Best Practices

This research report is designed to stimulate new understanding and thinking that will lead to better streets for all Americans.

This report presents a framework for conducting and documenting environmental management activities by corridor.

This Guide to Complete Streets Campaigns is a roadmap to winning a complete streets policy in your jurisdiction. It is also a guide to effective community organizing, as it is our hope that in winning a complete streets policy our Thunderhead member organizations will also gain strength, increase partnerships, and in many ways make their communities better with improved conditions for bicycling and walking.

The California Department of Transportation (Department) provides for the needs of travelers of all ages and abilities in all planning, programming, design, construction, operations, and maintenance activities and products on the State highway system. The Department views all transportation improvements as opportunities to improve safety, access, and mobility for all travelers in California and recognizes bicycle, pedestrian, and transit modes as integral elements of the transportation system.

As part of the City of Charlotte's Smart Growth strategy, staff and consultants are developing comprehensive new urban street design guidelines to be applied to all new and modified streets. The design guidelines provide for all travel modes, while explicitly considering land use context, street function, and allocation among competing uses for often-limited right-of-way. The design guidelines offer direction on planning and designing for five street types and their intersections. As important as the "ideal" cross-sections developed, however, is the information provided to guide the tradeoff decisions inherent in street design, particularly in retrofit or modification situations. To that end, the guidelines include a step-by-step approach to their application.

This chapter provides an overview of landscape planning and design, an integral part of transportation project development.

This chapter describes a variety of measures that can be used to lower vehicle speeds, and redirect traffic flows.

Introduction to Safe Routes to School: the Health, Safety and Transportation Nexus, including: Overview, History of Safe Routes to School, The Decline of Walking and Bicycling, Health Risks, Safe Routes to School Programs are Part of the Solution, Elements of Safe Routes to School Programs, Take Action Now, Promising Examples and Community Success Stories

This Guidebook provides an overview of key ITS concepts. This version is aimed at senior managers and public policy makers responsible setting overall transportation policy, allocating resources, and making the major decisions on the direction our transportation system will take.

The purpose of the Guidebook is to provide up to date information on: the need to integrate ITS and transportation planning; Federal and other regulations, processes, and reporting requirements, to do so, and recommendations on how to move from today's practice to an integrated approach. This version is targeted towards the "practitioners" that are responsible for supporting the decision process and "working out the details" to make sure that both decisions are made and the transportation system continues to move forward on a day-to-day basis.

This handbook recommends a process for development of street standards, provides important information to help communities consider and decide on the standards, and includes model designs as a starting point.

The purpose of this guide on "How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan" is to present an overview and framework for state and local agencies to develop and implement a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan tailored to their specific problems and needs. Pedestrian Safety Action Plan is a plan developed by community stakeholders that is intended to improve pedestrian safety in the community. An objective of the guide is to help state and local officials know where to begin to address pedestrian safety issues. it is also intended to assist agencies in further enhancing their existing pedestrian safety programs and activites, including identifying safety problems and selecting optimal solutions.

This is a series of eight case studies that outline a variety of tools and strategies that are contributing to great corridors around the country— creating not only successful streets, but creating places in those communities.

This document outlines an approach to designing streets that are more "complete" in the sense of accomplishing all of the goals associated with the dominant form of public space in urban societies — our streets. The purpose of this booklet is threefold:

1. To provide suggested street standards for use when designing new streets and developments and when planning for future transit corridors
2. To provide guidance when dealing with a constrained right-of-way
3. To illustrate local examples of streets that work or do not work for various user groups

This document presents best practices for bicycle master plans for consideration and potential adoption by the Collaborative. These best practices were gleaned from bicycle plans recognized as being exemplary and from cities and/or counties that were recognized as being highly bikeable. First, the required elements of a bicycle master plan in the State of California are presented. Next, best practice bicycle master plan content is presented in the form of a typical bicycle plan outline. A special section addressing the current state-of-the-practice with regard to bicycle level of service measures is presented.

This section presents best practices pedestrian master plans for consideration and possible adoption by the Collaborative. Unlike, the bicycle master plan, there are no required pedestrian master plan elements in the State of California. The contents of a pedestrian master plan presented here represent best practice content gleaned from pedestrian plans of cities like Oakland and Portland that are recognized as being exemplary. The first section presents best practice content in a sample plan outline format, elaborating on key elements of the plan.

The Collaborative's Transportation Team has been particularly focused on practices that will assist the Sacramento countywide area achieve the vision of at least at 10% shift in travel mode from automobiles to walking, cycling, and transit. Transit use is forecasted to increase from 1.3% of trips to 4% or 5% or more, in the Sacramento countywide area.

Universal Design (also called Inclusive Design or Accessible Design) refers to facility designs that accommodate the widest range of potential users, including people with mobility and visual disabilities and other special needs. Although Universal Design standards address the needs of people with disabilities, it is a comprehensive concept that can benefit all users. For example, people who are unusually short or tall, carrying packages or pushing a cart are not disabled, but their needs should be considered in facility design.

Conventional suburbs are over built and out of favor. In cities and suburbs alike, walkable neighborhoods linked by train are the future. Here's how a new nertwork of privately funded alliances can make the future come to pass more quickly and cheaply- and help reingorate housing and the economy.

Discussion centering around the potential implementation of "skinny streets" policies by the Delaware Department of Transportation.