AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities
National
Project Summary
The AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities is the authoritative national design standard for bikeway design. Toole Design staff have a history of involvement in preparing this Guide, dating back to the 1990s. In the long-awaited 5th edition, Toole Design has undertaken a comprehensive update to the Guide to reflect widespread acceptance of new bikeway designs for people of all ages and abilities, with funding and direction from the National Highway Cooperative Research Program (Project 15-60, “Proposed Update of the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities”).
The project included consultation with transportation professionals throughout the United States to ensure the Guide reflects current and accepted planning and design practices, and a comprehensive review of bicycle-related research that has been done in the past decade.
The full update, published in December 2024, includes several new chapters that address new facility types and provides detailed information on topics such as separated bike lanes, traffic signals, operations, and rural roadways. The new chapters also include significant amounts of updated content, graphics, and illustrations to convey updated design concepts. Throughout, the Guide permits sufficient flexibility to encourage designs that are sensitive to local context.
Although the Guide focuses on designing for bicyclists, it also provides specific recommendations to address accessibility issues for pedestrians. Some examples include the design of pedestrian crossings at separated bike lanes and the option to use tactile directional indicators linearly along sidewalks to prevent pedestrians from entering bicycle facilities.
Toole Design managed a team of leading subject matter experts throughout the project. During the research phase, we conducted a thorough literature review, a guide user survey, an AASHTO committee member survey, and stakeholder interviews to evaluate the appropriate changes and updates to the Guide. The team completed three rounds of drafts and revisions and ushered the final draft through the AASHTO balloting process.
Interested in learning more about the AASHTO Bike Guide and how to put it into practice? Contact Jeremy Chrzan, PE, PTOE, LEED AP®, Toole Design’s Multimodal Design Practice Lead, to discuss your community’s needs.
Expertise Applied
- Design Guidance and Manuals
- Final Design and Construction Documentation
- Roadway and Street Design
- Traffic Engineering and Operations
- Conceptual Design
- Inclusive Design and ADA
- Urban Design
- Complete Streets and Shared Streets
- Trails and Greenways
- Streetscape Design
- Wayfinding and Environmental Graphics
- Green Infrastructure
- Safety and Vision Zero
- Safe Routes to School
