This is a tricky subject. It’s great to be able to sit down and read a blog about a particular topic and not have to have a dictionary by the side. At the same time, it can be really hard to discuss things without becoming too wonky. As the number of posts has grown, it has become a bit evident that a glossary of more common terms is probably a good addition to the site. Though the discussions are aimed to be understood by anyone, there’s no escaping the various nuances of laws, regulations, and technical jargon that might indeed be alien or look like a collection of alphabet soup. This is where that soup gets condensed into its bare essence. This will be divided into two sections: acronyms and terms. The division is perhaps not necessary, but does smooth things out a little.
Acronyms & Abbreviations
BD – bicycle driving (advocate); term used by some to differentiate themselves from VC advocates
BMUFL – Bike May Use Full Lane; abbreviation of MUTCD sign R4-11
CEQA – California Environmental Quality Act
CVAG – Coachella Valley Association of Governments
CVC – California Vehicular Code
HDM – Highway Design Manual
LACMTA – Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority; agency in charge of transit services (both bus and rail), planning, and administration of Measure R funds for Los Angeles County
LOS – Level of Service
MARTA – Mountain Area Regional Transit Authority, provider of transit services to the communities of the San Bernardino Mountains
MUTCD – Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Device
NACTO – National Association of City Transport Officials
NEPA – National Environmental Policy Act
NLs – The Netherlands
OCTA – Orange County Transit Authority
PET – Pacific-Electric Trail
RCTC – Riverside County Transportation Commission
RRDV – Rules of the Road as/(for) Drivers of Vehicles
RTA – Riverside Transit Agency, provider of bus services for the western Riverside County cities and communities
SanBAG – San Bernardino Associated Governments, agency in charge of planning and administering Measure I funds within San Bernardino County
SART – Santa Ana River Trail (& Parkway)
SRTS – Safe Routes to School
USDG -Urban Streets Design Guide
VC(er) – vehicular cycling (advocate)
VVTA – Victor Valley Transit Authority, provider of transit services to the High Desert
WRCOG – Western Riverside Council of Governments
Terms
cycletrack – literal translation of “fietspad”, but generally only means a “protected bike lane” in the Anglophone world
fietspad – Dutch word for a bikeway that is separate from motorized traffic
lane control – riding in a manner whereby other road users typically cannot pass a bicyclist within the same lane
n-lane road – used to describe the size of a roadway; includes both travel directions
Omni – Omnitrans, transit provider for San Bernardino Valley portion of San Bernardino County
protected bike lane – a bike lane where some sort of physical barrier (e.g. parked cars, curb, armadillos) is between the bikeway and vehicular traffic
road diet – a conversion of existing street space to add dedicated turn/center, bike, bus, etc. lanes by removing general purpose lanes, typically on a 4-lane road
sharrow – used to denote areas where BMUFL
iNLand fIEts 