Design and Build How to start designing your cycle highway?

  1. Plan
  2. Design and Build
  3. Sell
  4. Evaluate

The design process can start as soon as there is a shared vision on the alignment of the cycle highway route. This long-term vision on the way in which you want to realize the cycling connection is established in the first planning phase of the cycle highway life cycle. Before you start to invest in new cycle highway infrastructure and related products, it is important to consider the following three questions.

1. What is the identity of the cycling connection you want to design and build?

Are you sure that the cycling infrastructure you want to design and build is a part of a future cycle highway? And if it is a cycle highway, how will you brand and promote it on the mobility market?

Do the identity scan

2. Did you consider enough alternatives to realize the functional connection?

Can you avoid that someone comes up with a much better scenario that was never considered in the planning phase? Which criteria were used to compare the different scenarios?

Do the route alignment scan

3. What are your main design goals and ambitions?

If you do not want to miss a quick win opportunity or a no regret measure, browse the short checklist that helps you in the design goal setting and learn from some mistakes. 

Checklist design goals

Explore related tools

Explore related tools

Maturity Assessment Tool

CHIPS developped the cycle highway Maturity Assessment Tool to create a common understanding of cycle highways among Cycle Highway professionals:

  • 22 criteria to assess your cycle highway 
  • 4 maturity levels: from threshold level 1 (minimum) to level 4 (European benchmark).

The Maturity Assessment Tool

EU map of Potential cycle highways

How important is your cycle highway? Open the map and zoom into your region to see how your your cycle highway (network) is related to the potential cycle highways in Europe.  This European fishing lake for potential cycle highways helps you to: 

  • envision a future cycle highway (network) in your region.
  • plan the route alginment
  • give identity to your cycling connection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browse the CH potential map

Readibility Toolbox

Step-by-step guide to turn your cycle highway into a plug&play mobility product that can be promoted on the mobility market. The toolbox contains:   

  • Readability tools: branding strategies, wayfinding measures and best practices
  • Reviews: CHIPS recommendations and mistakes to avoid
  • Framework: 10 playlists of measures
  • Search engine: different filters 

Browse the Readability Toolbox

Design goals & guidelines

This comparison of the existing guidelines to design cycle highways presents:.

  • common trends and design goals
  • points where different guidelines diverge
  • new uncharted areas

Design goals & guidelines

Infrastructure

What are the measures and options  to establish or improve your cycle highway?

  • Infrastructural measures  
  • Options for traffic management

Infrastructure

Learn more about CHIPS project

Cycle Highways Innovation for smarter People Transport and Spatial Planning

CHIPS will develop and promote cycle highways as an effective and cost efficient low carbon solution for commuting towards and from urban employment poles.

Project partners from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK will develop solutions that will help regions and mobility stakeholders to:

  • Position cycle highways as a new mobility product
  • Overcome physical and behavioural barriers that keep commuters from using cycle highways
  • Maximize synergies between cycle highways and trains, buses and cars
  • Upgrade cycle highways to key structuring elements in future spatial planning
  • Monitor performance and assess impact

First step | Plan

Plan Phase

A cycle highway facilitates citizens to move by bicycle from one place to another. It connects residential areas with business districts, city centers or transportation hubs. To determine the right location and make the right connection a calculation of the expected use is needed, taking into account the future developments to plan a future proof cycle highway.

Main objective:  development of a virtual planning tool for potential cycle highways 

    Next step | Design

    Design Phase

    The challenge is to design the best suitable cycle highway for that specific location. Therefor different criteria such as attractiveness, wayfinding, size and directness have to be taken into account.

    Main objectives:  a cycle highway assessment tool to evaluate the design and readability concepts in the (Virtual) Living Lab. 
     

    Next step | Sell

    Sell Phase

    Communication and campaigns will help to stimulate (new) cyclists to use the cycle highway. Commuters are the main target group. The engagement of employers is key to reach the commuters and create a modal shift from car to (e)-bike.

    Main objectives: designing campaigns, development of service point and mobile HUBs.
     

    Next step | Evaluate

    Evaluate Phase

    Final step is to monitor and evaluate the effects of the development. Are people using the new cycle infrastructure? By using GPS-data, information from counters and traffic lights relevant information about the use can be filtered.

    Main objectives: monitoring and evaluation dashboard and a CO2 reduction calculator.

    First step | Plan