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Green bicycle lanes: Background, Australian practice and your feedback

Why use coloured bike lanes? Clearly marked bicycle lanes supported by signs and pavement markings are intended to promote an orderly flow of traffic by establishing specific lines of demarcation for bicycles and other vehicles.1 Bike lanes help define road space, provide cyclists with a path free of obstruction, decrease the stress levels of cyclists riding in traffic, encourage cyclists to ride in the correct roadway position and indicate to motorists that cyclists have a right to be on the road. Studies have shown that well designed bicycle facilities encourage appropriate behaviour and reduce the likelihood of crashes.2 Coloured pavements for on-road bicycle lanes are used to: educe the chance of conflict between motor vehicles and bicycles; enhance the visibility and recognition of bicycle lanes; improve cyclist safety in high conflict areas; and increase the skid resistance of the pavement in a critical area for cyclists. The treatment is usually applied to those sections of bicycle lanes, which are frequently crossed by motor vehicles eg. left turn slip lanes.

Evidence base for the use of coloured bicycle lanes

There is good evidence internationally that coloured bicycle lane treatments can reduce the chance of conflict between motor vehicles and bicycles that the safety benefits of coloured treatments can be high. A study conducted in Denmark found that blue painted bicycle lanes at intersections resulted in a 38% decrease in bicycle crashes and 71% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries.³ Forni, Colquhoun and Hasen reported in 1997 a study of the use of coloured surfacing in road layouts in Europe. They found that the colour red is the most commonly used pavement colour for road safety in Europe.⁴ However, colours including yellow and other combination colours have been successfully used to reduce speeds and accidents.⁴ The study suggested adopting green coloured surfacing for schemes that aim to identify sections of road for use by certain vehicles such as buses or bicycles.⁴

A Victorian trial⁵ conducted by VicRoads in June 2001 to evaluate motorists' and cyclists' understanding of the use of coloured bicycle lanes has yielded positive results. The trial did not attempt to compare the use of one colour against another. However, the results of the evaluation demonstrated that the use of coloured bike lanes was generally accepted by both cyclists and motorists, that cyclists perceived the colour increased their safety, and that the treatment should be used in other bike lanes, especially in high conflict areas.

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Limitations to using coloured pavement

European experience has shown that coloured surfacing in heavily trafficked locations discolour and the scheme benefits might diminish after the first 6 to 12 months.⁴ Another problem is the difficulty in matching the colour when reinstatement is carried out after trenching works.

Colour does not show up well on a wet road at night, or under low pressure sodium lighting or headlights. However, its performance under night time driving conditions can be improved by combining it with selective road lighting measures.⁴

Forni and others point out that some 5% to 9% of the driving population in UK suffer from poor interpretation of colour.⁴ It is likely that this (particularly red green colour blindness) will also be a consideration in Australia. Consequently, the full benefits of colour treatments may not be achieved for a small proportion of the driving and cycling population.

There is also the issue of skid resistance which may need to be explored further in relation to coloured treatments generally.

Australian regulations and recommendations

There are currently no specific references to the use of contrasting colour/pavement materials in bicycle lanes in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Queensland (MUTCD Qld) or its equivalent in other states. However bicycle lane colouration is recognised in Austroads Guide to Traffic Engineering Practice Part 14 Bicycles⁶ (Austroads Part 14) and is used throughout Australia and overseas. Austroads Part 14 does not specify a particular colour but the use of coloured (and possibly textured) pavement treatments is recommended:

• in the storage and stand-up lane area to discourage encroachment by motor
  traffic if the volume of cyclists is high⁷

• to highlight the position of bicycle lanes where provisions for cyclists
  exist at intersections but safety problems continue to be a problem.⁸

Austroads Part 14 raises the importance of adopting a nationally consistent coloured and/or textured pavement surface in Australia. The Austroads Traffic Management Reference Group (TMRG) decided in August 2003 to reserve the colour green for bicycle use. The also noted the need for further work in the Australian context on where to use green bike lanes, which materials to use, slip resistance, longevity and other practice issues.

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Current practice

ACT: In Canberra, on-road cycle lanes on arterial roads are an integral component in the movement of traffic within the city. These facilities are primarily used by commuter and experienced cyclists during peak hours.

Green pavement marking has been placed to improve the visibility of cycle lanes at potential conflict points. The main application to date has been on cycle lanes where they cross entry and exit lanes on arterial roads.

It was important when green pavement on cycle lanes was introduced that the motoring public were made aware of how to react to this new treatment. To increase cycle lane awareness, a television advertisement was screened on commercial channels for a period of time after the green pavements were installed. You can download the transcript here. Supporting the television commercial in raising awareness were radio talk back segments and a number of newspaper advertisements (for an example, click here).

Consideration has been given to re-running the television commercial each time additional green cycling lanes are installed to increase the community's awareness of these markings.

NSW: The New South Wales' Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) have adopted green as their preferred colour for bike lane treatments (and red for bus lanes). Currently all proposals for coloured bike lanes in NSW must be submitted to the General Manager Bicycle Network in the RTA for approval. Their specifications state that:

Cycle ways must be an approximate match to any one of the following standard green colours in accordance with Australian Standard AS 2700 S 1996: G13 Emerald, G16 Traffic green, or G23 Shamrock. Approximate match of colour shall be determined in accordance with AS/NZS1580.601.1.

NT: Off-road cycle paths are provided along most arterial roads in the main urban centres of the Northern Territory. For on-road cycling provisions, the NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment (DIPE) has adopted a policy of not marking exclusive bicycle lanes on arterial roads unless the available road space exceeds the desirable minimum of 1.5 m. Of the few arterial roads which do not have an off-road facility, there are no provisions for cyclists which exceed the desirable minimum width, therefore, these facilities are treated as un-marked wide kerbside lanes. However, the DIPE supports a nationally consistent approach to cycle lane marking and will consider the benefits and interstate practices of green bicycle lane marking in any future developments which incorporate on-road cycle facilities on arterial roads.

QLD: Queensland's Traffic Management Practices Committee (TMPC) recently endorsed green as the standard colour in Queensland for coloured bicycle lane treatments based on a trial of G27 Homebush Green colouring by Brisbane City Council (BCC) at a number of locations. BCC chose Homebush Green because it is highly visible, not used for any other pavement application and is consistent with NSW. Feedback to Brisbane City Council on their treated intersections has been overwhelmingly positive. Motorists know where to expect to see cyclists on the road, and cyclists clearly understand the portion of road allocated to their use. There were no reported accidents at any of the treated locations at the time of writing. They intend installing further coloured treatments at potential conflict points on other high use bicycle facilities in Brisbane over the next few years.

SA: Transport SA have adopted Emerald green as the colour to be used for bicycle lanes in SA. To date there have been several Council instigated trial installations within metropolitan Adelaide. The operational effectiveness of the installations and the durability of the different products used are being monitored prior to further installations.

VIC: Victoria has in principle adopted green as the colour for marking bicycle lanes where the extra conspicuity provided by coloured surface treatments is required. G13 Emerald Green is the preferred colour for any new installations, with G13 Traffic Green or G23 Shamrock nominated as possible alternatives provided a consistent colour is used in any given locality. A VicRoads Cycle Note providing further guidance on the use coloured surface treatments for bicycle lanes is in course of preparation.

WA: In June 2003, Western Australia's Department of Infrastructure and Planning decided to support the adoption of green "for application in situations of likely conflict with motor vehicles or for new and exclusive initiatives such as head start facilities at signalised intersections".

Bibliography

1 David L. Harkey and J. Richard Stewart (1996), "Evaluation of Shared-Use Facilities for Bicycle and Motor Vehicles in Florida," ProBike ProWalk 96 Resource Book, p103.

2 Federal Highway Administration (1991), Safety Effectiveness of Highway Design Features, Volume VI, Pedestrians and Bicyclists, FW-RD-91-049.

3 Soren Underlien Jensen, Karina Vestergaard Andersen and Erling Dan Nielsen (1997), "Junctions and cyclists" paper presented at Velo-City Conference.

4 Jon F Forni, Thorburn Colquhoun and David Hasen (1997), The Use of Coloured Surfacing in Road Layout, Traffic Management and Road Safety, European Transport Forum Annual Meeting, 1-5 September.

5 Results tabled at Australian Bicycle Council Meeting (2002) 10, 15 March 2002, Agenda Item 6g.

6 Austroads (1999), Guide to Traffic Engineering Practice: Part 14 Bicycles, Austroads, Sydney

7 Austroads Part 14, Section 5.4.2.3

8 Austroads Part 14, Section 9.7

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Last Updated: 17 August 2010.