Infrastructure for active transportation refers to the physical facilities designed to support and encourage non-motorized modes of travel, primarily walking and cycling. This infrastructure aims to create safe, comfortable, and convenient routes for people to move around their communities.
Mixing bikes, pedestrians, and cars can be dangerous. Protected lanes, paths and sidewalks make sure everyone has their own space to travel safely. Cyclists can worry less about cars, and pedestrians don’t have to worry about bikes or vehicles getting too close and endangering them.
When sidewalks are inviting and bike lanes feel safe, more people want to use them. Families, kids, commuters—everyone is more likely to walk or bike when they feel protected from traffic.
Streets and roads aren’t just for cars—they’re for everyone. Protected infrastructure makes sure cyclists and pedestrians get safe and equal spaces to travel, just like drivers do.
Streets with safe bike lanes and walkways are quieter, cleaner, and more enjoyable. You’ll see more people outside walking, biking, and enjoying their community, which can make neighborhoods feel more connected and friendly.
Walking and biking are pollution-free! If more people choose these options instead of driving, there’s less air pollution, which means cleaner air and a healthier planet for everyone.
Research conducted in 2019 revealed that cities with protected bike lanes experienced 44% fewer fatalities for all road users and 50% fewer serious injuries compared to average cities
– People for Bikes
A bike path is non-motorized facility, paved or unpaved, physically separated from motorized vehicular traffic by an open space or barrier. It can also be called a Bike Trail, Non-motorized Trail, Multi-purpose Trail or some combination thereof.
A portion of a roadway that is designated by striping, signing and pavement markings for the preferential or exclusive use of bicyclists. Most often these are done in couplets, each one being one way and adjacent to the outside through travel lane.
A segment of road designated by the jurisdiction having authority, with appropriate directional and informational markers, but without striping, signing and pavement markings for the preferential or exclusive use of bicyclists.
On a roadway or street that is too narrow to implement a bike lane, sharrows are used to designate that cyclists may use the full lane. This allows cyclists to travel safely in the middle of the lane and not be forced to share the lane with cars. Sharing the lane with cars puts the cyclist dangerously close to passing traffic and forces the cyclist to ride in the door zone of parked cars.
Sharrows are symbols painted in the middle of the right-hand travel lane featuring a bike with two chevrons above it. Sharrows should be accompanied by a “BIKES MAY USE FULL LANE” sign along the side of the street or roadway. Cyclists are advised to ride in the middle of the lane, outside of the dangerous door zone, and safely away from traffic passing on the left. In a sharrow zone, motorists must treat cyclists like slow-moving traffic and merge to the left lane to pass cyclists in the sharrow lane.
A bikeway for the exclusive use of bicycles and includes a separation required between the separated bikeway and the through vehicular traffic. The separation may include, but is not limited to, grade separation, flexible posts, inflexible posts, inflexible barriers, or on-street parking.
A modern roundabout is a circular intersection where drivers travel counterclockwise around a center island. There are no traffic signals or stop signs in a modern roundabout. Drivers yield at entry to traffic in the roundabout, then enter the intersection and exit at their desired street. Studies by the Federal Highway Administration have found that roundabouts can increase traffic capacity by 30 percent to 50 percent compared to traditional intersections.
Roundabouts can be intimidating to novice cyclists and to any cyclist who is unfamiliar with them. While they’ve been used in Europe for decades and are gaining popularity around the US, roundabouts are somewhat new to Encinitas.
A cyclist should approach roundabouts just as a motorist does. If you are riding in a bike lane and approaching a roundabout, look over your shoulder to determine if there are cars coming up behind you. Once you’ve confirmed that it is safe to merge into the travel lane, signal your merge and move into the center of the travel lane 50-100’ before the roundabout. At that point you will act just as a motorist. Yield to any traffic coming from the left when entering the roundabout and continue in the middle of the lane until it is time for you to exit at your desired street.
While you do have the same rights as motorists, exercise caution while riding in the roundabout. Motorists, especially those not familiar with roundabouts, can be distracted and focused on other traffic entering and exiting. Distracted motorists can often look right through a cyclist at traffic beyond them.
Roundabouts are located on Santa Fe Dr and Devonshire, Leucadia Blvd and both Hermes and Hymettus Ave. There is also a roundabout on the 101 on the north side of Carlsbad.
At the head of all lanes at an intersection, there are loop sensors buried in the street. These electromagnetic sensors detect when a car or bicycle is at the intersection and will trigger the traffic signal to turn green.
To get the detector to work properly, you need to position your bike over the loop, which unfortunately can be sometimes difficult to see. Many of the loops serve both bikes and motor vehicles. These are commonly circles with a diagonal line running through them. For this style place you bike across the diagonal line at a 45 degree angle. If it is just a circle…with no diagonal…place your bike across the edge of the loop. See diagram below.
While these sensors should be set to detect both cars and bicycles, sometimes the sensitivity is not set to detect bicycles. If you come across a sensor that doesn’t detect a bicycle, you can notify the Encinitas city traffic dept. They can then adjust it.
A Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) is a safety measure used to enhance pedestrian visibility and increase driver awareness at uncontrolled, marked crosswalks. RRFBs are rectangular-shaped, LED-based yellow lights that flash at high frequency when activated, making crossing pedestrians more conspicuous to drivers. These beacons are especially effective at multilane crossings with speed limits under 40 mph and can achieve motorist yielding rates of up to 98%, though effectiveness varies by location, speed, and road type.
RRFBs are installed on both sides of a crosswalk beneath pedestrian warning signs and above directional arrows pointing to the crossing. They can be activated by pushbuttons or passive detection and remain unlit when not in use. RRFBs are versatile and can also be used at school zones or trail crossings.
