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

Design Best Practices

CalBike hosts a live inventory of Bike and Pedestrian Plans across California. If you’d like to update or add to this inventory please contact info@calbike.org.

View CalBike’s webinar about how to create connected, low-stress bike networks.

We recommend the following guides and manuals to any engineer or planner in California. Each one provides valuable advice on bikeway and roadway designs that are approved for any road in the state.

NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide. Published by the National Association of City Transportation Officials, these guides have the same authority in California as the California Highway Design Manual. They provide a wide range of options for safe, comfortable bikeways. NACTO now offers Guidelines for Regulating Shared Micromobility as well as other guides and publications. The organization updates its guides regularly.

The Federal Highway Administration publishes this great Bikeway Selection Guide to help planners choose what kind of bikeway is best for any particular street. This guide is better than the Caltrans version.

Caltrans’ Class IV Bikeway Guidance. Produced to comply with the Protected Bikeways Act of 2014, which we sponsored, this guide provides helpful direction for building class 4 bikeways. It authorizes protecting the bicycle lane from the roadway to create a separate bikeway with a barrier between it and moving traffic.

Bicycle Parking Guide Our friends and Summit sponsors at Ground Control Systems offer this free guide to bicycle parking options and design best practices, including designs suited for various sites, events, and environments. This guide features bicycle parking layouts and related ordinances as well as security.

Latest News

  • Nine Uses for Daylighting SpaceMay 28, 2025 - 7:37 pm
  • California Walks and CalBike Call on Cities to Implement Daylighting to Save LivesMay 27, 2025 - 3:03 pm
  • California State Capitol
    California’s Transportation Spending Has the Wrong PrioritiesMay 14, 2025 - 2:26 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

Scroll to top