• Introduction to Safe Routes to School: the Health, Safety and Transportation Nexus
• Steps to Creating a Safe Routes to School Program
• Engineering
  • Guiding Principles for Applying Safe Routes to School Engineering Solutions
  • What's Wrong With This Picture?
  • School Route Maps and the Tools to Create Them
  • The School Zone
  • Along the School Route
  • Crossing the Street
  • Slowing Down Traffic
  • Resources
  • References
• Enforcement
• Encouragement
• Education
• Student Drop-off and Pick-up
• Evaluation
• Media and Visibility
• Case Studies

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On-street Bicycle Facilities

When providing student travel facilities along the street, it is not just about walking, but about bicycling too. Bicycling is an important way for children to travel to and from school. Bicycling can help students who live too far from school to walk to participate in active transportation. Use of on-street facilities is more appropriate for upper elementary school and older children who have sufficient bicycle handling skills and knowledge of bicycle and traffic safety rules. (See Education for more information.)  On-street bicycle facilities discussed in this section:

• Bicycle routes and maps designating streets for bicycling.
• Bicycle lanes.
• Paved shoulders.
• Bicycle racks.
• Bicycle boulevards.

Bicycle Routes and Maps Designating Streets for Bicycling

Most bicycling occurs on neighborhood streets where children live and go to school. Trails and pathways can complement, but certainly are not a substitute for, the residential street network. A considerable amount of all bicycling occurs on the street system, and for children especially, most will occur in the streets near where they live. Some communities have designated special bicycle routes that are marked with guide signs. Other communities have provided maps showing streets that are ideal for bicycling.

Children of all ages, even high school students, will bicycle to school if given the opportunity. When designating bicycle routes to encourage bicycling to school, target all age groups, including elementary, middle, junior high and high school students.

Bicycle Lanes

Bicycle lanes provide a striped and stenciled lane for one-way bicycle travel on roadways. Bicycle lanes offer a comfortable space for older or more experienced children to ride. Bicycle lanes have been positively associated with an increase in the share of commuting by bicycle to work.[19],[20] Typically, bicycle lanes are installed on roadways with higher traffic speeds and volumes. However, where the lane is directly serving a school, communities may elect to stripe bicycle lanes on low-traffic residential streets in order to provide an additional level of visibility for younger bicyclists.

Bicycle lanes located next to motor vehicle parking should be at least five feet wide. The preferred width of bicycle lanes next to a curb is also five feet, although four feet, excluding the gutter pan, may be adequate. Bicycle lanes should not be wide enough to accommodate a motor vehicle as drivers may attempt to use a wide bicycle lane as a travel lane. Bicycle lanes should be designated through the use of signs or painted symbols and motor vehicle parking restrictions. Accommodating bicycle lanes within existing roadway right-of-way may be a challenge.

Some communities have established school bicycle safety routes and bicycle lanes that are functional just during school commute hours. Because these installations can conflict with existing on-street parking, some cities have experimented with “time-of-day” bicycle lanes; the parking lane becomes a bicycle lane during school hours and then reverts to on-street parking for evening and overnight. One disadvantage to this concept is that overnight parking may block the bicycle lane during the start of the bicycle lane hours.

Paved Shoulders

Paved shoulders benefit both bicyclists and drivers. They provide a place for bicyclists to ride that is removed from the motor vehicle travel lane and reduce the likelihood of crashes from motor vehicles drifting out of their travel lane (run off the road crash). Building shoulders on existing roadways or including them in new roadway projects can often be justified by the safety benefit provided to drivers. While pedestrians can walk along shoulders, shoulders should not be considered a good substitute for sidewalks in urban areas.

Bicycle Racks

Providing a secure and convenient location for bicycle parking is one way to help encourage more children to bicycle to school. A sufficient amount of parking must be made available so that bicycles are not crowded. A good bicycle rack should keep the bicycle upright by supporting the frame without bending the wheel and should allow the frame and at least one wheel to be locked to it. Bicycle racks should be placed in a location that will minimize vandalism and maximize use while avoiding conflicts with driveways, buses and large numbers of walkers. Racks should be located in a visible location, convenient to the school entrance. Ideally, bicycle racks should be protected from the weather. For further information see Bicycle Parking Guidelines by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.

Bicycle Boulevards

Bicycle boulevards are designed to prioritize bicycle traffic on residential streets that are parallel to a nearby arterial road with high or potentially high bicycle traffic, and are too narrow to install a bicycle lane or have such low vehicle volumes that a bicycle lane is unnecessary. Direct, cross-town routes are preferable for bicycle boulevards. Drivers are able to use a street with a bicycle boulevard, but through-motor vehicle traffic is discouraged by periodically diverting it off the street. The remaining motor vehicle traffic is slowed to approximately the same speed as the bicyclists’. The development of a bicycle boulevard may include the alteration of intersection controls and the installation of signs and stencils. Bicycle boulevards are most effective when several treatments are used in combination.

Stop signs and traffic signals on the bicycle boulevard are limited to the greatest extent possible, except where they aid bicyclists in crossing busy streets. The removal of stop signs or signals along the bicycle boulevard may make the route attractive to cut-through motor vehicle traffic, however, the use of traffic volume control measures, such as diverters, may move motor vehicle traffic to other local streets, which may be undesirable for that location. If a bicycle boulevard design includes closures or partial-closures of streets or forced right-turn treatments for motor vehicles, it may result in more circuitous circulation routes for motor vehicles, possibly affecting emergency vehicle response.[21]

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