Road Design

Bird-s eye view of multi-lane road intersection with medians and crosswalks.

Opinion: What American Transportation Engineering Gets Wrong

And how transportation decisions could more effectively prioritize safety.

March 13, 2024 - Streetsblog San Francisco

Close-up of green sign for bike box for turning in intersection.

US Road Design Manual Gets Multimodal Update

The long-awaited changes include road design elements and signage aimed at improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists while planning for autonomous vehicles.

December 19, 2023 - Smart Cities Dive

Protected two-way cycletrack on street in London, UK with red double-decker bus in background.

Share the Road

How to reimagine the public realm for a more inclusive and sustainable future.

December 19, 2023 - Alison Sant

Intersection with stoplights at night with one pedestrian waiting to cross.

Three-Quarters of U.S. Pedestrian Deaths Happen at Night

Unlike in comparable countries, U.S. pedestrians are most likely to die in traffic crashes during nighttime hours.

December 11, 2023 - The New York Times

New York City street with painted bike lane and crosswalk flanked by brick buildings.

Report: Narrow Traffic Lanes Improve Safety

Narrowing lanes can improve road safety and reclaim space for other uses.

November 13, 2023 - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Straight black asphalt road through forest with colorful fall foliage.

Study: Road Design, Speed Key Factors in Pedestrian Deaths

A recent study emphasizes the importance of good road design and low speed limits in keeping pedestrians safe.

October 30, 2023 - Streetsblog USA

Worker in yellow safety suit holding up orange SLOW sign on road

Reforms Are Coming to American Road Design

The federal manual governing road design is getting an update. Will it encourage real progress toward road safety?

August 16, 2023 - National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)

Cars on highway in Colorado with snow-capped mountains in background

How Vehicle Ownership Impacts Roadway Design

New research assesses the potential implications of reduced car ownership on the design of roads and communities.

February 21, 2023 - The Washington Post

Pedestrians in zebra crosswalk with green bike lane in downtown Seattle, Washington with three-story brick building in background

Washington Focuses Road Safety Efforts on Individuals, Neglecting Design

Legislative efforts to reduce traffic deaths could move the needle toward Vision Zero, but state leaders failed to commit infrastructure funds to making structural improvements.

February 1, 2023 - The Urbanist

Two-lane street with pedestrian crossing island

What Is a Road Diet?

A road diet ‘trims down’ multilane roadways by reallocating street space to uses other than car traffic, improving safety for pedestrians, encouraging multimodal travel, and enhancing overall livability.

January 9, 2023 - Diana Ionescu

Woonerf street with no curbs and trees in Lodz, Poland

What Is a Woonerf?

The woonerf, a type of road design that encourages multimodal transportation and blends pedestrian and vehicle space, was born as a reaction to the car-centric development that began dominating American and European city planning in the mid-twentieth century.

October 5, 2022 - Diana Ionescu

Aerial view of I-10 junction over swamp near New Orleans, Louisiana

Louisiana Road Safety Plan Highlights Impaired Driving, Reckless Behavior

The plan focuses traffic safety efforts on distracted and impaired driving, seatbelt wearing, and speeding, with a small nod to infrastructural factors.

July 31, 2022 - Plaquemine Post South

Minneapolis Bike Lanes

Touring One of the U.S.’s Best Biking Cities: Minneapolis

The latest Streetfilms release offers an in-person, on-bike tour of Minneapolis.

July 14, 2022 - Streetfilms

walkable street

Walkability Scores Don’t Tell the Whole Story

A new report concludes that common ‘walkability’ measures don’t account for many barriers faced by pedestrians, such as environmental factors and policing.

May 4, 2022 - Streetsblog USA

Portland Street

What Is Automobile Dependency?

Automobile dependency is a term used to describe households who must rely on private vehicles for everyday transportation, often due to a lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure, ineffective or absent public transit options, and sprawl.

May 3, 2022 - Diana Ionescu

View of Capitol building on Pennsylvania Avenue

Three Concepts for a Pennsylvania Avenue Makeover

The Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative seeks to redesign the capital’s most famous thoroughfare to include more park space and pedestrian amenities.

April 29, 2022 - WTOP

Ghost Bike

Opinion: U.S. Must Prioritize Safety for Non-Drivers

The rise in cyclist and pedestrian deaths in the United States points to preventable failures in road design and regulations.

April 24, 2022 - The New York Times

I-84 to I-5 Interstate Freeway in Portland Oregon with Long Exposure Vehicle Traffic Motion

What Is VMT?

A measure of the demand for vehicle travel on public roadways, VMT provides a metric for evaluating the potential impact of road projects and developments and could become an increasingly useful tool for assessing road usage taxes.

March 2, 2022 - Diana Ionescu

 Building in Washington Avenue Historic District

Why a Complete Streets Makeover Went Awry in Philadelphia

The city pulled the plug on a proposed street redesign after community groups criticized the public engagement process for not listening to all local voices.

February 28, 2022 - Bloomberg CityLab

Seattle Downtown

Seattle Rule Change Makes it Easier to Add Crosswalks

Rather than looking at current pedestrian counts, the city will use a newly developed set of 'pedestrian generators' to evaluate the need for new painted crosswalks.

February 24, 2022 - The Urbanist

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.