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Safer Roadways: A Complete Streets Guide
and 11–12 feet when configured curbside or in transitway adjacent to an opposing lane of bus traffic. 39 On-street parking may be allowed depending on roadway design, especially with bus lanes located in the center of the street. A mixed-flow lane or on-street parking may be displaced; this is preferable to adding a lane to an already wide roadway, which increases the crossing distance for pedestrians and creates other problems and concerns. Within a mixed-flow lane, the roadway can be delineated by striping and signs. High-occupancy vehicles and/or bicycles may be permitted to use bus lanes. Pedestrian access to stations becomes an issue when bus lanes are located in roadway medians. In general, it is recommended to provide bays for buses to pull out of traffic in suburban contexts with high levels of motorized vehicles. During peak hours, it can be difficult for operators to merge back into traffic. Given that signals can create gaps in traffic, placement of stops on the far side of a signal can be an effective mitigation strategy to address this issue. In the more urban environments Urban General (C4), Suburban Town (C3T), Suburban Residential (C3R), it is common and preferred that a transit vehicle stops in the travel lane, particularly where there are multiple travel lanes. Further, provision of a pull-off lane often will diminish greenspace and on-street parking areas. In particularly congested corridors, the provision of pull-offs at strategic locations along a corridor can be helpful to allow any queue of vehicles following a bus to pass it at select locations. If a pull-off is not desired, a similar effect can be produced by allowing transit buses to stop within right-turn lanes. In these cases, the bus would also have to get back into traffic in a potentially congested setting. Future Fixed Route Transit Hillsborough County’s successful growth will rely on new ways of transporting the greatest number of people on the existing and new transportation networks to provide local and regional connectivity to activity centers within and beyond Hillsborough County. The following highlights a couple of transformative transit services that will need advanced planning. Prior to any milling, resurfacing or reconstruction of Hillsborough County streets that may ultimately be served by any of the future transit services, planners and engineers should consult and coordinate for the appropriate stops, stations, pedestrian, and bicycle connectivity needs appropriate for the corridor. As higher levels of people walking or riding to these service routes will result, the appropriate safety countermeasures will be needed.
39 NACTO Transit Street Design Guide, https://nacto.org/publication/transit-street-design-guide/transit-lanes- transitways/lane-design-controls/vehicle-widths-buffers/
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