Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Bicycling

The Dutch’s Beloved Bikeway Design Manual Just Got an Update

A bike-friendly roundabout in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland, used with permission.

If street design guides were musical acts, the CROW Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic would be an underground indie rap group. Deeply (almost obnoxiously) beloved by its followers, it's nearly unknown to the American mainstream.

But word of mouth has made the main guide to Dutch bikeway engineering a critical darling, at least among the nation's hipper street designers. And after a 10-year hiatus, its latest edition dropped in January.

The CROW manual's new edition integrates a decade of updates to the Netherlands' best practices in bikeways, including new suggestions for bike-friendly roundabouts and top-quality off-street paths. It runs 300 pages and is available to order online for €129 plus tax, or $147. (It may help to use a Chrome browser to translate the order page; you can also email CROW with English-language questions at verkoop@crow.nl.)

Many concepts in the manual aren't legal or directly applicable on U.S. streets, of course. (For manuals that offer various levels of detail for the U.S. context, see these guides from NACTO, the Massachussetts Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.) But Dutch know-how about lane widths, curb heights, turning radii and other details are still useful to U.S. street engineers working to make their projects as bike-friendly as possible.

No country has a monopoly on good ideas for making biking universally appealing. But the Netherlands is the world's largest exporter of good bike infrastructure concepts. It's easy to see why.

Jodenbreestraat, Amsterdam.

PlacesForBikes is a PeopleForBikes program to help U.S. communities build better biking, faster. You can follow them on Twitter or Facebook or sign up for their weekly news digest about building all-ages biking networks.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Tuesday’s Headlines Show Elections Have Consequences

"Woke" transit agencies need not apply for federal grants now that father of nine Sean Duffy is in charge.

May 20, 2025

Should We Treat the Local Bus As a Basic Right?

There's a way of framing public transit that makes the bus a useful mobility tool for everyone: as a moving extension of the sidewalk network.

May 20, 2025

Car Harms Monday: Machines Took Over Cities and Left Humans in the Dust

There isn't enough physical space for every single household to store its fleet of personal vehicles in front of the home, nor is there space for everyone to drive at the same time. So let's fix that.

May 19, 2025

What Are University Transportation Centers — And Why Did Secretary Duffy Decimate Their Budgets?

University Transportation Centers are "where innovation happens." Earlier this month, though, the Trump administration took a sledgehammer to their budgets.

May 19, 2025

Monday’s Big, Beautiful Headlines

Ride-hailing and delivery apps are backing the Republican reconciliation bill because it includes a tax exemption for drivers' tips.

May 19, 2025
See all posts