09Crosswalks, bike lanes and bus lanes

The short version: In most US states a legal crosswalk exists at every leg of an intersection where sidewalks meet, painted or not, though definitions vary by state; paint mainly makes the crossing visible. Stop lines and rows of white triangles show drivers where to stop or yield. Bike symbols, green paint and boxes at the front of traffic lanes began under federal interim approvals and were folded into the US MUTCD 11th edition (2023), as were red bus lanes. The UK has its own set: zebra crossings with flashing Belisha beacons, zigzags, yellow and red curb lines, and LOOK RIGHT painted at the curb.

What do the different crosswalk patterns mean?

What you see: Two parallel white lines across the street; thick white bars running the same way as traffic; or both together.

The MUTCD says crosswalk markings "shall be white" and sorts them into transverse-line and high-visibility designs.³ In practice there are three common patterns:

A US crosswalk must be at least 6 feet (1.8 m) wide, or 8 feet (2.4 m) at midblock crosswalks where the posted speed is 40 mph (64 km/h) or more (MUTCD Section 3C.03).³

The pattern does not change who has the right of way. It changes how easily a driver sees the crossing. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center gives rough costs of $100 for a two-line crosswalk, $300 for an "international" (bar) crosswalk and $20,000 for patterned concrete.¹⁴⁶

In the US, the word "zebra" is loose shorthand for the bar pattern and carries no special legal meaning. In the UK a zebra is a specific legal device (see below).¹⁵³

Is every intersection a crosswalk, even without paint?

What you see: A corner where two sidewalks meet across a street, with no paint at all.

In most of the US, yes. The Uniform Vehicle Code (2000), Section 1-112, defines a crosswalk at an intersection as the extension of the sidewalk or shoulder across the roadway "regardless of whether it is marked or not." Away from intersections, a midblock crosswalk exists only if it is marked.¹⁵⁴ PBIC puts it this way: an implied crosswalk exists at each leg of signalized and unsignalized intersections unless a sign prohibits crossing, though definitions vary by state.¹⁴⁶

Cities do not paint every crossing, partly because of cost and upkeep and partly because of evidence. Federal guidance came from a study of 1,000 marked and 1,000 unmarked crossings in 30 US cities, published as FHWA-HRT-04-100 in September 2005.¹⁴⁶¹⁵⁴ PBIC recommends that on major roads, especially those carrying more than about 10,000 vehicles a day, markings be paired with other measures rather than used alone.¹⁴⁶ The concern is that paint alone on a wide, fast road can give pedestrians more confidence than driver behavior justifies.

Massachusetts shows how much the wording matters. Its yield law, Massachusetts General Laws chapter 89, section 11, requires drivers to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk "marked in accordance with standards established by the department of highways" where no signals are operating, and the section does not address unmarked crosswalks.¹⁵⁵

What is the thick white line before the crosswalk?

What you see: One thick, solid white line across the lane, a few feet before the crosswalk.

A stop line, or stop bar, shows where to stop for a stop sign or red signal. US stop lines should be 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 cm) wide (MUTCD Section 3B.19).³ Stopping behind it keeps the crosswalk clear and keeps your car over the signal's detector loops, if it has them (see road lines for what the loops look like).

In the UK, a solid stop line goes with a "Stop" sign, at signals or police control, and at level crossings; a double broken line across the lane is a "give way" line.¹³⁰ In Japan, a stop line is paired with the painted word 止まれ (tomare, "stop"), which has the same force as a stop sign.¹³⁷

What are the triangles painted across the road?

What you see: A row of white triangles across the lane, points facing toward you.

A yield line, nicknamed "shark's teeth," marks where to yield: at a yield sign, or before a midblock crosswalk so drivers stop well back and do not hide a pedestrian from the next lane. Under MUTCD Section 3B.19 the triangles are solid white isosceles triangles pointing toward approaching vehicles, with a base of 12 to 24 inches, a height 1.5 times the base, and 3 to 12 inches between them.³

The way to remember the direction: the teeth point at the driver who must yield. The UK uses a double broken give way line for the same job.¹³⁰

What does the bike symbol with arrows on the road mean?

What you see: A bicycle symbol with two chevrons (upside-down V's) above it, painted in an ordinary traffic lane.

That is a shared lane marking, usually called a sharrow. It tells cyclists where to ride in a lane shared with cars, often clear of the door zone of parked cars, and tells drivers to expect bikes. It does not create a bike lane.

Its history: bicycle engineer James Mackay designed a hollow arrow with a cyclist in Denver in the early 1990s; San Francisco later tested it against a French design of chevrons over a bike, and the chevron version became the sharrow. It was added to the MUTCD in 2009.¹⁵⁶ Under the 11th edition (Section 9E.09), sharrows "shall not be used" in bike lanes, bike boxes, two-stage turn boxes, shared-use paths or separated bikeways, and they may not have a green background, though a black one is allowed.¹²⁸

Do sharrows work?

What you see: The same symbol, and arguments about it.

Supporters point to the low cost and the guidance it gives on where to ride. Critics point to the results. A 2016 study by Ferenchak and Marshall of Chicago census block groups found that bike lanes were associated with about 6.5 additional bike commuters per block group, sharrows about 2.1, and no infrastructure about 1.4; injury crashes per 100 commuters fell least in sharrow-only areas.¹⁵⁷

California has since limited them. Senate Bill 1216, approved September 27, 2024, bars new sharrows on highways with a posted speed limit above 30 mph (48 km/h) from January 1, 2025, with an exception at intersections connecting bikeways. The California MUTCD had previously said sharrows "should not be placed on roadways that have a speed limit above 35 mph."¹⁵⁸ Advocates on both sides continue to argue over whether a sharrow is a useful signal or a substitute for a dedicated bike lane; the guide takes no side.

Why are some bike lanes painted green?

What you see: Bright green paint filling a bike lane, or green blocks between dotted lines where a bike lane crosses an intersection or driveway.

Green pavement highlights bike space, mostly at the places where cars and bikes cross paths. For years it was allowed only by request. FHWA Interim Approval IA-14, "Optional use of green colored pavement for bike lanes," was issued April 15, 2011: green could supplement bike lanes and fill between paired dotted lines through intersections, driveways and ramps, but could not replace required lines or symbols, and agencies had to apply and keep an inventory.¹²⁹

A 2017 FHWA status memo still said green could be used only "if the installing jurisdiction has received approval under Interim Approval 14"; that memo was canceled January 18, 2024, superseded by the 11th edition.¹⁵⁹ IA-14 is now terminated and listed among approvals incorporated "in whole or in part" into the 11th edition.¹⁶⁰

Under the 11th edition, green in a crossing extension fills only the area between the dotted lines, and green is not allowed on raised channelizing devices.¹²⁸

In Boston, the city's Better Bike Lanes design page (last updated October 30, 2025) says green markings go "where there is the potential for conflicts between drivers and bicyclists," most often at intersections and driveways, to "alert turning drivers to look for people on bikes." The city also uses green to guide riders into position where they cross Green Line trolley tracks or bridge joints.¹⁶¹

What is the green box at the front of the lane at a traffic light?

What you see: A box across the front of a traffic lane at a light, usually green, with a bike symbol, and the car stop line set back behind it.

An intersection bicycle box, or bike box. At a red light, cyclists wait in front of the cars, where drivers can see them and they get a head start when the light changes. FHWA allowed it under Interim Approval IA-18 on October 12, 2016; that approval has since been terminated and incorporated into the 11th edition.¹⁶⁰

The 11th-edition rules (Section 9E.12): the box is at least 10 feet (3 m) deep between the bike stop line and the car stop line; it has at least one bike symbol; no turn on red is allowed from any lane with a bike box; green, if used, fills the whole box; and boxes spanning several lanes need a pedestrian countdown signal (see signal gear).¹²⁸ For drivers, the practical rule is to stop at the rear line and not turn right on red there.

What is the small box with a bike and an arrow at the corner?

What you see: A small green or white-outlined box with a bike symbol and an arrow, tucked to one side of an intersection, often in the parking lane or beside the crosswalk.

A two-stage bicycle turn box. It lets a cyclist make a left turn (in right-hand traffic) without merging across car lanes: ride straight through on the green, stop in the box and turn the bike to face the cross street, then go when that street gets its green. FHWA allowed it under Interim Approval IA-20 on July 13, 2017, since terminated and incorporated into the 11th edition.¹⁶⁰

Under Section 9E.11 the box has at least one bike symbol and one arrow, a white edge line on all sides, and sits between the bike lane and the through lane or between the bike lane and the crosswalk. No turn on red is allowed where drivers would pass through it, and green, if used, fills the whole box.¹²⁸

Why are some bus lanes painted red?

What you see: A lane painted solid brick red, often with "BUS ONLY" in white letters.

Red pavement marks a transit-only lane so drivers notice it. FHWA Interim Approval IA-22, "Optional use of red-colored pavement for transit lanes," was issued December 4, 2019. Like the bike approvals, it is now terminated and listed among those incorporated "in whole or in part" into the 11th edition.¹⁶⁰ The color makes the lane hard to miss, but the rules about who may use it, and when, are set by the signs.

Not every city uses red. Edinburgh, for example, uses green surfacing for its bus "greenways."¹⁶² For how bus routes and priority work, see How a City Works: transit.

In Boston (more in the Boston section), the city ran a four-week pilot of a morning bus lane on Washington Street in Roslindale, between Roslindale Village and Forest Hills Station, in May 2018 and made it permanent in June 2018; the city says cold weather kept it from painting a later southbound lane red.¹⁶³ The Silver Line's Washington Street corridor in Roxbury and the South End, between Dudley Square and Herald Street, has red bus and bike-only lanes that the city planned to repaint in spring 2020, citing more than 24,000 weekday bus riders.¹⁶⁴

UK zebra crossings and Belisha beacons

What you see: Bold black-and-white stripes across the road, with a flashing amber globe on a black-and-white striped pole at each end.

A UK zebra crossing is a legal device: drivers must give way to pedestrians on it. The beacons came first. Belisha beacons, named for Transport Minister Leslie Hore-Belisha, were introduced under section 18 of the Road Traffic Act 1934.¹⁵³ The crossings they marked were then shown only by "large metal studs in the road surface."¹⁶⁵ After complaints that drivers could not see them, the Ministry ordered thick white stripes in October 1951,¹⁶⁶ and the first zebra crossing opened on Slough High Street on 31 October 1951 after trials from 1949; George Charlesworth is credited with the stripes.¹⁵³ Flashing beacons were mass-produced from January 1953.¹⁶⁶

In the UK the beacon flashes 750 ms on and 750 ms off. Belisha beacons are also used in Hong Kong, Cyprus, Malta, New Zealand, Singapore and Ireland.¹⁶⁵ In North America and much of continental Europe, zebra-style stripes appear at any type of crossing and do not by themselves signal this rule.¹⁵³

What do the zigzag lines near a UK crossing mean?

What you see: White zigzag lines along the curb and down the middle of the road for a stretch before and after a crossing.

Zigzags mark the approach to a pedestrian crossing. They are a later addition: the zigzags "at the kerb and in the centre of the road have been added to all zebra crossings" since the 1969 Abbey Road album photo was taken, which is why the Beatles walk across a crossing without them.¹⁵³

Yellow zigzags outside a school with the words "SCHOOL KEEP CLEAR" mean keep the entrance clear of stationary vehicles.¹³⁰

The Highway Code (Rule 191) says drivers "MUST NOT park on a crossing or in the area covered by the zig-zag lines," and "MUST NOT overtake the moving vehicle nearest the crossing" or the vehicle nearest the crossing that has stopped to give way to pedestrians.¹⁶⁷

What do yellow and red lines along the curb mean in the UK?

What you see: One or two yellow lines along the edge of the road by the curb; or, on major London roads, red lines with "Red Route" signs.

Red routes ban stopping to keep main roads moving. They were first introduced in London in 1991, in north and east London; London's network totals 390 miles (about 630 km) by Wikipedia's count as of October 2026, and they also exist in the West Midlands (since 2003), Leeds (2019) and Derbyshire (2026).¹⁶²

Why is LOOK RIGHT painted on London streets?

What you see: "LOOK RIGHT" or "LOOK LEFT" in large white letters at the curb edge of a crossing, sometimes with an arrow.

A reminder for pedestrians, especially visitors from countries that drive on the right and instinctively look the wrong way. Transport for London has said that under national guidance the markings should "only be installed when traffic approaches from an unexpected direction." After a 2014 resurfacing in King's Cross they were not repainted; following a fatal crash involving a double-decker bus, TfL reinstated them (reported 6 April 2018).¹⁶⁸ In one London cut-through too narrow for a car, "Look Right" and "Look Left" are painted almost touching.¹³⁵

Elsewhere in the world

What you see: A white diamond in the lane in Japan; stripes at every kind of crossing in continental Europe.

In Japan, a white diamond painted in the lane warns of a pedestrian crossing ahead, or a bicycle crossing.¹⁴⁹¹⁵⁰ Painted 止まれ at a stop line means a full stop.¹³⁷

In continental Europe and North America, bar-pattern crossings appear at signalized and unsignalized crossings alike, unlike the UK's legally distinct zebra.¹⁵³ Edinburgh's green bus greenways show that bus-lane color varies even within the UK.¹⁶²

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