Plans for 2008

• Finalized the National Corridor Plan within the Task Force in January. Changes and edits to the plan are reviewed periodically.
• Documented existing possible designation systems for U.S. Bicycle Routes. Mapped and evaluated five possible options. The Task Force then ranked each system on how logical the system was for assigning designations and how it accommodated future expansion. The two-digit number system ranked highest and is what the Task Force is recommending for adoption. You can view the four other systems that we reviewed which included numeric, alphabetical, alphanumeric and named corridors.
• The Corridor Plan went through multiple AASHTO committee and subcommittee reviews. These included the Subcommittee on Traffic Engineering, the Technical Committee on Geometric Design, the Subcommittee on Design, the Technical Committee on Nonmotorized Transportation, and at the overseeing Standing Committee on Highways.
• The Corridor Plan was approved by the Executive Board of Directors at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in October 2008.
• The Task Force will revise the official AASHTO application used to process bicycle route implementation requests from states.

Review of 2007
The USBRS project and draft corridor plan were presented to numerous groups (listed below) throughout the year. Their input was reviewed and then integrated into the final version.

• AASHTO Annual Meeting & Standing Committee on Highways (SCOH)
• AASHTO Technical Committee on Geometric Design (Green Book committee)
• State Bike/Ped Coordinators Meeting/California APBP Meeting
• State Bike/Ped Coordinators Conference Call Meeting
• AASHTO Subcommittee on Traffic Engineering (SCOTE) & Technical Committee on Nonmotorized Transportation

National Bike Summit

• Task force members reviewed the project and worked on development of a communication plan for eventual implementation

• Jean Francois Provonost of Velo Quebec presented on the grand opening of La Route Verte System that spans Quebec Province

• Regional and country-wide cycling networks making significant contributions to mode shifts and economic development benefits were highlighted

• A Congressional Roundtable on bicycle tourism and recreation was hosted by Congressmen Peter DeFazio and John Duncan (the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit). Jim Sayer, Executive Director at Adventure Cycling, provided these Members of Congress and their subcommittee staff with background on the U.S. Bicycle Route System project and emphasized AASHTO’s critical role in bringing the project this far.

Draft Corridor Plan – versions 1-9
The second phase of the Task Force’s plan is to develop recommended corridors to comprise a logical national system (see the USBRS Fact Sheet for more information). The Task Force began that process by utilizing the data from the Inventory Report of existing and proposed Bicycle Routes and by formulating corridors based upon the Corridor Criteria developed by the Task Force in 2006. Information was also sought from state and local transportation agencies, bicycle and trail advocates and many others. Initially, the corridor plan was a dense collection of all possible corridors. Through a review process within the Task Force, important corridors were prioritized and then the plan was reviewed by AASHTO subcommittees in 2007. Additions and revisions were made based upon these reviews.

The corridor plan provides the basis for states to propose the designation of U.S. bicycle routes. The selection of specific paths, roads, and highways will be left to each state DOT, working with other agencies and organizations. For an overview of the proposed corridors please look at the Corridor Plan map or review how the plan was developed.

January 2006
U.S. Route Inventory Report - Complete
Adventure Cycling took the lead in accumulating the data that completed the first phase of the Task Force’s plan. The first phase was: to collect, compile, and review information on existing and proposed multi-state bicycle routes designated by states, local jurisdictions, and other groups such as Adventure Cycling Association (ACA), the East Coast Greenway Alliance, and the Mississippi River Trail. Read this report and see compilation of bike routes and trails on a U.S. map. You may also wan to look at the specific data on state bicycle routes collected for the report and map as well as the data for trails.