Hosted on Thursday, September 14, 2023

Presented by Peter Furth, PhD Professor of Civil Engineering at Northeastern University.

This webinar introduces the concept of Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) — an objective measurement that engineers, planners, and advocates can use to determine how comfortable a design will likely be in a given context, and the type of riders likely to use it. Building comfortable bike infrastructure is key to increasing ridership, especially among less-confident riders. But how do you know if a proposed bike lane, shared street, or other design will be comfortable and yield the ridership you want? Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) provides an objective measurement that engineers, planners, and advocates can use to determine how comfortable a design will be in a given context and the type of riders likely to use it.

More about Peter Furth: 

Peter G. Furth is a researcher and professor at Northeastern University known for his work in transit planning, traffic signals, and bicycle infrastructure. Furth is also considered an expert on Dutch cycling policy and history. He has a BS, MS and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has authored over 70 publications in the transportation research field. He was a contributing author to the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, and has received the best paper award from the Transportation Research Board three times, most recently in 2023. He is also the recipient of ITE’s education innovation award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals for his work on Level of Traffic Stress.

Additional Resources: