CalBike
  • About
  • Advocacy
    • 2025 Legislative Watch
    • Restore $400M to the ATP
    • Support the Quick-Build Pilot
    • Keep Bike Highways Moving
    • Sign-On Letters
    • 2025 Bike Month
  • Resources
    • News
    • Report: Incomplete Streets
    • Bicycle Summit Virtual Sessions
    • California Bicycle Laws
    • E-Bike Resources
    • Map & Routes
    • Quick-Build Bikeway Design Guide
  • Support
    • Become a Member
    • Business Member
    • Shop
  • Bike Month
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • About
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative Watch
    • Invest/Divest
    • Sign-On Letters
    • Report: Incomplete Streets
    • Bike the Vote
  • Resources
    • News
    • California Bicycle Laws
    • E-Bike Resources
    • Map & Routes
    • Quick-Build Bikeway Design Guide
  • Support
    • Become a CalBike Member
    • Business Member
    • Shop

Caltrans Developing Protected Bike Lane Guidelines

September 24, 2014/by Zac

Your California Bicycle Coalition is advising Caltrans on the guidelines for protected bike lanes as part of a select committee that is reviewing the current draft. The committee is working fast to meet the official deadline of December 31 set by our bill, the Protected Bikeway Act of 2014 (AB 1193, Ting), that defined a new class of bike facility. The early draft of the guidance gives some clues to the direction Caltrans is taking with this new facility type.

Available in a “Design Information Bulletin,” draft guidance so far indicates a few priorities. First, the official name of what is colloquially called a “protected bike lane” and what some planners call a “cycle track” is a “class 4 separated bikeway.” This distinction preserves the legal right to ride a bicycle in the roadway adjacent to a so-called protected bike lane.

Caltrans is choosing to emulate existing design manuals rather than start from scratch, directing engineers to the FHWA’s new manual on separated bikeways. However, the guidelines do not direct engineers to some of the best manuals in the world, like the CROW manual from the Netherlands, NACTO’s Urban Bikeway Design Guide, Focus on Cycling from Copenhagen, and some elements from the Massachusetts guidelines which have yet to be released.

The proposed guidelines fail to address several issues we are working to get included. They do not provide guidance on how to continue a separated bikeway through an intersection, even though California’s own City of Davis has already installed a similar intersection. It must do better to address the “safety of vulnerable populations, such as children, seniors, persons with impaired vision, and persons of limited mobility.”

Your California Bicycle Coalition is working to improve the draft guidelines to lead to the best guidance in the United States. Our goal is to ensure that local engineers have the guidance and resources necessary to meet the needs of local communities and the designs that fit every community’s needs.

We’ve recruited a team of advisors including some writers from the FHWA guide, the designer behind the website protectedintersection.com, folks from our friends at Alta design, along with several passionate local advocates who are working to ensure the best user experience. Caltrans must not make the same mistakes and listen to the same voices and pontifications that have been killing people riding bikes on California streets for decades. We must do better.

 

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share by Mail
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png 0 0 Zac https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Zac2014-09-24 17:31:202018-08-11 17:31:40Caltrans Developing Protected Bike Lane Guidelines

Latest News

  • California State Capitol
    California’s Transportation Spending Has the Wrong PrioritiesMay 14, 2025 - 2:26 pm
  • CalBike Webinar: Improving our Communities with Slow StreetsMay 13, 2025 - 12:12 pm
  • e-bike
    E-Bike Purchase Incentives FAQsMay 9, 2025 - 3:12 pm
Follow a manual added link

Get Email Updates

Follow a manual added link

Join Calbike

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to X
  • Link to LinkedIn
  • Link to Mail
  • Link to Instagram
About Us

Board
Careers
Contact Us
Financials & Governance
Local Partners
Privacy Policy
Staff
State & National Allies
Volunteer

Advocacy

California Bicycle Summit
E-Bike
Legislative Watch
Past and Present Projects
Report: Incomplete Streets
Sign On Letters

Resources

Maps & Routes
Crash Help and Legal Resources
Quick-Build Bikeway Design Guide
Report: Complete Streets
All Resources

Support

Ways to give
Become a Member
Donor Advised Funds
Donate a Car
Business Member

News

Blog
CalBike in the News
Press Releases

© California Bicycle Coalition 2025

1017 L Street #288
Sacramento, CA 95814
© California Bicycle Coalition 2025

Caltrans sets familiar-sounding goal to triple bicycling by 2020New GHSA Report Gets It Wrong
Scroll to top