phases fully coincide but the motor vehicle signals do not align with the bikeway, additional signal heads facing the bikeway are recommended.
Near-side signals use 4 or 8 in (100 or 200 mm) lenses and, in the U.S., are only used to supplement far-side signals.1 Near-side signals are easily recognized as bike traffic control devices and provide information to bikeway users before they proceed through the intersection. Supplemental near-side signals should be installed along two-way bikeways, at complex or skewed intersections, where the crossing distance exceeds 80 ft (24 m)2, and where glare, precipitation, or other environmental conditions may occlude the far-side signal.
Bike signals with bike signal faces are generally preferred over adding a BICYCLES USE PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL (MUTCD R9-5) sign or using circular lenses with a BICYCLE SIGNAL (MUTCD R10-40 series) sign.
Detection and Signal Actuation
When deciding whether to use actuation for bikes or to operate the bike phase on recall, consider the desired priority of the bikeway compared with conflicting movements, the overall phasing of the intersection and coordination of the signal cycle, bike volume, and the reliability are all relevant factors.
Recall is inherently more reliable and requires less maintenance than actuation. The predictability offered by recall is an advantage for common conditions found in cities, such as bikeways with multiple traffic signals in a row, moderate-to-high bike volumes, or relatively short signal cycle lengths. Bike detection may still be desirable to support signal logic, such as extending a protected bike phase and holding turning motor vehicles when bike traffic is detected on the approach to the intersection.
Actuation has advantages where a low-to-moderate volume of bikes cross an intersection, especially if the bike phase is activated soon after detection. In these cases, actuation can result in shorter wait times for people on bikes and improve compliance with signals.
Detection occurs either through the active use of push buttons or by passive means, such as in-pavement loops, video, or other detection technologies. Without accurate detection, people on bikes must either wait for a vehicle to arrive, dismount and push a pedestrian button
(if available), or cross illegally.
If push buttons are used, they should be mounted facing the street such that people on bikes do not have to dismount to actuate the signal.
Passive detection technology includes:
- Loop: Induction loops that cover a sufficiently wide area are highly accurate and reliable across weather conditions. Pavement maintenance activities and resurfacing require close coordination to re-install loops. Loop sensitivity may need to be adjusted to detect bicycles and specific loop patterns improve bike detection.
- Video/Thermal: Image-based detection with a camera and image processor can be calibrated to detect people on bikes. Calibration for people on scooters and recumbent bikes should be checked. These systems are relatively flexible and can be used to distinguish bikes in mixed traffic.
- Microwave: Miniature microwave radar does not require surface changes and may operate better in low-light conditions than video. Microwave detectors work well on bike-specific approaches and can be configured to provide both presence and advance detection.
Detectors and detection zones may be located within a bikeway or, if properly calibrated, within a shared lane on a signalized intersection approach. Detection equipment should be sufficient to detect all types of devices that may be using a bike lane with greater than 90% accuracy, including bikes, scooters, cargo devices, skateboards, and personal mobility devices. Detector pavement markings should be used to highlight the correct queuing location. Locate amenities, such as lean rails or curbing, to further encourage people on bikes to wait in the correct location for detection.
Lights that confirm that a person on a bike has been detected have been shown to improve user comprehension of actuated bike signals.3,4,5 Near-side bike signals may incorporate a “countdown-to-green” display that confirms a bike signal phase has been called and provides information about when the green indication will be provided.
Advanced detection ensures that people approaching the intersection are not faced with a red signal when they arrive at the intersection. Advanced detection can be beneficial in many environments, particularly at complex crossings or where extending the green phase for bikes is beneficial.
Credit: Houston Department of Public Works
Signs and Markings
BICYCLE SIGNAL (MUTCD R10-40 and R10-41 series) signs are required on bicycle signals in the U.S., except on nearside signals that use 4 in (100 m) lenses. Show all permitted bicycle movements on the sign.
TURNING VEHICLES YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS (MUTCD R10-15) signs, LEFT TURN YIELD TO BICYCLES (MUTCD R10-12b) signs, or modifications should be used where permissive or partial protected bike phases exist.
WAIT HERE FOR GREEN word markings may be used where people riding bikes should position themselves to be detected. If loops are installed, this marking must be placed directly on a loop that has been adjusted for bike activation.
- Federal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 11th Edition. USDOT, 2023: Section 4H.07: paragraph 03. https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/11th_Edition/part4.pdf. ↩︎
- The MUTCD recommends using a near side supplemental signal when the far side signal is 80 feet or more away.
Federal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 11th Edition. USDOT, 2023: Section 4H.08: paragraph 02. https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/11th_Edition/part4.pdf. ↩︎ - Monsere, Christopher, Sirisha Kothuri, and David S. Hurwitz. “An Assessment of Bicycle Detection Confirmation and Countdown Devices.” PSU Transportation Seminars, 2021. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1209&context=trec_seminar. ↩︎
- Boudart, Jesse, et al. “Improving Bicycle Detection Pavement Marking Symbols to Increase Comprehension at Traffic Signals.” ITE Journal 87, no. 3 (2017): 29-34 ↩︎
- Boudart, Jesse, et al. “Assessment of Bicyclist Behavior at Traffic Signals with a Detector Confirmation Feedback Device.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2520, no. 1 (2015): 61-66. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3141/2520-08. ↩︎