Good Reads--My reference shelf

These are reports or books I have found useful in my work with the Non-Motorized Travel Advisory Council (NMTAC). I'm a retired librarian. Forgive me, I can't help myself from recommending these to all NMTAC members, City and County staff, and others interested in improving the safety and convenience of bicycling and walking in Helena.

The plans, from Portland, Minneapolis, Oregon, and so forth, represent the best current thinking in designing for safe and convenient bike and pedestrian transportation. Helena may not have millions of people or dollars, but the process, the design and engineering disciplines represented by these reports can and should inform our progress.

• Portland Bicycle Plan For 2030. Prepared by a steering committee, with consultants Mia Birk, Alta Planning + Design and the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation. Adopted by Portland's City Council February 2010. PDF file.
• Minneapolis Draft Bicycle Master Plan (August 2010). Updates the 2001 Bicycle Master Plan. PDF file.
• Berkeley Pedestrian Master Plan. PDF.
• Bicycling in Berkeley (including links to bike plan) PDF.

Helena’s Transportation Plan includes a Chapter 6: Non-Motorized Transportation, which in 2004 was written to guide the City and County.

• Greater Helena Area Transportation Plan - 2004 Update (especially Chapter 6: Non-Motorized Transportation). PDF file.

Other Montana communities have developed bicycle and pedestrian programs.

• Bozeman Web site.
• Billings Web site.
• Missoula in Motion, Missoula Bicycle / Pedestrian Program Two web sites.

Mia Birk's book, available soon at Big Sky Cyclery, is an often amusing, always inspiring account of her time in Portland, Oregon’s, during the early days of Portland's becoming ‘a world-class bicycling city.’

• Birk, Mia. Joyride: Pedaling Toward A Healthier Planet (book, available at Big Sky Cycles or Amazon.com)
• Mia Birk, Alta Planning + Design and the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation. Web site.

Oregon’s statewide plan includes lots of very clear descriptions of engineering standards and can be a useful surrogate for the discipline's gold-standard AASHTO Bicycle Guide and AASHTO Pedestrian Guide. PDFs.

I will update this list with your suggestions.