Looking for a handy handbook on cycling? We’ve found some of the best freely available ones, saving you from ceaseless searches.
Sieving through the endless sheets of information on cycling can be overwhelming.
If you’re looking for condensed articles with only the juicy bits included, then look no further than our pieces on cycling. We’ve read these guides and spoken to many the authors, so you don’t have to.
If more detail or a behind the scenes peek is what you are hankering for, then below is a list of some of the major freely available English handbooks. This covers both general and specific guides: given the range of topics cycling encompasses, many deserve their own dedicated handbooks.
Guides to Cycling
General Guides
- PRESTO’s four handbooks on cycling: General Framework, Infrastructure, Promotion and Pedelecs. Whilst rather dated (2010), this EU project still stands as the most comprehensive policy guide and features additional smaller fact sheets within each topic.
- MOBILE2020’s general handbook gives a very detailed account. It’s slightly more up to date than the PRESTO guides (written in 2012), but it is less readable.
- The EU Commission’s Mobility and Transport webpage on cycling provides an overview of various cycling sub-topics.
- MIMOSA’s “Ingredients of Success” provides a more generic account of the key ingredients that drive cycling change.
Cycle Tracks
- Transport for London’s “Cycling Design Standards”
- Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s “Separated Bike Lane Guide”
- Cambridge Cycling’s “Making Space for Cycling” in newly developed areas
Intersections
- NACTO’s “Urban Street Design Guide”
- The Cycling Embassy of Denmark’s “Intersection Solutions”
Campaigning
- EU project CARMA’s handbook on how to market cycling campaigns professionally
- The London Cycling Campaign’s handbook on building a cycling campaign
Inclusive Cycling
- Wheels for Wellbeing’s handbook on making cycling accessible for Disabled people
- BYCS and the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s report on Cycling Cities for Infants, Toddlers and Caregivers
Bike Sharing Schemes
- EU project VeloCitta’s resources on bike sharing
- EU project OBIS’s thorough handbook on bike sharing
- EU project SpiCycle’s recommendations on bike sharing
Cycle Highways
- EU project CHIPS website on cycle highways
Courses
Urban Mobility offers a series of free short online courses that help you redesign a street to make it more bike-, socially-, and environmentally friendly. They are primarily aimed at urban planners and policy-makers but are accessible enough for anyone with an interest in urbanism and mobility to participate. Modules include training in web-based apps that visualise your street’s potential, communicating your ideas, and understanding cycling culture as to provide an engaging end result for cyclists.