Active Transportation Design Guide
Recommended policies, specifications, standards and guidelines to be followed in the development of active transportation infrastructure in British Columbia.
Core Documents
- British Columbia Active Transportation Design Guide (2019 Edition) (PDF, 77.2MB)
This free design guide will help communities build safe, effective active transportation infrastructure. -
Supplement: British Columbia Active Transportation and Transit-Oriented Development Design Guide (2021 edition) (PDF, 23MB)
This supplement to the British Columbia Active Transportation Design Guide provides design guidance on the integration of active transportation into transit-oriented development across the province.
- Updates
This document will be updated over time to reflect evolving best practices.
Individual Chapters
Individual chapters of the B.C. Active Transportation Design Guide are provided in PDF format for quicker download and to enable the replacement of updated individual sections as required.
Table of Contents
Intro
View (PDF 4.0 MB) | Download (PDF 32.7 MB)
A. Overview + Context
View (PDF 2.7 MB) | Download (PDF 25.6 MB)
A.1 What is the British Columbia Active Transportation Design Guide?
B. Setting the Context
View (PDF 8.2 MB) | Download (PDF 43.5 MB)
B.1 What is Active Transportation?
B.2 Planning for Active Transportation
B.3 Universal Design
B.4 Operational and Behavioral Characteristics
C. Pedestrian Facilities
View (PDF 11.9 MB) | Download (PDF 55.7 MB)
C.1 General Design Guidance
C.2 Pedestrian Through Zone
C.3 Frontage. Furnishing, and Ancillary Zones
C.4 Rural Pedestrian Design Considerations
D. Cycling Facilities
View (PDF 16.1 MB) | Download (PDF 59.1 MB)
D.1 General Design Guidance
D.2 Neighborhood Bikeways
D.3 Protected Bicycle Lanes
D.4 Painted + Buffered Bicycle Lanes
D.5 Advisory Bicycle Lanes
D.6 Rural Cycling Design Considerations
E. Multi-Use Facilities
View (PDF 8.8 MB) | Download (PDF 46.7 MB)
E.1 General Design Guidance
E.2 Multi-Use Pathways
E.3 Separated Bicycle + Pedestrian Pathways
E.4 Shared Spaces
F. Context Specific Applications
View (PDF 3.7 MB) | Download (PDF 26.9 MB)
F.1 Current Practices for Highway Rights-of-Way
G. Intersections + Crossings
View (PDF 20.2 MB) | Download (PDF 84.1 MB)
G.1 General Design Guidance
G.2 Signals + Other Traffic Devices
G.3 Pedestrian Crossings
G.4 On-Street Bikeway Crossings
G.5 Off-Street Pathway Crossings
G.6 Additional Crossings + Conflict Areas
H. Amenities + Integration
View (PDF 16.7 MB) | Download (PDF 61.8 MB)
H.1 Multi-Modal Integration (See Update for more information)
Supplement - Updated Floating Bus Stop Design Guidance (Updated October 25, 2021 - PDF, 546KB)
H.2 End-Point Facilities
H.3 Wayfinding
H.4 Lighting
H.5 New Mobility Integration
I. Post Implementation
View (PDF 10.8 MB) | Download (PDF 37.4 MB)
I.1 Celebrating + Launching
I.2 Monitoring + Reporting
I.3 Maintenance
Appendices
View (PDF 2.2 MB) | Download (PDF 5.9 MB)
Acronyms
Glossary
References
A. Project Participants
B. Signage + Pavement Markings
C. Types of Traffic Calming Devices