Toole Design Group Style Guidelines

These guidelines are intended to promote clarity and consistency in

Toole Design Group (TDG) publications. Always check with the client
about their preferences, which would supersede the
recommendations of this guide.
Most of these guidelines apply to narrative sections of reports and
plans. The Chicago Manual of Style is recommended for issues not
covered here.
Company Name
o When referring to the company name in print, the first mention should be
spelled out followed by the abbreviation: Toole Design Group (TDG). For
subsequent mentions, you may simply use TDG. Do not refer to the
company as Toole Design or Toole in print.
General Style Preferences
Abbreviations and Acronyms
o Any agency, guidelines, etc. should be spelled out once per chapter when
first introduced, and throughout the rest of that same chapter using
Acronyms and Abbreviations.
AASHTO American Association of State Highway Transportation
Officials
ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act
ADT
Average Daily Traffic
APS
Accessible Pedestrian Signal
BRT
Bus Rapid Transit System
DOT
Department of Transportation (plural: State DOTs)
USDOT United States Department of Transportation
FHWA
Federal Highway Administration
GHG
Greenhouse Gas
HCM
Highway Capacity Manual
LED
Light-Emitting Diode
LOS
Level of Service
MUTCD Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
NACTO National Association of City Transportation Officials
PROWAG Public Rights of Way Accessibility Guidelines
SRTS
(not SR2S) Safe Routes to School
TMC
Traffic Management Center
TWLTL
Two-Way Left Turn Lane
o Capitalize acronyms and do not use periods.
ADA, USDOT, MUTCD, etc.
o i.e. and e.g. should include periods and be followed by a comma.
Format = (i.e., bicycle lanes, shared streets, etc.)
i.e. means in other words
e.g. means for example
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o
o
o

Use U.S. as an adjective and United States as a noun. Include periods in

U.S.
All words should be spelled out: boulevard, street, avenue, Tuesday,
September, California.
Spell out pages (pages 3637, not pp. 3637).

Address Formats
o Email
In text, electronic addresses are lowercase:
mmcfly@tooledesign.com.
Do not omit the period when an email address falls at the end of a
sentence.
o Internet
It is no longer necessary to use http://. Some web addresses still
require www, but many do not. The best practice is to check any
web address that will appear in a publication to ensure that it is
correct and works. Do not omit the period when a web address falls
at the end of a sentence.
o Fax and Phone
Suggested formats are as follows: 510.642.1212 or (510) 642-1212
or 510/642-1212. Whichever format you choose, handle both fax
and phone numbers consistently throughout your document.
Capitalization
o Capitalize all words in headings and titles (except for conjunctions and
prepositions).
For hyphenated compounds in titles and headings, capitalize all
major words unless they are preceded by a prefix: Long-Range
Planning, Project Pre-qualification
o Capitalize document titles in text: The recommendations are aligned with
the Greenway Caf Guidelines, as well as the Complete Streets
Guidelines.
o Capitalize the word chapter only when being modified by a title: Please
refer to the Roadway Design Chapter for more information. See the
Accessibility Focus section found earlier in this chapter. Similar rules
apply to the word appendix: Details shown in Appendix A. The
appendix of the 2011 report included case studies on national best
practices.
o Capitalize the word plan when using shorthand to refer to the document
you are writing:
The process for developing the Plan included.
o Capitalize Street Types:
Neighborhood Connector, Downtown Mixed-Use (make sure MixedUse has a dash and Use is capitalized): On Residential Streets,
buildings should be setback... On Downtown Mixed-Use Street
Types, street furniture should be placed
o Capitalize AM and PM (No Periods)
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o
o
o

o
o

Capitalize Project Manager and Team when referring to a specific person or

group: Working closely with the MDOT Project Manager, the TDG Team
will.
Use all capital letters for specific signs from the MUTCD: YIELD TO
PEDESTRIANS, NO STOPPING, etc.
Do not capitalize seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall
Capitalize the following titles only when immediately preceding personal
names: governor, mayor, president, vice chancellor, chair, director,
coordinator: The mayor agrees with Governor McKinney, but President
Moore claims that most of the directors do not.
Do not capitalize the words town, city or state when used as an adjective
or common noun: a state map, the city economy, the people of the town
of Leesburg. Capitalize town, city and state when used as a proper name
for the government: The State of Massachusetts provides about 10
percent of Bostons program budget. The Town adopted the policy in
2007. You may want to check with your client to confirm their preference
on this rule, since some public sector clients have their own protocol.
Consistency throughout a document is the most important rule.
The capitalization of federal and state will depend on the client. Most
state and federal clients prefer to err on the side of always capitalizing
these words. If the client does not have a preference, use this rule:
Capitalize federal when it is part of a proper noun, that is, the
official name of a particular or unique person, place, or thing (i.e.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Trade Commission, Federal
Water Pollution Control Act). For the word state, a similar rule
applies: Guidance from the State requires municipalities to keep
accident data. When writing about the Federal Government in its
official capacity using the term as an official title, you should
capitalize both Federal and Government. Once a year, the Federal
Government issues insurance updates to all federal employees.
When using the terms generally, dont capitalize: Many issues we
address each day are subject to federal, state, and local laws.
Again, you may want to check with the client and above all, be
consistent.
Do not capitalize plurals of generic terms after proper names: San
Francisco and Montgomery counties, University and Pierce avenues
In general, lowercase compass points (eastern Texas) unless referring to a
widely known phrase or specific place: Southern California, the East
Coast.

Dates and Times

o For ranges, use 199091 and 19902001 (en dash between dates).
o For decades, use 1870s (not 1870s). Use the nineties (not 90s or 90s).
For informal usage and abbreviated text, use 90s, 00s.
o Do not precede noon or midnight with 12.

Degrees and Affiliations

o Licenses and associations do not take periods: CPA, ASLA, EIT, PE
Dimensions
o All dimensions up to 23 should be in inches (unless it is a whole number):
6, 18, 20, 1, 2, 200
After 23, use architectural format for non-whole numbers: 2- 6,
3, 5-6, 10-2, 5, 12, 200
Under 1 use fractions: ,
o Hyphenate dimensions when used as adjectives: the section calls for a 6inch curb vs. the standard width of a curb is 6 inches.
Gender
o Do not use he, she, his or her unless gender is essential to meaning. Do
not use s/he or his/her; avoid the use of he or she or his or her if
possible. A plural construction often solves problems: Participants may
submit comments by email if they so choose. Use gender-neutral nouns
such as chair rather than chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson.
General Grammar Common Mistakes
o Relative pronouns:
Who is used for subjects: The man who usually cuts the lawn
cannot do it this week.
Whom is used for objects: The people whom I contacted did not
respond.(Whom is very formal and, increasingly, can be replaced
with who.)
That is used for things: The book that explains the findings is
available at all libraries.
Whose is possessive: The official whose opinions were the most
far-reaching was also the only one who commutes by bicycle.
Hyphenation
o Compounds that are hyphenated as adjectives (off-campus housing, parttime employment, decision-making skills) are not hyphenated as nouns
(her housing is off campus; she works less than full time; findings that
assist in decision making). This applies to short, medium and long-term
recommendations, the latter of which take place over the long term.
o Compound adjectives with -ly are not hyphenated: privately funded, highly
regarded.
o Compound adjectives with numerals should not be hyphenated: the $40
million project, 700 miles of bicycle facilities. One exception is when
dimensions are used as adjectives: the section calls for a 6-inch curb vs.
the standard width of a curb is 6 inches.
Letter Spacing
o Generally, use one space after a period in printed and online materials. If
you or the client prefer two spaces, be sure you are consistent throughout
the deliverable (particularly if there were multiple authors).
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Use two spaces after colons, one space after semi-colons.

Numbers
o Spell out any number that begins a sentence. Spell out numbers up to but
not including 10 and large whole numbers: one hundred, two thousand,
etc. Exceptions include percentages, decimal fractions, monetary units
and scores, which can be indicated with numerals. For amounts of a
million or more, use figures when referring to monetary amounts, but
follow the regular rule for other quantities: $8 million but eight million
people.
o Always use numerals for units of measurement and spell out the units:
10 square feet, 4 feet per second, etc.
Except for miles per hour use mph (lower case with a space after
the number), i.e. 35 mph.
o Use numerals for monetary units: $5; $9.75; $3 per square foot.
o Percentages:
Use the word percent rather than %, except in tables.
Use decimals (with no space between the number and the percent
sign): 0.5%, 1%, 10%, 7.5%, or 0.5 percent, 7.5 percent
o In a series, treat all numbers the same: TDGs staff includes 4 registered
engineers, 42 members of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle
Professionals, and 85 members of the Society for Advanced Thinking.
o Spell out ordinals through ninth: first grade, 21st century, 25th
anniversary.
o Use numbers to represent ages, even those under 10: Since the age of 5,
Tiger Woods has played golf.
Punctuation
o Periods should NEVER fall outside of the parenthesis at the end of a
sentence.
Incorrect: She called herself Clara.
Correct: She called herself Clara.
o In most cases, omit the comma before the last item in a series: I love
apples, oranges and pears. Use a comma before the last item in a series
to make meaning clear: Id like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand, and the
University. This may change based on feedback from the client.
Regardless of how you handle the serial comma, be consistent
throughout the document.
o Bullets:
For full sentences, or longer partial sentences, use punctuation. For
example:
There can be numerous benefits to back-in diagonal parking for all
roadway users:
Improved sight distance between exiting motorists and other
traffic compared to parallel parking or front-in angled
parking.
No conflict between bicyclists and open car doors.
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Easier loading/unloading of vehicles.

Passengers (including children) are naturally channeled
toward the curb when alighting.
Loading and unloading of the trunk occurs at the curb, not in
the street.

For sentence fragments, commands, and lists where each bullet is

only a few words do not use punctuation (take out semi-colons and
periods). For example:
Strategies to reduce conflicts include:
Exclusive pedestrian phases
Restricting turns on red
Leading pedestrian intervals

When mixing full sentences and fragments in one bulleted list, be

consistent. Err toward using punctuation in mixed situations.

In PowerPoint, when making a list of bullets, capitalize the first

word, but avoid capitalizing the first letter of every word unless the
items you are listing deserve to be capitalized, like chapter names.
For example:
Why Hire Us?

o
o

Combined local and national experience

Planning and engineering expertise
Reputation for delivering projects on-time and under budget

Do not use & for and (unless it is part of a corporate or unit name) or
% for percent except in tables. The goal is to triple bicycle mode
share by 2020 (from 0.7 percent in 2007 to 2.1 percent in 2020).
Avoid contractions in formal writing (i.e., spell out dont as do not).
Avoid using single quotation marks.

References
o Do not use parentheses and follow this format:
For more information, see Chapter 2: Sidewalks.
o Footnotes and Citations
Use MLA format. Use
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/04/ as a reference.
Your footnote must be on the page where it is cited. Your footnote
should be preceded by a superscript number.

The superscript number belongs after punctuation, except for a

dash: The goals came directly from the survey 1 safety,
connectivity and fun.2
If you are citing a quotation, the superscript belongs after the
closing quotation mark: One citizen commented, This is the best
meeting ever.3
Book4
Journal5
Website6
In most cases, figures and tables should be numbered and have titles.
Generally, images should have a caption.

Photos
o Be careful about providing photo credits as needed (check with the client
for any specific rules they may have governing photos). Try to use images
taken by TDG or the client.
o Do not use copyrighted images without receiving permission and giving
credit.
Titles of Works
o In general, italicize titles of books, periodicals, reports, plans, and studies.
o In general, use quotations for titles of book or report chapters (part of a
greater whole).
Word List
o As recommended by the Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, use language
that connects with our shared humanity7 instead of labels people:
Better
The person driving a car hit
People biking

Worse
The car hit the
Bikers

1 (citation for survey)

2 (citation for survey findings, indicating chapter and page where quote is found)
3 (citation for record of public comments)
4Author(s) (List Authors in order found on publication, if more than 3 list first then et
al.), Title, (Publisher and Date), Pg#.
5 Author(s), Title, Journal Name, Volume, (Year): Pg#.
6 Title of site, author of site, source of site, last updated, date accessed and URL
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People walking
People driving
People taking transit
Person with a disability
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Pedestrians
Drivers
Transit rider
Disabled person

bicycle (we generally avoid using the word bike except in situations
where the client prefers it, or when we refer to bike lanes)
bicycle friendly (not hyphenated, and not bikeable or bikeability)
People biking, bicyclist or cyclist (not bikers)
bike share (not bikeshare and not bike-share, unless referring to a
program title like Capital Bikeshare or directed by a client)
bikeway
cafs
citywide
collisions or crashes (not accidents)
contra-flow
e.g. means for example
far-side
fieldwork
greenways
i.e. means in other words
land use
landowner
low-volume
mid-block
mixed use
mode share
mph (for miles per hour)
multi-lane
multi-media
multimodal (not multi-modal)
multiuse
near-side
nonmotorized
off-street and on-street
pedestrian friendly (no hyphen)
pre-timed
pushbutton
real-time
right of way (assignment) The right of one vehicle or pedestrian to
proceed in a lawful manner in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian.
rightofway (property) A general term denoting land, property or interest
therein, usually in a strip, acquired for or devoted to transportation
purposes.
plural of right-of-way is rights-of-way

7 Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Lets Talk About Safe Streets, City of Seattle,
accessed 03/09/15, http://seattlegreenways.org/blog/2015/01/06/lets-talk-safestreets/.
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o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

runoff
semi-actuated
separated bike lane (not cycletrack unless directed by the client)
shared use
stop-controlled
station area
system-wide
transit-oriented development
unsignalized (intersection with no signals) vs. uncontrolled (intersection
with no signals or signs)
wayfinding
walkable
website
well-lit
Wi-Fi
yield-controlled

Checklist for Final Reports

Did you follow company QAQC procedures?
Are page numbers used throughout and are they correct?
Is the Table of Contents updated and accurate?
Are references to tables, charts and illustrations correct?
Did any hyperlinks used in the document work?
Is the format for section headings and content consistent and easy to follow?

General Writing Tips

Always use active voice instead of passive.

Before writing anything, make an outline and have a supervisor review it.
You must know where you are going before you start each paragraph. Clarity
of thought is essential to good writing.
Only an extremely strong writer can pull off long sentences. Even then, the
strongest writers are good at writing short sentences. In most cases, a long
sentence should be broken into two or even three separate sentences.
ALMOST NEVER start a sentence with the words but or and.
Self-editing: If you are a strong writer, you can get away with only editing
your work three times. If you are not a strong writer, you need to edit more
than that. Dont turn something in to a supervisor that you havent
thoroughly edited.
The first two or three pages are the most important part of any report, plan or
proposal. First impressions are critical. They must be compelling, coherent
and concise. Put yourself in the readers shoes what do they need to know?
Why is this project important? What is the context of this study? You should
generally double the amount of time you normally spend editing your own
work when you are writing the first two pages of a report.
Provide a conclusion for each chapter. It doesnt have to be long and
involved. If possible, use the conclusion to segue to the next chapter.
Especially for reports with multiple authors, conduct a find and replace
search for potential inconsistencies or errors, like multimodal vs. multimodal or bicycle friendly vs. bicycle-friendly.

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