View source for Draft document of rankings (updated on 7 December 2010)

Hierarchy of Cycle Route Constructs and Markings, Ranked by Degree of Safety
for 
Cyclists Making Purposeful Trips on the North Shore 


1.Separated bike lane or path for traveling in one direction (e.g. Burrard Bridge, Vancouver)

2.Separated bike lane or path for traveling in two directions (e.g. Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver)

3.Standard marked bike lane with a width of 1.2 - 1.5m or wider filled in with coloured (green) paint (e.g. Kelowna, B.C. -  http://www.kelowna.ca/CM/Page2732.aspx and San Fransisco - http://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/05/10/san-francisco-gets-its-first-green-bike-lanes-on-market-street/ and http://ibikenopa.blogspot.com/2010/05/san-franciscos-first-green-bike-lane.html)

4.Standard marked bike lane with a width of 1.2 - 1.5m or wider (e.g. Lower Road, North Vancouver)

5.Narrow (less than 1.2m wide) marked bike lane filled in with coloured (green) paint

6.Narrow (less than 1.2m wide) marked bike lane (e.g. West Georgia Street, Vancouver )

7.Paved shoulder signed for cycling (e.g. Highway 99 West of Capilano River)

8.4.3m wide shared lane with painted sharrows and a painted green lane in the middle for single file traffic (e.g. north side of 13th Street between Lonsdale and Chesterfield Avenues,  North Vancouver. Also, Long Beach, California -  http://laist.com/2009/06/29/long_beach_launches_bicycle_sharrow.php)

9.Shared-use, single-file sharrows on a traffic lane too narrow to accommodate side by side shared bicycle/motor vehicle traffic

10.One-way multi-use paved pathway with a division to separate cyclists and pedestrians (e.g. Stanley Park Sea Wall)

Notes:

1.All bike lanes or paths listed are assumed to be paved.  Unpaved bike paths would rank one level lower than the paved ones in the hierarchy.

2.Bike lanes alongside parked cars would rank one level lower in the hierarchy than bike lanes with no parked cars.

11. One-way multi-use paved pathway with no division to separate cyclists and pedestrians (e.g. Lions Gate Bridge and Stanley Park Causeway)

12. Two-way multi-use paved pathway with a division to separate cyclists and pedestrians (e.g. Coal Harbour, Vancouver)

13. Two-way multi-use paved pathway with no division to separate cyclists and pedestrians (e.g. Spirit Trail and approaches to Lions Gate Bridge in West Vancouver)

14. Marked bicycle route with no bike lanes but traffic calming features and/or cyclist activated traffic signals and/or painted bike decals on the road surface (e.g. West Pender Street and Cypress Street bikeway Vancouver)

15. 4.3m wide lane marked with painted sharrows for shared side by side bicycle/motor vehicle traffic (e.g. Marine Drive from McKay Road to Capilano Road in the District of North Vancouver and between 11th and 13th Streets in West Vancouver)

16. Marked bike route with no bike lanes or traffic calming features (e.g. east-west bicycle route in West Vancouver, north of Marine Drive) 

17. Un-marked bike routes (e.g. those shown on the map of the West Vancouver Cycling Network and Greenway Plan, including Marine Drive, west of 13th Street)