Corner Design for All Users
Historically, intersections have been designed to facilitate easy turning by infrequent design vehicles. This approach has resulted in countless intersections that are much larger than they need to be; intersections where pedestrians and bicyclists confront long crossings that leave them exposed to turning vehicle traffic moving quickly along large corner radii. Balancing access for more infrequent larger vehicles with […]
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White Paper: Promoting Active Transportation Safety in Preparation for Autonomous Vehicles
Helping communities take near-term action to preserve and improve the experience of active transportation as AV technology develops and is deployed.
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Advisory Bike Lanes in North America
White Paper: Advisory Bike Lanes in North America Despite being used successfully for decades in Europe, Advisory Bike Lanes (also known as advisory shoulders), are an emerging facility type in North America and can be an effective tool for communities to provide bicycle lanes on streets that are otherwise too narrow to accommodate them. Alta’s […]
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Alta White Paper: Innovation in Bicycle and Pedestrian Counts, March 2016
This paper outlines the challenges that communities face with conventional pen and paper count programs. It then identifies many new technologies that can automate, simplify, and expedite the collection of bike and ped data.
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Lessons Learned: Evolution of the Protected Intersection
The evolution of North American bikeway design has progressed to protected intersections. During our work on the development of the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, Alta staff saw merit in the Dutch junction style design and have spent subsequent effort studying it and attempting to create a framework for adapting it to the North American roadway […]
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Safe Routes to School Best Practices White Paper
This white paper by Alta Planning + Design documents education best practices in Safe Routes to School programs.
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FHWA Rails-with-Trails: Lessons Learned
This report offers conclusions about the lessons learned in the development, construction, and operation of “rails-with-trails” so that railroad companies, trail developers, and others can benefit from the history of trails in existence today.
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Winter Bike Lane Maintenance: A Review of National and International Best Practices
This white paper provides collected best practices on winter bikeway maintenance as seen in US cities and around the world. The paper covers snow removal from bikeways, different types of de-icing surface applications.
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Best Practices in Campus Bicycle Planning and Program Development
Universities are not only institutions of higher learning, they are also research and thought leaders and places of great innovation. This can be said about cutting-edge laboratory research, as well as sustainable transportation practices such as bicycle planning and program development. While the bicycle is obviously not a new invention or technology, there is a renewed focus and emphasis on prioritizing bicycling due to its many benefits, including health, economic, and environmental benefits. Additionally, students who become bicyclists during their time at university are more likely to continue bicycling after graduation. This white paper documents best practices in bicycle planning and program development at university campuses throughout the United States.
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