Edge lane roads (ELR), also known as advisory bike lanes, are shared streets in which two-way traffic share a single center lane, and edge lanes on either side are generally reserved for vulnerable road users. TRB hosted a webinar on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 that presented safety applications of ELRs. These applications include their potential use as a town’s main street, as an on-street connector for a shared use trail, and as a countermeasure for road-departure crashes on low-volume roads. Presenters discussed research that explore the safety of ELRs versus that of standard two-lane roads.

This webinar was sponsored by the TRB Standing Technical Committees on Bicycle Transportation, Pedestrians, and Human Factors of Infrastructure Design and Operations.

The slides and recording are available. 

Webinar agenda and presenters

1. Novel applications of ELRs: Tom Kassmel, Town of Vail, CO and Laura Parsons, City of Port Townsend, WA
2. Safety research on ELRs: Michael Williams, Michael Williams Company
3. Question and answer session: Moderated by Michael Williams, Michael Williams Company

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Identify potential applications of ELRs
2. Discuss safety research about ELRs

In 2021, speaker Michael Williams was a guest with the Active Towns podcast and a video is available.

Professional Development Hours

This webinar was delivered as a scheduled – e-learning live event and is categorized within RCEP as Technical, Health and Safety.

Professional Development Hours (PDHs) earned on completion of this program were reported to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Certificates of Completion are issued to all participants via the RCEP.net online system. Complaints about registered providers may be addressed to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Fl., Washington, DC, 20005.