The CABO 6E Policy was adopted in September 2013, modified October 2020
People, regardless of their race, age, gender orientation, income, or bicycling experience, should have the same rights and responsibilities for fair and equitable treatment as other responsible road users. The basis for these rights and responsibilities can be expressed through a six Es (6E) approach that CABO supports:
• Equality/Equity –Traffic laws: should provide for freedom of movement by bicycle with access to all public roads for all persons in the application of these six Es.
• Engineering – Transportation: road and Bikeway development: design, construction, mobility, and funding sources
• Enforcement – Police and Courts: Equitable treatment of all people using public roadways whether bicycling or motoring through appropriate enforcement encounters, citations, penalties, punishment, and trials
• Education – Schools and public agencies and organizations: Bicycling education provided by trained bicycling educators for children and adults, traffic engineers, planners, law enforcement personnel, and legislators
• Encouragement – Public and private agencies: advertising campaigns, promotions, incentives, social engineering, incentives, etc.
• Evaluation – Public agencies: measurement of the effects of the application of these Es using relevant research methods and testing.
More completely explained:
• Equality – The equal legal status and equal treatment of all people bicycling. State traffic laws are best understood and followed when they are fair, equitable, uniform in application, and operator/driver/bicyclist neutral to the greatest extent possible. The ability for all people to access all public destinations by bicycle which are accessible by motor vehicle must be protected. State and local laws that discriminate against bicyclists, that restrict their right to travel individually or in groups, or that reduce their relative safety must be repealed.
• Engineering – Roadways and Bikeways must conform to relevant design standards and allow for safe, legal, and efficient traffic (which includes bicycling) movements. Design, construction, operation, and maintenance of roads and Bikeways must equitably serve all users. Trip endpoint and waypoint facilities, such as parking and signage, must serve bicyclists too.
• Enforcement – All people bicycling (or using other modes of transportation) must be given equal treatment by police and the courts in the education and enforcement of safe travel through the application of applicable traffic laws, in the investigation of crashes, and the imposition of penalties. People bicycling must be viewed as fully equal to other parties (and motorists) in the determination of culpability in crashes, the economic value of injuries, loss of income, or death, and non-economic losses awarded to crash victims. Bicyclists and so-called “vulnerable users” are especially benefited when all roadway and bikeway users operate with the same rules and rights.
• Education – Bicycling training should be based on treating all people bicycling as drivers of bicycles. This type of bicycling is based on the same sound, proven traffic principles governing all drivers and is the lawful, safest, and most efficient way for all cyclists to operate, by making them highly visible and their actions predictable to other road users. Training for those who design roadways and bikeways, those who enforce traffic laws, and those who provide training and education to people who would use bicycles should consider the full range of bicycling behaviors.
• Encouragement – Promotion of bicycling should include that bicycling is a healthy, economic, and environmentally sound method of transportation and recreation. Encouragement may be done via promotional campaigns, incentives for those choosing cycling, and promotion of cycling as a healthy activity. The encouragement should be inclusive for all types, ages, abilities, etc. of people who would use bicycles.
• Evaluation – Evaluation of the other five Es (Equality, Engineering, Enforcement, Education, and Encouragement). Evaluation must involve measurement, analysis, and research, using rigorous and statistically sound methodologies.