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.