NACTO networks offer low-cost transport solutions for UK cities

Kate Fillin-Yeh: NACTO has offered cities a low-cost way to transform their streets instead of defaulting to federal, highway-focused design standards.

Kate Fillin-Yeh: NACTO has offered cities a low-cost way to transform their streets instead of defaulting to federal, highway-focused design standards.

A growing network of cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico are linking up to develop innovative and low-cost sustainable transport solutions, according to Kate Fillin-Yeh of the NACTO Bike Share Program.

NACTO – the National Association of City Transportation Officials - is a coalition of city transportation departments in 45 large cities that work together to develop their own strategies to safe street design, cycling, walking and transit, explains Fillin-Yeh.   

“NACTO helps cities shape their common vision for a safer, more liveable, equitable, and sustainable urban environment,” she says.

“We advance the state of transportation practice by facilitating data and best-practice sharing, peer-to-peer exchange in workshops and conferences, and regular communication among member cities. The experiences of the NACTO network can suggest new opportunities for UK cities.” 

NACTO’s first guide was the Urban Bikeway Design Guide, which showcased affordable and effective urban street design standards and practices.

Fillin-Yeh says the guide, developed by and for urban transportation professionals, enabled cities to “transform their streets to meet urban reality instead of defaulting to federal, highway-focused, design standards”.

New York’s parking protected bike lane was a new concept when the Urban Bikeway Design Guide was first released in 2011. But the bike lanes now exist in more than 20 cities around North America, including New York, Los Angeles, St Louis, Chicago, Winnipeg, Vancouver BC, San Francisco, Cleveland, Austin and Minneapolis, reports Fillin-Yeh. 

NACTO has since released follow-up guides such as the Urban Street Design Guide, Transit Street Design Guide, Bike Share Station Siting Guide, and Global Streets Design Guide, which will be released in the autumn.  

“For example, the Bike Share Station Siting Guide lays out the best practices from around the US,” says Fillin-Yeh. “It provides examples for advocates and planners alike for how to place bike share stations in ways that increase system productivity, make systems more accessible and equitable, contribute to safer streets design, and enhance the public realm.”   

She adds: “As bike share systems continue to proliferate around the US and the world, understanding what makes bike share work, and how to make sure the benefits of bike share are equitably distributed, is essential.”

Guides such as the Walkable Station Spacing is Key to Successful Equitable Bike Share and Can Monthly Passes Improve Bike Share Equity have helped cities better understand what it takes to make bike share successful, she states. “They are widely cited in bike share planning discussions and have been used by cities to design their systems and advocate for increased funding.”

At Cycle City Active City Kate Fillin-Yeh will explain how UK cities can learn from the NACTO model.