Now that you know who NACTO is, we can tell you what they've been up to. NACTO has just publicly released their Urban Bikeway Design Guide in both web and PDF form.

The NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide is intended to help practitioners make good decisions about urban bikeway design. The treatments outlined in the Guide are based on real-life experience in the world's most bicycle friendly cities and have been selected because of their utility in helping cities meet their goals related to bicycle transportation.

The guide is a culmination of international data collected from areas as far-flung as Austin, Baltimore, Copenhagen, Portland, the Netherlands and others. It covers Bike Lanes, Cycle Tracks, Intersections, Signals, and Signage & Markings broken down into three levels of guidance: Required, Recommended and Optional. There is tons, and I mean tons of information in the report, all well-illustrated with images, renderings and diagrams. Anyone interested in urban planning and cycling should avail themselves of this painstakingly compiled and completely free document. The PDF, thrown onto your iPad, will provide hours of interesting reading.