Complete Streets
Pedestrian-Bicycle (Ped-Bike) Infrastructure
Walking & Wheeling
Standardized Semiotics: by the Vienna Convention on Traffic Signs (Images: pedbikeimages.org)
Standardized Signage
Countries location mostly in the European Union as well as on other continents (with the noted exception of the U.S. and Canada) are signatories to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals which has standardized signs for pedestrian-bicycle (ped-bike) infrastructure.
Ped-Bike signs in Germany shown left-to-right by usage and increasing speed of travel (Image: tuev-nord.de)
Shared Ped-Bike Path Sign
Shared Path: pedestrians and cyclists share a riverside path in Munich, Germany (Photo by the author)
Pedestrian and bicycle icons can be placed on either side of signs depending on the actual conditions but in countries where faster vehicles must pass on the left, the bicycle is placed on this side.
Segregated Ped-Bike Path Signs
Split Path: pedestrians and cyclists visually separated on a path in Singapore (Photo: conanil on flickr)
Ideally, pedestrians and cyclists should be given segregated paths given the difference in the speed of travel. In this instance, one sign showing a vertical line separating the pedestrian and bicycle icons can be used or, for greater clarity, two separate signs side by side. A bike path sign denotes where pedestrians must not walk.
Separate Paths: pedestrians and cyclists have dedicated paths in Munich, Germany (Photo by the author)
An additional sign with two arrows facing up and down can be placed underneath to denote the bike path is bi-directional, that is, cyclists should keep to the side of the path (similar to road traffic) and to anticipate oncoming cyclists.
Wayfinding Signage
Wayfinding signs should be created in such a way so as to be useful to both pedestrians and cyclists. Signage should simply should the name, direction and distance to points of interest in the area and further afield so as to be easy to read when passing at speed on a bicycle.
For countries where a mix of metric and imperial systems are used as in Canada, with its imperial neighbour to the south, distances in both kilometers & miles would be helpful for visitors to the city.
Keywords
pedestrians, cyclists, bicycle, ped-bike, bike-ped, multi-use path, shared, separated, dedicated, bicycle path, bike path, traffic signs, signage, walkways, footpaths, off-street path,
