Understanding and Using New Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities

Jackson, Steve; Miller, Sheryl; Johnson, Kristie; Duke, Gaby Ruano; Nachmann, Karl; Peach, Kara; Chestnutt, Catherine; Nham, Janie; Goughnour, Elissa · 2022 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This report, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), addresses the gap in understanding how pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers learn to use innovative transportation facilities. While research has established the safety and operational benefits of treatments like bike boxes, leading pedestrian intervals, and rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, it remains unclear how users comprehend and properly navigate these new infrastructures. The study aims to synthesize existing knowledge on user behavior, compliance, and education strategies to inform NHTSA countermeasure programs intended to reduce pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of 114 documents covering 17 specific facilities, categorized by primary user type: bicyclist-focused (e.g., bike boxes, buffered lanes), pedestrian-focused (e.g., offset crossings, refuge islands), and shared-use facilities (e.g., roundabouts, protected intersections). The review focused on four components: use/compliance/safety, attitudes/perceptions, education strategies, and knowledge/comprehension. Additionally, the team reviewed current outreach practices across national, state, and local agencies, as well as law enforcement activities, to identify effective communication methods. The scope excluded design principles, economics, and automated driving systems, focusing instead on behavioral outcomes and user understanding from 2006 to 2020. Findings indicate that road users generally navigate new facilities safely, though not always as intended. Confusion arises when user expectations differ from reality, particularly regarding changed movement patterns. Pedestrians and bicyclists hold positive attitudes toward these facilities, citing improved safety and reduced delays. Motorists share these sentiments unless they perceive inconvenience or unexpected behaviors, such as bicyclists in contraflow lanes. The review revealed a significant lack of published research on education strategies for specific facilities; most outreach relies on established signage rather than intuitive design or media campaigns. Only one study evaluated enforcement activities, though enforcement is hypothesized to improve compliance. Regarding outreach, the review found that multimode communication targeted at highly localized audiences is the most successful strategy for behavioral change, yet few campaigns have been scientifically evaluated. The significance of this work lies in identifying critical gaps in the research community’s understanding of user education and enforcement. The report concludes that while infrastructure improves safety, the mechanisms for ensuring proper user comprehension are under-researched. It highlights that local agencies are better positioned than federal bodies to deliver relevant, localized safety messages. The authors call for more rigorous research to quantify the success of educational campaigns and to document the impact of enforcement on compliance, providing a foundation for developing more effective public outreach and countermeasure programs.

Key finding

Road users generally navigate new pedestrian and bicycle facilities safely, though confusion occurs when expectations differ from reality, and enforcement is likely to improve compliance despite a lack of documented research.

Methodology

review

Sample size: 114

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• cyclist safety
• vru facing ehmi
• vru conspicuity
• ehmi external hmi
• perceptual countermeasures
• pedestrian behavior perception

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence