We’re making biking better in Indiana through funding local bike projects, supporting pro-bike policies and legislation at the local and state levels and highlighting great hometown routes on Ride Spot. In spring 2019, our Community Grant Program helped fund the addition of an adaptive bike trail to the Griffin Bike Park in Terre Haute to accommodate differently abled riders.

Each year, PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings program evaluates thousands of communities worldwide on the quality of their low-stress bike networks through our Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA). Over time, we’ve seen many cities across the U.S. improve their City Ratings scores. While all score improvements are worthy of recognition, several cities achieved incredible increases in just a few years, showcasing the impact of investments in bike networks and supportive policies that create great places to ride.

Which cities have seen the highest score increases over time? City Ratings data reveals that 39 U.S. cities boosted their scores by at least 20 points since 2020 through the implementation of specific projects that align with our SPRINT principles: safe speeds, protected bike lanes, reallocated space, intersection treatments, network connections, and trusted data. 

Note: Although City Ratings began in 2018, PeopleForBikes refined the program in 2020 to reflect actual speed limits for cities, resulting in some changes to scores between 2018 and 2020.


Learn how you can support bike projects in your area that can increase your community’s City Rating Score. Through the Great Bike Infrastructure Project, we’re tracking progress on thousands of projects nationwide.

Policy changes also play a key role in improving scores. Our Legislative Strategies Guide for Safe and Connected Bike Infrastructure outlines policies that create great bike networks, including increased state and local funding for bike infrastructure, Complete Streets mandates, and lower speeds. These policies are critical, as most U.S. cities have a lot of work to do to truly become great places for biking. 

Read on to learn which cities achieved the most dramatic score increases between 2020 and 2024.

Minneapolis' score surged from 17 to 71, leading large U.S. cities for the second year in a row. Key factors include speed limit reductions, OpenStreetMap data improvements, and the construction of protected bike lanes like those on Bryant Avenue South, which was featured as one of our Best New Bike Lanes of 2023. 

Not to be outdone by its neighbor, Minneapolis, Saint Paul jumped from a score of just 9 in 2020 to 61 in 2024 thanks to lowered speed limits and projects like the Jackson Street Reconstruction Project, which added safe bicycle facilities as part of the city’s Capital City Bikeway System. With the city planning to add more than 100 new miles of protected bike lanes, Saint Paul’s score is sure to increase in the coming years. 


Learn more about Jackson’s improvements, including those led by the local advocacy group Friends of Pathways, here. 

In 2023, Bloomington reduced speed limits for all neighborhood streets to 25 miles per hour, contributing to a 17-point increase in its City Ratings score. In recent years, Bloomington also expanded its network of neighborhood greenways and constructed numerous road-adjacent shared-use paths and protected bike lanes like the 7-Line, which made our list of the Best New Bike Lanes in 2022. 

Aurora was ahead of most American cities back in 2016, when the city installed a protected bike lane on River Street to close a critical gap in the regional Fox River Trail system. Since then, Aurora increased its score to 50, partially thanks to updated speed limit data in OpenStreetMap.

While it's perhaps not surprising for Minneapolis, the highest-rated large city for biking in the U.S., to have suburbs with good bike networks, it’s always encouraging to see suburban communities climbing the ranks of bike-friendly places. Saint Louis Park, a community of 50,000 people to the west of Minneapolis, increased its score from 15 to 55 over the past four years by lowering its default speed limit to 20 miles per hour and filling in bike network gaps through their Connect the Park program.

In 2022, Corvallis’ city staff updated its OpenStreetMap data to accurately reflect existing bicycle infrastructure, including its Active Travel Corridors, which reduce cut-through traffic, creating a citywide network of safe places to bike. 


Key West enhanced its bike network with several projects, including improvements to the Crosstown Greenway and Staples Avenue bicycle and pedestrian bridge. In 2020, speed limits in the city’s Old Town neighborhood were also lowered to 20 miles per hour, creating a safer environment for all road users.

Although Coeur D’Alene hasn’t yet a score of 50 yet, the city already has 50 miles of multi-use paths, including the popular Centennial, Prairie, and Atlas, trails, as well as more than 64 miles of bike lanes. Thanks to its Complete Streets policy, the city intends to complete another 25 miles of bike paths and 32 miles of bike lanes to further improve its network in the coming years.


After reducing the citywide speed limit to 25 miles per hour in 2016, Somerville further reduced speed limits on most residential streets to 20 miles per hour in 2020 and 2021. The city also made forward progress on its envisioned bike network through projects like the Somerville Community Path Extension and Somerville Avenue.


Following Cambridge’s 2020 Cycling Safety Ordinance, the city greatly expanded its bike network. As one of our 2024 Cities on the Rise, you can read more about Cambridge’s work to improve bicycling here.

2025 Cities on the Rise Candidates — Honorable Mentions


While that rounds out the most dramatic score increases over the past four years, numerous communities also increased their BNA scores by at least 20 points during the same period, including:


From Minneapolis' impressive 54-point surge to improvements in smaller towns, these advancements highlight the critical role that strategic investments in bike infrastructure and supportive policies like lower speed limits and Complete Streets mandates play in creating low-stress bike networks and making cities great places to ride a bike. 


Join us in supporting these efforts and stay informed about PeopleForBikes' initiatives to support better biking by signing up for PeopleForBikes’ newsletter and Action Alert program.

A focus on safe, connected bike networks helped boost these medium-sized cities to top spots in our 2021 City Ratings.

Now in its fourth year of analyzing, evaluating and comparing great cities for bicycling, our annual City Ratings program utilized a new and improved rating system for 2021. With an emphasis on safe, connected places to ride, a city’s Network Score makes up 80% of its overall score. Using data from PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis, or BNA, the Network Score measures the quality and connectivity of a city’s bike network — the bike lanes, paths, trails and neighborhood streets someone on a bike can use to access everyday destinations. 

The U.S. cities below range in population from 50,000 to 300,000 and all share one thing in common: a dedication to creating great bike networks. 

For Santa Monica, a coastal beach town in Southern California surrounded on three sides by Los Angeles, the first big effort for better bicycling came when the city passed its Bike Action Plan in 2011. The plan outlined the city’s goals for getting more people on bikes, making bicycling more convenient, creating a safe bike network and establishing a local bike share program. 

Santa Monica started small with low-cost, programmatic work such as offering bike valet services at big community events, as well as installing more bike racks at key locations around town. These smaller projects complemented the larger work of implementing bike infrastructure, and, over the last decade, Santa Monica has seen a steady trickle of bike shops and organizations popping up around the city. “Bicycling is now woven into the urban fabric of Santa Monica,” said Kyle Kozar, senior transportation manager and bike program coordinator. 

Kozar credits Santa Monica’s idyllic location, infrastructure and year-round sunshine for the city’s relatively quick adoption of bicycling. Compared to other nearby Southern California destinations, infamous for nauseating traffic congestion and miles upon miles of concrete, Santa Monica has a lot of greenways and protected bike lanes, making it easy to traverse the beach town by bike.

Last October, the city council approved amendments to the Bike Action Plan, which looked at what Santa Monica’s already accomplished and what needs to be reprioritized. “We laid out a long-term vision for expanding our low-stress network,” said Kozar. “We’d like to build out 15 miles of new protected bikeways in the next five years.”

Going forward, Kozar says Santa Monica’s mission is to make bicycling more inviting for people of all ages and abilities. “We get there by creating infrastructure that is really inviting,” he said. “There are so many reasons for people to get out and experience Santa Monica by bike.”

Set against the picturesque background of the Flatirons in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Boulder, Colorado, has a rich history of bicycling that dates back to the late 1960s. Today, the city is home to 65 miles of multi-use paths that feature more than 80 underpasses and form the backbone of Boulder’s bicycle infrastructure. 

“Over the years, Boulder has adopted a belt and suspenders approach to infrastructure or the construction of multi-use paths adjacent to conventional bike lanes,” said Dave Kemp, senior transportation planner for the city of Boulder. “This approach has helped all types of cyclists feel confident and safe in terms of getting around by bike.”

In addition to its doubled-down efforts on building safe, comfortable places for people to ride, Kemp believes the bicycling culture of Boulder has elevated biking as a transportation mode in general. “There are lots of us [bicyclists] — 20 times the national average, in fact,” said Kemp. “This creates a ‘safety in numbers’ effect and most people driving know to look for bicyclists everywhere.”

Kemp notes that the city’s embrace of electric bicycles has also had a huge impact. Boulder was the first city in Colorado to allow electric bikes on their multi-use path system, and in recent months it’s been working to evolve and refine its shared micromobility program to include an all-electric bike fleet by summer 2021. Looking to the future, Kemp is encouraged by the city’s ability to leverage local dollars and grant funds for bike-related projects. Community Cycles, a local nonprofit bike shop and advocacy group, recently won a grant through the Colorado Department of Energy to purchase e-bikes for underserved community members and essential workers in the Boulder region. 

“We are also cross-pollinating with other programs in the Transportation Division to enhance bicycle facilities when and where feasible,” said Kemp. “We are in the process of constructing our first protected intersection and we hope the project evaluation will result in installing more of these throughout Boulder at locations that really need it to improve safety.” 

Carmel, Indiana, a town of just under 100,000 half an hour north of Indianapolis, began its journey in bicycling in 1996 with the construction of the Monon Trail. A former railway line, the Monon is a paved, multi-use trail that stretches 25 miles from the town of Sheridan to the state capital, passing through the center of Carmel along the way.

“With the construction of such a popular amenity like the Monon, our biggest project became getting people to the trail safely,” said David Littlejohn, transportation systems administrator for Carmel. “We developed our alternative transportation plan in the early 2000s, and since then, the implementation of multi-use paths and expansion of our bicycle and pedestrian network through city projects or private development has been a key priority. Twenty years later, we have nearly 220 miles of paths and greenways throughout Carmel.”

When Carmel was initially developed, like most suburban communities it was car-centric. According to Littlejohn, an emphasis on interconnected, multi-use paths has allowed for nearly every resident to be within a seven-mile bike ride from the center of town. He also notes that some car-focused infrastructure has made Carmel safer for bikes. “We pride ourselves on being the roundabout capital of the U.S. — our 139th roundabout is getting built out this summer,” said Littlejohn. “The community becomes more bikeable when everyone approaching an intersection has to slow down.”

Littlejohn, who has worked for the city for more than 15 years, says Carmel is an ever-growing community both for bikes and in general. “We’re always working on improving our network and the ability for people to use it,” he said. “Over the last 10 years, we’ve built about 10 miles of new trails each year. We want to continue that momentum.”

Located directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., Arlington, Virginia, is home to more than 230,000 residents, as well as the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. Like all cities featured on this list, Arlington boasts a robust bike network, featuring 30 miles of bike lanes, 52 miles of off-street trails and many more miles of low-stress, residential streets.

In addition to its extensive network, in 2009 the Arlington County Community Services Bureau launched BikeArlington, a program focused on helping promote bicycling for all ages and abilities. In 2010, the organization was also involved in the launch of the D.C. metro area’s Capital Bikeshare, the first major U.S. bike share program in the country.

“We have an incredibly knowledgeable and engaged advocacy community, many of whom volunteer on the County’s Bicycle Advisory Committee,” said Henry Dunbar, director of active transportation operations for Arlington County Commuter Services. “There are also scores of volunteers that organize to support bike events and facilities, like the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail, and the annual group that coordinates the Freezing Saddles competition, an annual team competition to see who can ride the most miles between January 1 and the first day of Spring.”

Looking ahead, Arlington recently updated its Master Transportation Plan to emphasize expanded bike routes and protected bike lanes. In an effort to help make bicycling more equitable, Arlington promotes the Capital Bikeshare for All program, which makes annual memberships to the system available to low-income residents for just $5/year.

Policywise, Dunbar sees a bright future for Arlington. In 2019, the county board voted to adopt Vision Zero — a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all — and in May 2021, it approved an action plan to achieve it by 2030. According to Dunbar, “This has the potential to be the biggest policy shift toward improving bicycle and pedestrian safety we have seen in many years.”

Berkeley, California, located in the Bay Area just northeast of San Francisco, is a true 15-minute city. Thanks to good buy-in from local leadership and a connected network of low-stress neighborhood streets, the university town sees high levels of ridership. “If you’re on a bike, you can be pretty much anywhere you need to be quickly,” said Ben Gerhardstein of Walk Bike Berkeley, an all-volunteer-led advocacy organization promoting safe, low-stress and fun active transportation in the city.

Most essential services are within an easily bikeable distance of residents, and thanks to Berkeley's “Bike Boulevards,” the city’s network of low-stress neighborhood streets, there are usually multiple ways to safely reach a destination. “You’re not locked into being on a four-lane arterial street,” said Gerhardstein. To create the Bike Boulevards, Berkeley relied on aggressive traffic calming measures on existing city streets, in conjunction with signs and pavement markings to prioritize bicycle traffic.

This ease of bikeability, combined with the Bay Area city’s temperate climate and easy-on-the-eyes locale, lends itself to a lot of locals choosing to get out on two wheels. Some 10% of Berkeley residents travel to work by bike, among the highest rates of bike commuting in the U.S. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín doesn’t even have a driver’s license, choosing instead to get about by electric bicycle. 

Borrowing from the Critical Mass culture of nearby San Francisco, Berkeley’s East Bay Bike Parties involve a massive gathering of riders celebrating all things bikes. “It’s a monthly event with the most diverse group of people riding bikes and having fun together,” said Gerhardstein. And around town, it's as common to see college students getting to class as it is to see parents hauling toddlers on a cargo bike. Berkely is also reimagining the way it does traffic enforcement through BerkDOT, all with the aim of making streets safer for its Black and brown residents.

“There’s always people on bikes from all walks of life,” said Gerhardstein. “Berkeley wants biking to be safe for everyone.”

How does your city rank? Check out our 2021 City Ratings and learn how to improve your score.

With more protected bike lanes and low-stress bike networks being built across the country than ever before, we had a tough time picking this past year’s best new bike lanes. While numerous projects deserve recognition, we rounded up the top nine projects worth emulating. 

9. Marin Boulevard Bikeway
Hoboken and Jersey City, New Jersey



In November, Jersey City and Hoboken completed construction on the Marin Boulevard and Henderson Street bikeway, which was first called for in the “Let's Ride JC Bike Master Plan” as a way to better connect the two cities. The expansion of CitiBike into Hoboken also increased demand to ride between the two cities, says Mike Lydon of Street Plans, who worked on the project’s design. In 2022, CitiBike’s most popular route was between Hoboken Terminal and Jersey City’s Hoboken Avenue and Monmouth Street, which saw a total of 5,500 bike share trips. With the completion of the Marin Boulevard project, those rides can now be made entirely on protected bike lanes.

The bikeway is separated from traffic with plastic curbing and flexible posts, and it includes a textured painted surface that makes the bikeway more visible and improves traction. As a “quick build” project, the cities chose to move forward with somewhat temporary materials to expedite the project and improve safety, something that wouldn’t have been feasible with more permanent materials that require sidewalk reconstruction and drainage work, not to mention a longer timeline. According to Lyndsey Scofield, senior transportation planner of Jersey City, this approach “provides us with more flexibility to iterate on the design over time as we learn what works well and what could be improved.”

After being declared one of Rhode Island’s most dangerous streets, Providence worked with the local community to reimagine Broad Street with protected bike lanes, bus islands, and crosswalk improvements. While balancing the needs of local businesses, bus riders, and people walking and biking, Broad Street now serves as a key component of the city’s Urban Trail Network, improving safety and accessibility for some of the city’s poorest and most diverse neighborhoods to jobs and opportunities citywide, as well as access to three major urban parks and multiple regional trails. Space for the bikeway was created by removing a wide center turn lane, which also helped reduce speeding along the street. 

7. Green Lake Outer Loop
Seattle, Washington

By converting a state highway lane into a two-way protected bike lane, Seattle created a new connection between Green Lake — one of the city’s most popular parks — and neighborhoods to the west. It also improved safety along the notoriously dangerous Aurora Avenue. As part of the project, precast concrete jersey barriers, which were repurposed from a nearby bridge repair project, were used to provide ample protection from adjacent motor vehicles. They also helped accelerate the construction of the project due to their immediate availability. 

According to Brock Howell, a member of the local advocacy group Aurora Reimagined Coalition, one of the primary goals of the project was to provide families the ability to ride around the park’s entire outer loop. The group hopes these improvements are a first phase in what will eventually become a completely redesigned Aurora Avenue, which stretches more than 10 miles from the Seattle-Shoreline border to downtown. “We have more work to do to improve safety along the rest of Aurora Ave North,” says Seattle Department of Transportation Director Greg Spotts, “But we expect this project to lead to safer speeds near Green Lake.” 

6. Hub City Hopper Trail
Spartanburg, South Carolina

As part of the larger 50-mile Daniel Morgan Trail System, the Hub City Hopper Trail — an extension of the Mary Black Rail Trail — demonstrates the benefits of connecting trails to town centers and urban areas. The project makes streets safer for people walking and biking while expanding access to recreational riding opportunities. It’s a trend we hope to see more of in urban and rural areas alike. 

The trail extension is already attracting new development to Spartanburg: A 132-unit housing project, the Fitzgerald, was planned by developers, in part, to take advantage of the city’s investment in the trail extension. In a recent WSPA feature on the project, John Montgomery, chair of the Daniel Morgan Committee, noted that they expect “to continue to see development pop up around the trail, [including] more residential, more apartments, because people see the value in trails and connecting them and promoting health and wellness. It’s a real community builder.” 

In 2021, Spartanburg County received a $23.8 million U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) RAISE grant — one of largest grants awarded by USDOT that year — to install more than 14 miles of multi-use trails and a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge as part of the Daniel Morgan Trail System.

Although it was technically completed in late 2021, we couldn’t resist putting Bloomington’s new 7-Line protected bike lane on our list for 2022. With a population of just under 80,000 people, the 7-Line proves that protected bike lanes aren’t just for big cities like New York or Los Angeles. The project connects downtown Bloomington with Indiana University’s campus and aims to increase bike ridership by providing a safe, comfortable place for people to ride.

In 2015, after Bike Portland called on the city to address a lack of safe space for people walking and biking along Naito Parkway and Waterfront Park, the city responded with improvements that provide plentiful safe space for people walking, biking, and rolling along the parkway. According to Gwen Shaw of Toole Design Group, the adjacent Waterfront Park “became busy with festivals and visitors during the summer months, making the existing conditions of no sidewalk and a standard bike lane a challenge.” Now, with a sidewalk, bi-directional protected bikeway, and pedestrian refuge islands, Naito Parkway offers a complete street that meets the needs of this busy area.

3. Bigelow Boulevard
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Bigelow Boulevard project, which was initiated and managed by the University of Pittsburgh, serves as an example of how institutions can invest in surrounding communities — to the benefit of both. According to Paul Supowitz, special assistant for strategic initiatives at the University of Pittsburgh, the project was driven by conflicts between various road users, congestion, and the need for better connectivity to the city’s bike network. 

Photo Credit: Matt Johnson, Montgomery County Department of Transportation

2. Capital Crescent Surface Trail
Bethesda, Maryland

When it was completed in November 2022, the Capital Crescent Surface Trail became the third project in Montgomery County to include a protected intersection. As part of a larger network, the project links downtown Bethesda to the nearby Capital Crescent Trail, an 11-mile paved and gravel trail that connects Bethesda with Georgetown and Silver Spring. According to Matt Johnson, capital project manager with the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, the two-phase project is part of a larger planning effort for the nearby Purple Line light rail project.

In April 2022, New York City announced plans to make the 34th Avenue Open Street permanent. (Photo Credit: John Surico)

One great way to make communities safer and more welcoming for people riding bicycles doesn’t even involve constructing new bike paths or bike lanes — simply remove cars from streets.

Although car-free streets have been a staple of people-centered spaces for decades, 2022 saw new examples come to fruition in communities across the country. San Francisco’s JFK Drive (which became permanent after voters rejected a ballot initiative to re-introduce cars), Beach Drive in Washington D.C.’s Rock Creek Park, and new car-free developments such as Culdesac in Tempe and Neighborhood Next in San Diego are all examples that advocates and elected officials should seek to emulate in their own communities. 

While many of these projects, including New York’s 34th Avenue, were spurred by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, cities are now moving to make them permanent, a trend unlikely to go away any time soon. Although some car-free streets were phased out of existence by many U.S. cities in the latter half of the 20th century, nearly all of those removals and declines can be attributed to other failed policies such as urban renewal, redlining, and auto-centric zoning. With these new wildly popular projects being integrated into low-stress bike networks, we think it's safe to say that car-free streets are making a comeback.

In the business world, it’s called “first mover advantage.” It’s the head start Apple got in the smartphone market because it invented the device.

The more we learn about young Americans’ priorities in where they want to live, the more it’s looking like a few cities that happened to start investing in low-car transportation options years ago have been enjoying a big head start in attracting young workers over the last 10 years, even if their local job markets are ho-hum at best.

It’s old news by now that young Americans are far more enthusiastic about urban life than their parents were. But a 10-city survey released this week shows something interesting and new: this attitude seems to be nearly as common among young people in Indianapolis or Tampa as it is among those in New York or San Francisco.

Check out these startling findings from the survey by the Rockefeller Foundation and Transportation For America:

This Tuesday, Indianapolis officially joins urban meccas like Paris, New York and Chicago as a leading city with bikeshare.

If you’re in the area, head down to City Market between 4:30pm and 6:30pm on Tuesday the 22nd to help us celebrate the launch of Pacers Bikeshare. There will be local beer, local food, local music and local awesomeness, so be there or be square.

Also, if you RSVP here, you’ll get hooked up with a free 24-hour pass to take those pretty gold bikes out for a spin.

Congrats, Indy, on riding into the future!

Pacers Bikeshare launches in Indianapolis this week

In the international battle for human capital, this is pretty interesting news.

The same poll found that 54 percent of young adults surveyed “would consider moving to another city if it had more and better options for how to get around, including public transportation, car- and bike-sharing, and pedestrian-friendly streets.” This finding, too, was almost identical across the three city categories.

And it looks as if it reflects exactly what’s been happening. Here are two lists, from a 2012 academic paper, of the cities attracting and retaining the biggest share of migrants with college degrees in recent years.

In summary: you can get educated young people to move to your city by being flush with jobs (Austin, DC, San Jose) or you can get them by being cheap (San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Louisville). But for cities that fall into neither category — Portland and Charlotte jump out in particular — there are other forces at play.

Young people in Indianapolis want low-car lifestyles almost as much as young people in NYC

The mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard, sounds like the Republican he is when he makes the case for urban bike infrastructure.

Speaking to the U.S. Senate Thursday in favor of federal support for bike projects in a transportation bill that other testifiers still referred to as a “highway bill,” the retired Marine lieutenant colonel turned politician spoke frankly about the fact that from where he sits, strengthening the economy isn’t just about moving trucks quickly. It also requires creating places people want to live, he said.

America’s cities are preparing for a great revival. Many planners note that when our country built the interstate highway system starting back in the 1950s it enabled an exodus from urban areas to the suburbs. As we meet today, the tides of that population outflow are reversing and we are witnessing a re-migration to our cities.

For many decades transportation planning centered on the movement of people and goods between commercial and residential centers. Today, our cities face a much different transportation need — one of connecting people to each other and unique experiences.

New urban dwellers want to be connected to their neighborhood and their city through means other than a car. … Today I am asking this committee to support our cities as we seek to build the bike lanes, trails and greenways that serve all the people who want to live, work and raise their families in the new American city. …

The battle for the future of American cities will be won by the place that attracts and retains talent. …

The eight-mile Indianapolis Cultural Trail used to be traffic lanes and parking spaces. It now carries cyclists and pedestrians and serves as a worldwide model. … In the few short years since it opened, the trail has attracted at least $100 million in new investment to the city. In fact, just last week we approved a new 28-story residential and retail tower on a lot that fronts the trail in downtown Indianapolis. …

This trail and many other examples in cities across America demonstrate a bold new thinking toward urban transportation planning. A highway to a new factory may still be critical to attracting new jobs and moving these goods to market. But if you want to attract that facility’s workers to live in your city, you need sidewalks, bike lanes, greenways and so much more.

Attitudes like Ballard’s are why we just chose Indianapolis as one of the Green Lane Project’s next six focus cities. We’ll be glad to be helping Mayor Ballard use more protected bike lanes to make Indianapolis an ever-better place to live.

Indianapolis' GOP mayor on bikes and the 'great revival' of US cities

How stoked would you be if someone told you that you were going to get 250 new bikes? Well, that’s exactly what just happened in Indianapolis! Last Friday, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Inc. announced exciting details about a new bikeshare program coming to Indianapolis in a few weeks. 

The bikeshare system, which will officially launch on April 22, will have 250 bikes at 25 bikeshare stations located on or near the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick. The Cultural Trail is an amazing eight-mile-long world-class urban bicycle and pedestrian trail that connects six cultural districts throughout Downtown Indianapolis. If you want protected bike lanes, this is the place you?re going to get them!

One of the key pieces of information revealed at Friday’s announcement was the name and look of the bikes. Thanks to a significant philanthropic contribution from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, the bikes will be Pacers gold and the system will be called Pacers Bikeshare. This is the only bikeshare in the U.S. to have a professional sports team as their title sponsor and we’re pretty excited about it. NBA.com was pretty excited about it too. Pacers bikeshare will launch just days after the NBA Playoffs begin.

Another notable part about Friday’s announcement was the presence of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and the great things he had to say about bicycling and the coming of bikeshare. A growing number of people want to live in places where they can connect to unique experiences and neighborhoods without needing a car, said Mayor Ballard. Adding Pacers Bikeshare to our internationally recognized Cultural Trail will help attract, retain and connect people in Indy and take our growing bicycle culture to an entirely new level.

As a recently-named Green Lane Project city, the new bikeshare system is only one of many positive developments for bicycling in Indianapolis. PeopleForBikes is honored to be part of the launch of Pacers Bikeshare and we’re excited to get out on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail on these new wheels!

Indianapolis becomes first city to get NBA-backed bikeshare

Why is the city best known as the home of the biggest car race in the country investing in bicycling? Hmmm. We’ll make this multiple choice:

a. They know that revitalizing the downtown core means creating walkable, bikeable streets
b. A city transportation system doesn’t just mean cars anymore — reliable transit, good sidewalks, and safe bike networks are must-haves
c. They want to stop the brain drain of young, urban professionals who crave vibrant neighborhoods to live in and bike around
d. Their mayor understands that bicycling infrastructure is the cheapest, most efficient transportation option he can add to his city
e. All of the above (did you really have to ask?)

Yes, that’s right. Indianapolis is jumping on the bicycle bandwagon and I couldn’t be happier. The world-class Indianapolis Cultural Trail, an eight-mile bike/ped path that circles downtown and connects neighborhoods and cultural districts celebrated its grand opening in May. Bike share has been announced and will launch next spring. Mayor Greg Ballard has committed to building 200 miles of bike lanes by 2015 (a serious boost from the single mile of bike lane the city boasted a few years back). Another benefit? The city is nice and flat, which is good for easy bike trips around town.

I took a trip to Indianapolis last month, partly to attend a presentation on a project we funded through our grant program and partly to take a spin around the city and see how things are going, bike-wise. I came away excited about Indy’s progress and potential?and eager to see how the number of people on bikes grows with the city’s investment. Here are a few of the reasons why Indy can become a great city for bikes:

First, the Cultural Trail is awesome. It ran right by the B&B where I stayed and I sat on the front porch and watched a steady stream of people bike, run, and walk by. Take a peek at this Streetfilms video for a virtual tour and background on how Indy financed the facility.

Second, the Mayor is really committed. Nearly everyone I spoke to said Ballard wants bicycling in the city to be his legacy and he leads four community bike rides every year?including one the first week of January. Brrr.

A good network of greenways extends out from the city core; now the work is in providing connectivity among and between neighborhoods. Last year we funded a series of bicycle summits in five underserved neighborhoods to help the residents identify where they are currently riding and where they need better infrastructure. Led by the Indianapolis office of LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) and IndyCOG, the local bike advocacy group, the outcomes of these summits can help guide the city on prioritizing and building better streets for bicycling.

Third, bike share?the essential ingredient for cities serious about cycling?is coming in 2014.

Does the city still have work to do? You bet. The state legislature doesn’t seem to understand city transportation needs, street parking for cars remains sacred, and some major connectors are missing. But I have a lot of hope for a place that lets you ride your bike to the Indy 500?and park it for free.

A new future for bicycling in Indianapolis

Could a bunch of the country’s best cities for biking be towns that most Americans have never heard of?

That’s one unexpected implication of the PlacesForBikes City Ratings, which balances complex data from six sources to compare cities to one another based not on reputation but on factors like low-stress network connectivity, safety and documented public investment.

It definitely surprised us here at PeopleForBikes that Wausau, Wisc., came out as a better place to bike than Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., or Davis, Calif. But the whole point of a data-driven system is to discover things you didn’t expect.

And the fact is that smaller cities and towns have massive potential for biking. The main problem is actually that a lot of people haven’t realized it yet.

Small cities and towns have huge potential for good biking

“It’s comfortable, it’s fun and it’s convenient,” said Brad Sippel, bicycle and pedestrian planner in Wausau, population 39,000. “It takes me 7 minutes to get to work by bike and it takes me 7 minutes to get to work by car.”

That’s the story in a lot of small cities, said Kyle Wagenschutz, director of local innovation at PeopleForBikes — whether or not they’ve installed protected bike lanes and other dedicated low-stress infrastructure.

“There’s generally not a lot of people driving at high speeds in their communities, so they generally have really good safety records,” he said. “Their street networks have the bones of essentially a really strong bicycle network because of the low volumes, low speeds, particularly if a big state highway doesn’t run right through the middle of town. If it runs outside or loops around the city, that creates a natural sort of environment for the bicycle to occur.”

Where most small cities stand out: Momentum, not yet ridership

People in smaller cities and towns have biked for transportation since biking began. (Just ask Toto.) But one unique thing about small towns is that there isn’t much biking to work — in part because so many residents commute long distances to jobs.

Unfortunately, biking to work is the kind of biking Americans measure best. That’s part of the reason almost no small cities in the PlacesForBikes rating system do well on our “ridership” metric.

Instead, most of the small towns that topped our list stood out for a different metric: acceleration.

That’s our measure of how much investment cities are making in improving biking: 80 percent of it comes from the scale and variety of infrastructure and encouragement reported by city officials in the 15-question PlacesForBikes City Snapshot, and 20 percent comes from local public opinions about bike investments gathered by the annual PlacesForBikes Community Survey.

“For the last few years and the next few years we’ve been putting in 15 miles of path,” said David Littlejohn, the alternative transportation coordinator in Carmel, Indiana, population 92,000. Carmel landed the nation’s No. 3 rating for small cities, largely on the strength of its rapid investment in a low-stress biking network.

Because the “acceleration” score tracks progress with percentage changes year on year, cities with smaller low-stress networks, bike sharing systems and public bike parking inventory will find it easier to be recognized for acceleration. The effect is that it’s hard for any city to rest on laurels — and also that any city can muscle its way up in the ratings by working hard.

In a global marketplace, good biking is a tool for economic growth

In many small cities, the case for accelerating bike improvements is similar: economics.

“Our city council’s been behind this from the start,” said Andrew Lynch, a transportation planner for the Wausau Metropolitan Planning Organization. “And why is that? They have to be. … Smaller cities need to do anything they can to be attractive for people to stay there and people to come there. And bicycling is one of those.”

Littlejohn, the Carmel alternative transportation coordinator, agreed.

“We see a lot of benefits in biking,” he said. “We see it as a tool for economic development, to attract employees to our businesses and our headquarterses here. We see it as an amenity to our residents so they can have a healthy way to get around.”

In a suburban area like Carmel’s, Littlejohn said, densities may be increasing but biking often remains more viable than mass transit. Bikes are well-suited to suburbs simply because they’re more similar in nature to cars.

Small cities and towns have huge challenges to overcome, of course. Small tax bases make change difficult. Biking can seem alien or unserious. And as with all cities, there’s the ever-present risk of thinking that the status quo is good enough.

“The last five years there’s been a lot of activity,” said Kyle Kozar, the bike coordinator in Santa Monica, which landed the No. 2 PlacesForBikes rating for small cities in 2018. “We still have a lot of work to do.”

America’s Five Best Small Cities for Biking

While we’re working from home, PeopleForBikes staff members have found a multitude of ways to stay mentally and physically active. We’ve done puzzles, walked our dogs, walked our dogs again, started doing at-home yoga classes, learned new recipes — did we mention puzzles? Despite all of the day-to-day changes we’ve experienced, one thing hasn’t changed much: we still love riding our bikes. 

Looking to share some of our solo rides with our coworkers as a little inspiration, it’s no surprise we turned to Ride Spot, the navigation app and social platform we developed to enable better bike riding experiences. Check out some of the social distancing friendly rides the PeopleForBikes staff have been going on over the last few weeks:

Our COO Jenn got in a great fat bike ride up in Breckenridge. While the mountain and most other on-snow businesses closed prematurely a month ago, the bike trails were wide open!

Jordan, our government relations and accounts manager, went on a nice little loop exploring her neighborhood in Denver. 

While Congressional work on COVID-19 remedies continued at a furious pace, Federal Affairs Manager Noa was able to take some time to pedal around D.C. and enjoy the freshly blooming cherry blossoms.

Riley, our marketing coordinator, enjoyed an undulating20-mile cruise around Boulder, home of PeopleForBikes HQ.

PeopleForBikes Designer Alex (or Butters, as she’s affectionately known around the office)toured the countryside around her new Indiana homebase in Bloomington. We’re definitely going to ask her to express ship some goodies from the Sausage Shack to HQ as soon as things get back to normal. 

Ashley, our regulatory and policy analyst, took a30-mile out-and-back gravel rideand cataloged some beautiful trailside murals before enjoying a tasty post-ride beer!

Our Business and Political Engagement Manager Eric shared so many rides with us it was hard to pick a favorite, but this 40-mile leg burner with 3,500 feet of climbing was a standout — especially with those drool-worthy views of snow-covered hills. 

Jose, our marketing director, explored amountain dirt road on an out-and-back ride with his wife just outside their home near Park City, Utah. While warm temps and spring weather are (almost) becoming the norm in Boulder, there’s still plenty of snow left in Utah’s Uinta range!

JJ, director of data and technology, went hunting for dinosaurs at the Triceratops Trail in her hometown of Golden. 

PFB VP of Finance Erik headed south intoDenver for a donut and espressoand even caught some kayakers practicing their version of social distancing on the South Platte River. 

Our Director of Grants and Partnerships Zoe rolled around her neighborhood. With plenty of time on their hands being home from school, local kids took to the streets with chalk drawings, words of encouragement and ideas on how to stay healthy while being house-bound. They left biking off the list, but we’ll let it slide. 

Last but not least, Eric, one of the masterminds behind Ride Spot, shared his quick lunch ride— including directions on how to make the best cup of Joe on the go!

Looking for more inspiration? We've got you covered.

Pedaling Through The Pandemic: Staff Rides

2019 started with 11 states using the model three-class e-bike definitions. As of June 19, 22 states now define e-bikes within the three classes, effectively doubling the total in just six months. These eleven new states are: Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

A few major themes can be attributed to this success. First, states follow each others’ leads and seek regional consistency in how they treat e-bikes, so there’s momentum. Second, the e-bike market is booming and states recognize that riders need consistent and common-sense rules for where they can be ridden.

Last but not least, the unwavering support from the industry led directly to these wins. Without the above and beyond contributions raised by the BPSA E-Bike Committee to build on-the-ground teams in each of these states, making this much progress in one year would not have been possible. The companies that supported the e-bike initiative in 2019 are: Accell North America, Allegion/Kryptonite, Bosch, Brose, Bulls, Cycling Sports Group, DT Swiss, Envelo, Fantic, Felt, Foldaway Solutions, Fox, Genze, Giant, GM, Harley Davidson, Hi-Power Cycles, Ohm Cycles, Oregon E-Bikes, Pacific Cycle, Pedego, REI, Riese and Muller, Rocky Mountain, Shimano, Specialized, Sport Technik/M1, SRAM, Suzhou Bafang, Taioku, Tempo Bicycles, Tern, TranzX, Trek, Yamaha and Yuba.

In 2015, the BPSA and PeopleForBikes began this national campaign to pass clear e-bike legislation in all 50 states in order to create stability in the marketplace. E-bike manufacturers put aside competitive differences to develop the three class system around critical issues like motor assist, pedal assist, wattage and operational rules.

Good e-bike laws are completely changing business models and customer bases. In states where the three class system of e-bikes has passed, suppliers report that sales of e-bikes more than double. On the local level, bike retailers in states with this law report that having a statewide three class e-bike system helps their team clearly explain where e-bikes are and aren’t allowed, and e-bike sales help offset the loss of revenue due to other declining categories.

Most importantly good e-bike laws are leading to better e-bike access. For example, after Wyoming legislators passed the state’s three class e-bike law in February, Wyoming State Parks decided to allow Class 1 eMTBs anywhere a traditional mountain bike is allowed, and even opted to conduct a Class 2 pilot project. A number of local trail access wins from Virginia to Arizona can be attributed to land managers recognizing the increase of eMTB use and creating consistency with the three classes of e-bikes and state laws.

22 States Now Follow the Three Class E-bike System, Doubling Total in Six Months

Most Americans drive cars to work only to sit at a desk all day with little activity required. No wonder we don’t get enough exercise. This has been true for a long time, but there is a solution, and it’s linked to infrastructure. Instead of trying to figure out when and how to get to the gym more often, what if physical activity could play a role in safe transportation to and from school, and work, and errands? What if exercise was built into, and even helped out with, our daily routine?

In November, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. The science-based guidelines recommend amounts and types of physical activity necessary for Americans to improve their overall health and avoid the risk of chronic disease. The Center for Disease Control has made resources available to help communities include physical activity in everyday life. The Physical Activity Community Strategies and Resources website has ideas about building environments that make activity possible when it comes to accessing schools, stores, and public transportation. The goal is to make it easier for people on bicycles, in wheelchairs, or walking to safely and seamlessly get to where they need to go, all while improving their health.

Among the CDC’s recommendations for environments rich with activity-friendly routes and accessible every day destinations, there are several real-world examples — places that already have, or are working toward complete networks that promote physical activity. One such example is Atlanta’s BeltLine, a 22-mile loop of multi-use trails, light rail, and numerous parks, all built on old railroad corridors that surround the city. At the center of the project is affordable housing. This helps ensure that the cultural, economic, and health benefits are available for all. Some of these infrastructure projects are ambitious, but the payoff for the city is gigantic. And if a place doesn’t have the budget to take on BeltLine-sized changes, there are easier ways to start. Regardless of scope, attention to creating complete networks that make physical activity easier, is energy well spent.

In recognizing that the easiest way to add physical activity is to integrate it into transportation, the CDC acknowledges that to make that possible, people need to feel safe getting where they want to go. For some, infrastructure is already the most important factor in choosing where to live. The network that connects them to the things they need is critical to their entire way of life.

Katrina Gossett Kelly is an attorney at Indianapolis’ Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, one of the largest law firms in the country. She was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which has required her to use a wheelchair since she was three.

A year ago, Kelly and her husband adopted a son who also has SMA and uses a wheelchair. They choose to live in the heart of Indianapolis for many reasons, but at the top of the list is the infrastructure downtown. While Kelly needs assistance to do many things in her day-to-day routine, she gets around independently without driving. She says, “The Cultural Trail is an amazing way to get around downtown. They keep it cleared of snow and well maintained, so when I can, I choose to go on that path.”

Indianapolis officially opened their Cultural Trail in May of 2013. It consists of eight miles of trail and connects 6 cultural districts. Kelly says that bike lanes on the streets are not specifically helpful for people with wheelchairs, because it puts them at odds with people on bikes. But the Cultural Trail is wide enough, and well protected, so everyone can share the space. For Kelly and her family, who often use service dogs, it’s important to have ample room to travel. Kelly adds, “The whole design has the people using the trail in mind: any time the trail intersects with car traffic, cars aren’t permitted to turn right on red — they can only turn with an arrow.” These details add to the feeling of safety, and encourage people of all ages and abilities to use the trail.

The new activity guidelines include a chapter dedicated to the needs of older adults. This section includes special considerations such as balance, flexibility, and how to deal with injury. In order for older adults to maintain necessary activity, many times they need specific accommodations.

Shared-space infrastructure helps a diverse range of people with limited mobility. Carol A. Kachadoorian, a senior planner at Toole Design Group, specializes in active transportation for older adults. She’s been working in multimodal transportation planning for over 30 years. “You don’t really know what it’s like to be an older person until you are one.” Kachadoorian is 66 and doesn’t feel like she’s slowing down much herself, but does admit, “My hearing isn’t perfect, and my eyesight requires simple signs with big letters.” She’s becoming aware of the little things that help or hinder her from getting around.

There are easy ways to tweak infrastructure so that opportunities are opened for older adults looking to get around without a car, and add physical activity to their routines. Many older adults just need more room because they move a little slower, don’t like to make sharp turns, and are uncomfortable biking with large groups. Wider bike facilities allow for easier passing and the ability to use three-wheelers. Slightly longer street crossings allow for less intimidation when encountering car traffic.

Kachadoorian’s work centers around helping people understand what it feels like to be an older adult, or a person with slightly different needs — just being aware. She says that inclusive infrastructure has to do with wider facilities, but also things like landscaping decisions. Rocks or mulch that spill onto a path can cause people to trip or become uneasy on a bike. Landscaping should be contained with barriers to allow all people to feel safe. Above all, Kachadoorian says, “Private property owners shouldn’t pay for sidewalk installation and maintenance.” This puts low-income communities in a burdensome situation because they can’t afford to adequately maintain the areas where people walk. This can cause older adults especially, to feel trapped in their home, or forced to walk on the street in unsafe situations.  

According to the CDC’s Community Strategies, to increase and maintain necessary physical activity, the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends “environmental approaches that combine one or more interventions to improve pedestrian or bicycle transportation systems (active-friendly routes) with one or more land use and community design interventions (everyday destinations).” In other words, complete networks that allow people to be active and safely go about their daily lives can improve the health of most Americans. We already have significant data that shows the annual individual medical cost of inactivity ($622) is more than 2 ½ times the annual cost per user of bike and pedestrian trails ($235). There are endless benefits to getting physical activity via transportation. When it comes to new infrastructure, wider spaces and attention to detail allow for more inclusive facilities, and overall, healthier communities.  

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