Bicycle Signal commentary and TRB 2013

On the APBP listserv, someone inquired about why Bicycle Signals are not covered in the MUTCD. I am not going to defend the folks on the National Committee other than to acknowledge that they tend toward state DOT issues (higher speed facilities, less multimodal, etc).  The MUTCD will always be important to us, but the NACTO Bike Guide does a reasonable job on the topic, so one could pose the question of whether we need a state DOT focused manual to cover the topic.  

Our bike signals in Portland (we have 16) are varied and diverse, so there's a bit of science to it and our colleagues at PSU are doing some research with us that will be presented at TRB.

There are some details that need to be sorted out and there is a lot we can learn from Europe. Here's one blog post that I raise a few questions about variations of the displays you see in the Netherlands.