Workshop TR 5.3, Wednesday 21 June, 16.00 - 17.30

Comparison of design manuals

Arantxa Julien, consultant, Metropolis Cycling infrastructure design and urban public space; A comparison of cycling design manuals Cycling facilities are often considered to be a good measure to facilitate trips for a well-identified category of road users, cyclists. As for motorized traffic, technical works on cycling facilities have been drawn up in order to help planners and engineers to design and build cyclists-dedicated spaces. Several countries have produced such design manuals : The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, France. The analysis of common points and differences between these manuals is interesting in order to better understand cycling policies and practices in these countries. It may provide a valuable help for countries which are about to write such guidelines. At this level of the analysis, there seem to be three mains approaches in those design manuals : - a technical and rather normative approach, insisting on the building of specific infrastructures for cyclists, - an approach based on the specificities of the cyclist and of its vehicle and starting from there to suggest solutions to the problems encountered by these road users in the traffic - a more regulatory approach, which can be linked with modifications in the Highway Code These three approaches are combined in various proportion in each manual. It is possible to go further than this valuable but basic comparison. Through the analysis of the concepts prevailing in the redaction of these manuals, different conceptions of urban public space can be seen. Cycling is not just a matter of traffic management or infrastructure but also of urbanity and of what kind of cities we want to live in.

Panel: Alfonso Sanz, consultant, GEA21, Spain Jay Kaplan, AmAv Environmental Planning  /\  AmAv Transport Planning, Ltd., Israel Peter Lagerwey, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Coordinator, City of Seattle Transportation Department, USA Marc Jolicoeur, Vélo Québec, Canada The panel members have all been involved in the production of design manuals. At the session they will give a short review of one other manual than "their own". Subsequently they will discuss the pros and cons of the various approaches.

Tom Godefrooij Report Workshop TR 5.3