Guide for the

Planning, Design,
and Operation
of Pedestrian Facilities

American Association of State Highway

and Transportation Officials
July 2004
2004 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.

Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities

Table of Contents
1.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1

Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2

Scope

1.3

Design Regulations and Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.4

2.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

1.3.1

AASHTOs Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and

Streets (Green Book) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

1.3.2

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) . . . . . . 3

1.3.3

Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.3.4

Uniform Vehicle Code (UVC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.3.5

Accessibility Laws, Regulations, and Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Introduction Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Planning for Pedestrians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1

2.2

2.3

Pedestrian Activity in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1.1

Walking as a Basic Transportation Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1.2

Walk Decision Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Characteristics of Pedestrians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2.1

Walking Speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2.2

Spatial Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2.3

Mobility Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2.4

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Pedestrian Planning Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3.1

Integrating Pedestrian Issues into Transportation

Planning Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3.2

Prioritizing Pedestrian Improvement Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.3.3

Rural Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2.3.4

Phased Development of Sidewalks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2004 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.

vii

viii

Table of Contents

2.4

2.5

2.6

3.

Pedestrian-Friendly Site Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.4.1

Development Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.4.2

Strategies in Pedestrian-Friendly Ordinances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

2.4.3

Pedestrian-Oriented Site Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2.4.4

Driveways and Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2.4.5

Commercial Parking Lots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2.4.6

Pedestrian-Only Site Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2.4.7

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

School Site Planning and Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2.5.1

Special Considerations Related to Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2.5.2

Community Response to School Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.5.3

School-Related Pedestrian Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.5.4

Traffic Control and Crossings Near Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

2.5.5

Safe Routes to School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Neighborhood Traffic Management and Traffic Calming . . . . 38

2.6.1

Traffic Management Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2.6.2

Traffic Calming Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

2.7

Other Programs to Increase Pedestrian Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.8

Planning Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Pedestrian Facility Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.1

3.2

Designing Roadways to Accommodate Pedestrians . . . . . . . . . 49

3.1.1

Speed Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

3.1.2

Roadway Widths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3.1.3

Curbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3.1.4

Sight Distance and Sight Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3.1.5

Lighting Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Sidewalk Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.2.1

Types of Pedestrian Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

3.2.2

Sidewalk Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3.2.3

Sidewalk Widths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

3.2.4

Buffer Widths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

3.2.5

Transit Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

3.2.6

Driveway Access Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

2004 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.

Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities

3.2.7

Grade and Cross Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

3.2.8

Stairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

3.2.9

Sidewalks for Highway Bridges, Underpasses, and Tunnels . . . . 63

3.2.10 Surface Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

3.2.11 Pedestrian Facility Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.2.12 Obstacles and Protruding Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.2.13 Ambience, Shade, and Other Sidewalk Enhancements . . . . . . . 67
3.2.14 Off-Road and Shared-Use Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

4.

Intersection Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.3.1

Curb Radii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

3.3.2

Crossing Distance Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

3.3.3

Turning Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

3.3.4

Crosswalks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

3.3.5

Sidewalk and Curb Treatments at Pedestrian Crossings . . . . . . 83

3.3.6

Street and Intersection Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Midblock Crossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.4.1

Crossing Distance Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

3.4.2

Traffic Calming at Midblock Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

3.4.3

Midblock Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Grade-Separated Crossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.5.1

Sidewalk Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

3.5.2

Planning Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

3.5.3

Overpasses vs. Underpasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

3.5.4

Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Design Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Pedestrian Facility Operation and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . 101

4.1

Pedestrian Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

4.1.1

Pedestrian Signal Phasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

4.1.2

Pedestrian Signal Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

4.1.3

Warrants for Pedestrian Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

4.1.4

Pedestrian-Actuated Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

4.1.5

Wide Crossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

4.1.6

Pedestrian Signals in a Coordinated Signal System . . . . . . . . . 110

2004 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.

ix

Table of Contents

4.2

4.3

Pedestrian-Related Signing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

4.2.1

Regulatory Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

4.2.2

Warning Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

4.2.3

Guide Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

4.2.4

Street Name Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Sidewalk Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

4.3.1

Surface Repairs, Snow Removal, and Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . 116

4.3.2

Drainage Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

4.4

Maintenance of Pedestrian Traffic

in Construction Work Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

4.5

Operation and Maintenance Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

2004 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.