Discover Traffic Gardens is a small business committed to providing services, resources, and expertise to support the growth of traffic gardens and demonstrate their value for communities. Our goal is to create engaging spaces where children and new riders can build independent walking and biking skills, while learning about safe and thoughtful street design. In addition to providing an overview of our services to help bring these transformative spaces to your community, this website serves as an information hub on traffic gardens across the U.S. and beyond.
NOTE: Our pop-up shop is currently closed but will reopen in spring 2025.
WElcome!
What is a traffic garden?
A traffic garden is a set of small-sized streets with simplified traffic features where children and other new learners practice, learn and have fun in a place that is free from motor vehicles. Traffic gardens are known by many names including safety town, safety village, safety city, learn-to-cycle track, traffic playground, bike park and many similar terms. These street networks provide a practical, hands-on way to learn biking skills, road safety, and how traffic works. They serve as a controlled environment where kids and. other new learners can gain confidence and master critical life-long skills and key concepts for getting around safely. Because of the joy they bring to children and their role in engaging the community, traffic gardens often become highly cherished and beloved local amenities where memories are made.
In the United States, many children lack access to safe streets limiting their ability to navigate and experience street environments. In fact, the rate of children learning how to bike has dropped by over 50% in less than two decades in the U.S. This significant decline highlights a growing gap in essential skills, contributing to reduced independence and increased vulnerability in navigating public spaces. Traffic gardens address this by offering a safe space for teaching biking and hosting programs.
Watch this 2-minute traffic garden explainer!
Great 1-minute video of a traffic garden in action!
Traffic Garden Maps
These maps are ongoing projects to locate and track traffic gardens worldwide. They also support university research on these installations and their impact. Please contact Fionnuala with any new information.
A Typology of Traffic Gardens: Understanding Variations
There is no single 'typical' traffic garden; instead, there are many variations in the creation, layout, and appearance of these small sets of streets. The specific design of traffic gardens varies based on the types of users, skills being taught, available space, set up needs and budget resources. Currently in the United States, most traffic gardens being installed are of the surface-painted variety, although historically, many involved constructing actual miniature asphalt streets. Although designs and implementations may vary, they all share a common goal: to create a safe environment for walking, rolling, and riding while evoking the experience of being immersed in a miniature world.
TRAFFIC GARDEN COURTs
Traffic Garden Courts are networks of mini-streets created with striping and pavement markings applied with permanent paint-type products on hard surfaces outdoors.
TRAFFIC GARDEN PARKs
Traffic Garden Parks are outdoor facilities designed like a mini-street network, complete with curbed, asphalt streets.
temporary Traffic Gardens
Pop-up and temporary traffic gardens are both examples of street networks with traffic features applied to outdoor hard surfaces that can be readily removed or that wear away over a few weeks or months.
Mobile Traffic Gardens
A mobile traffic garden is a portable set of materials assembled into a kit that can be used to create a small- scale traffic garden either indoors or outdoors and that can be easily dismantled and packed away after a session or program.
Traffic Garden Features
Traffic gardens vary greatly, from simple painted lines on parking lots to detailed, small-scale cities. These differences in implementation result in a wide range of features across installations. With no standardized design guidance, these spaces often showcase unique elements that reflect local character and the specific efforts of their original champions. The innate design flexibility of traffic gardens results in many unique and creative installations, some with murals and art, and many fostering community involvement. Below are features typically found in traffic gardens. All the sample photos showcase real-life installations.
PAINTED STREETS
Some traffic gardens are created by using specialized paint and coating materials to recreate a scaled-down version of a street network on a hard surface. They can incorporate a variety of street types, from simple...
PAVED STREETS
Some traffic gardens feature asphalt or concrete streets, either with or without curbs. These streets are scaled-down replicas of real-world roads, with widths varying significantly across...
INTERSECTIONS
Intersections are a key feature, vital for both learning and appearance. They help new riders advance from simply biking to better understanding how streets work by introducing points of interaction that mimic real-world scenarios. These intersections...
Traffic SIGNS
Traffic signs are essential in traffic gardens as they convey the information about how intersections and streets operate, complementing the information provided by the lines and pavement markings. They are key also to creating the realistic "traffic feel," helping...
Information Signs
Many traffic gardens feature a prominent, colorful information sign at or near the entrance, varying in style and content. These signs play an important role in guiding users and ensuring a positive experience. Typically, they start with a welcome message to set...
Preventing unauthorized vehicle access
When a traffic garden is situated so that the site potentially allows cars or trucks to cross, measures must be implemented to prevent unauthorized people from driving vehicles on the mini-streets. This is...
Art & Murals
Traffic Gardens, especially those painted on surfaces, provide an excellent canvas for adding artwork. Many sites have incorporated vibrant surface murals, transforming the space into a collaborative work of public art that celebrates local culture and enhances visual appeal. These murals not only enrich the learning environment but also create opportunities...
Mini-BUILDINGS
Some Traffic Garden Courts or Traffic Garden Parks feature buildings to create the look and feel of a small town or city. These structures range from basic painted outlines on asphalt to simple models of community buildings, and occasionally detailed replicas of local landmarks, like those in Knoxville’s Safety City. Often, these models are created through community efforts, such as Eagle...
Rolling EQUIPMENT
Typically traffic gardens in the U.S. require children to bring their own rolling devices, such as balance bikes, pedal bikes, and scooters. In contrast, school-based traffic gardens often supply balance bikes, pedal bikes, and adaptive bikes for their programs...
STORAGE
Storage is crucial for traffic gardens with portable equipment, for both protecting equipment and keeping everything organized and secure. Solutions typically include onsite lockable sheds or larger units like modified shipping containers that house items such as portable...
