We’re making biking better in Louisiana 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 May 2019, we helped pass a measure in New Orleans that allocated funding towards improving, maintaining and operating parks and recreational facilities, which improved the Audubon neighborhood’s park systems and public spaces for biking.

The Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) awarded $75,040 in grants to 10 projects that will reach and engage traditionally underserved populations through shared micromobility. This is the seventh round of mini-grant funding the national bicycle advocacy organization PeopleForBikes will administer through its partner role with BBSP.

"Better Bike Share mini-grants allow us to support short-term, impactful projects that directly improve access to shared micromobility for lower-income and/or BIPOC communities," said Tangier Barnes-Wright, senior partnership and program manager at PeopleForBikes and BBSP. "We are inspired by the 2022 grantees and look forward to learning from their projects and sharing lessons broadly across the nation."

The following projects were selected by a grants panel to receive funding: 

Increasing Low-Income and Latinx Ridership on Portland’s BIKETOWN | $9,400
Community Cycling Center, Portland, OR

The Community Cycling Center will partner with Andando en Bicicletas y Caminando (ABC) to increase BIKETOWN bike share access through signups and education in low-income communities of color. Over the course of three sessions, 10 neighborhood leaders will be trained on the process of signing up for reduced-fare membership, positioning them as a trusted resource for other community members.

The Go Hub Community Mobility Rituals | $9,000
Equiticity, Chicago, IL

In partnership with Divvy, Superpedestrian and local community-based organizations, Equiticity will host a monthly bike ride and scooter roll. Each ride will have a different theme, socializing participants around the act of mobility and increasing a sense of safety, ownership and autonomy. Depending on the ride, Divvy bikes or Superpedestrian scooters will be provided and participants will learn about each system and its corresponding low-income membership program. 

Golden Rollers: Introduction to BCycle and Micromobility for Older Adults | $5,640
Ghisallo Cycling Initiative, San Antonio, TX

The Golden Rollers program will provide annual bike share memberships, training, guided rides and safety equipment at no cost to 24 seniors and older adults with the aim of increasing ridership. The program will be based out of a senior center adjacent to a BCycle bike share station. This mini-grant will allow interested participants to gain familiarity with the BCycle system and access their fleet of two-wheeled, electric-assist bicycles.

Art, Bikes and Books for All! | $9,500
Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, Nashville, TN

The Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, the Nashville Public Library and the Music City Dope Pedalers, a majority-BIPOC bike club, will partner to grow the existing Bikes and Books for All program, which makes checking out a BCycle bike as easy as borrowing a book. Funding will help the program expand to more library branches, create bike routes and host a community bike ride with art bikes designed by local artists. 

Blue Bikes Community Liaisons Program | $6,000
Blue Krewe, New Orleans, LA

Blue Bikes will recruit liaisons from the three neighborhoods within its system that rate highest according to the New Orleans’ Bike Equity Index, which helps identify underserved, priority areas. The liaisons will participate in monthly training and be compensated for leading one community outreach activity of their choosing each month from June to November. They will also represent Blue Bikes at neighborhood events, sharing information about the system and gathering feedback on how to improve bike share.

Wheels to Work | $7,000
Houston Bike Share, Houston, TX

Modeled on Indego bike share’s Wheels to Work program in Philadelphia, this mini-grant will support employment and increase health and mobility through bike share. Houston Bike Share will work directly with New Hope Housing’s Harrisburg location to combine services such as resume writing and soft skills classes alongside bike share system training and bike safety. Participants will receive a free BCycle membership and participate in group rides designed to be inclusive.

Building Mobility Justice in Pittsburgh | $9,000
Bike Share Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

This mini-grant will fund aspects of the POGOH bike share system’s equity initiatives, including cash payment administration, support for its $10/year low-income Mobility Justice Pass and its 2022 Community Day event execution. The Community Day will bring families and the neighborhood together around outdoor activities, food, music and a helmet giveaway, raising awareness about POGOH and the Mobility Justice Pass. 

Equity Memberships | $8,500
Tulsa Bike Share/This Machine, Tulsa, OK

This Machine will partner with local nonprofits, including the Tulsa Housing Authority and two prison alternative programs for female drug offenders, to provide a form of reliable transportation to access essential services. The pilot program will offer reduced-priced memberships to folks working with its partner organizations and anyone with a SNAP or SoonerCare card. The goal is to collect comprehensive data before applying for funding to make the equity membership program permanent.

West Dayton Community Outreach | $6,000
Bike Miami Valley, Dayton, OH

The Dayton Bike Share system is expanding by adding hubs in the city’s priority areas of West and Northwest Dayton. These geographies were historically redlined and are still today majority Black communities. This mini-grant will fund work on the front end of that expansion, gathering input from residents, providing marketing materials and helmets for the demo days and stipends for door-to-door outreach in the community.

Beautification of Downtown BCycle Station | $5,000
Des Moines Street Collective/Des Moines BCycle, Des Moines, IA

In partnership with ArtForce Iowa, the Des Moines Street Collective hopes to bring refugee, first-generation youth to bike share through the beautification of a downtown BCycle station. Marginalized youth will have a hand in the entire creative process, from the initial brainstorm to the final product. Every youth artist will participate in two group rides, receiving bike-riding lessons, an annual BCycle membership and a helmet and bike lock.

The Better Bike Share Partnership is funded by The JPB Foundation as a collaboration between the City of Philadelphia, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the PeopleForBikes Foundation to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. Learn more at BetterBikeShare.org.

Better Bike Share Partnership Awards $75,000 in Grants

In 2018, PeopleForBikes set out to accelerate the construction of mobility networks in five U.S. cities — Austin, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Denver, Colorado and Providence, Rhode Island. The project, dubbed the Final Mile, in partnership with Wend Collective, was successful in achieving that goal. It also created a playbook for any city looking to quickly build quality, connected bike infrastructure.

The Final Mile utilized a dynamic, accelerated approach to combine existing political will and untapped community support for bicycling by providing the necessary resources for cities to rapidly accelerate the pace of bike network implementation.

Austin completed 115 miles of new bike lanes to achieve a 50% build-out of its All Ages and Abilities Mobility Network in only 24 months.

Denver constructed 100 miles of new bikeways, tripling the pace at which its planned network of interconnected, low-stress bikeways was being built. 

New Orleans managed to construct 27 miles of new bikeways and offered the highest concentration of new protected bike lanes in the program.

Providence constructed 43 miles of new bikeways, with an additional 22 miles planned for construction in 2022. 

Pittsburgh completed 50 new network miles and is dedicated to completing another 15 miles in 2022.

The Final Mile program offers a unique model of investment designed to shape local policy through political action. In the five funded cities, the program helped inform growing interest and support for bicycling, aided local leaders in shaping their goals and contributed to national momentum in favor of improved bicycling infrastructure. 

Below are our top lessons learned from the Final Mile.

Cities are capable of achieving tremendous goals when they have the means and will to do so. The Final Mile program asked these cities to find the will (through community-driven advocacy) so local leaders supported by PeopleForBikes could provide the means (funding and expertise).

With a bold vision and sufficient resources, cities are able to establish more ambitious goals and achieve them. 

Balance must be struck between elected officials, city staff, advocacy groups, community leaders and residents to achieve success. 

Every stakeholder group has a role to play in creating the initiatives. The Final Mile framework helped streamline processes to move the campaigns forward quickly.  

Every project faces unique hurdles, including city administration structure, the way resources are allocated and how communities are engaged in the decision making process. 

The Final Mile funded parallel strategies in all five cities, but approaches will vary to meet the needs of each individual city looking to achieve success. 

Developing inclusive opportunities to comment is the most efficient way to deliver real feedback to officials from the people most affected by their decisions. 

Amplifying supportive voices helps highlight what is most important to the community.

While all cities are unique in their challenges and resources, much of the Final Mile programming can be scaled and applied to cities of all sizes across the U.S. to make connected bike networks achievable anywhere. 

Connected bike networks still benefit people who will never use them. Effectively communicating the universal benefits of quality bike infrastructure is crucial in building communitywide consensus. 

Bike networks add value to communities by increasing opportunity, relieving congestion, providing recreation opportunities and more — the benefits stretch far beyond those who chose to move by bike.  

Learn more about the Final Mile by visiting finalmile.peopleforbikes.org.

A Proven Model for Accelerating Bike Networks

These 2021 builds are all more than just bike lanes — they represent political wins, Complete Streets projects and crucial connections that make up comprehensive bike networks.

In 2018, PeopleForBikes set out to create a proven model for how U.S. cities can systematically increase bicycle mobility. The playbook included tapping into existing community support for biking, amplifying that support with paid communications and thoughtful neighborhood-based engagement and empowering elected leaders to accelerate bike network construction. Three years later, we have tangible results — in Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Providence and Pittsburgh — that prove this strategy works.

The five cities above were part of a two-year partnership with PeopleForBikes dubbed The Final Mile. The project sought to accelerate the installation of complete mobility networks by providing cities with the necessary financial resources, as well as tactically helping them overcome the public opinion hurdles that too often delay progress. All of the participating cities understood that change was needed to meet mounting transportation needs and the urgency of climate change — and that complete bike networks were the best course of action.

Spoiler alert: All of our best bikeways for 2021 are in Final Mile cities. While that may not read as fair and impartial (sorry, Bike Twitter), we believe that bike lanes don’t live in isolation and that a commitment to a complete, safe and accessible network is what’s going to truly help transform bicycling in America. None of our picks are perfect, but they are all significant in their respective cities, key pieces of the built environment that help escalate sustainable momentum for bicycling.

This protected bike lane, which was completed in October, connects downtown Denver to the westside Sun Valley neighborhood. For those unfamiliar with Denver, this project is a big deal due to the presence of interstate highway I-25, which divides the two areas, as well as the critical link between a more established downtown bike network and low-income neighborhoods to the southwest that have traditionally been underinvested in relative to other parts of the city.

“The Sun Valley neighborhood, in particular, is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city, and also one of the poorest,” said Jill Locantore, executive director of the Denver Streets Partnership. “It is really very close to downtown, as the crow flies, but until the 13th Ave. bike lane was installed, it was very difficult to get from Sun Valley to downtown via bike, particularly for new bike riders or families with kids who really need a high comfort facility to feel safe.  So the bike lane makes a whole new way of getting around viable for the folks in that neighborhood.” 

The bike lane was also upgraded based on community feedback, which speaks to the importance of outreach and engagement amongst community members and partners, as well as a broad media campaign. Denver set an ambitious goal of building a 990-mile connected, safe and comfortable bikeway system — 100 miles have been completed in the last two years alone, tripling the pace at which its planned network would be built. The West 13th Avenue route is a key part of the overall vision.

“[West 13th Avenue] provides a high comfort bike facility and connection between two crucial aspects of the Denver bike network,” said David C. Pulsipher, Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI) city planner supervisor. “It connects downtown Denver with the South Platte River Trail, which carries a high volume of bicycle traffic both locally and regionally in the Denver Metro Area.”

Read more: How the Final Mile cities are working to break down barriers to bicycling.

2. South Water Street
Providence, Rhode Island

South Water Street used to be a highway ramp, under siege from speeding cars for years. Now, it’s a pedestrian-friendly destination. Far more than just a bike lane, the thoroughfare is a Complete Street, with new pedestrian crossings that make connecting to nearby Memorial Park safer and ADA-compliant, as well as bus islands that greatly improve people’s transit experience. The traffic calming has been a wild success: A study done one week after the project was completed found that there was an 84-96% reduction in the percent of vehicles traveling faster than 30 mph, a life-saving measure by any account. 

“While this project faced significant pushback from businesses, institutions and a State DOT interested in preserving the status quo, neighborhood residents and forward-thinking elected officials were able to fight through it to the project's widely celebrated conclusion,” said Liza Burkin, lead organizer of the Providence Streets Coalition, which was instrumental in engaging residents around the project. 

South Water Street’s infrastructure improvements mark a return to people-focused design for the area, which have not only strengthened Providence’s sense of community, but also help sustain momentum for 22 miles of bike lanes slated for construction in 2022. Crucially, the new bikeway connects the recently completed Michael Van Leesten Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge — and new bicycle infrastructure on the other side of the bridge in downtown Providence — to the East Bay Bike Path, one of the state’s most popular trails for both recreation and commuting.

“The South Water Street bikeway closes a critical gap in Providence’s envisioned urban trail network,” said Martina Haggerty, director of special projects at the City of Providence Department of Planning and Development. “By connecting our neighborhoods to one another and regional assets like the East Bay Bike Path, we’re expanding access for thousands of people of all ages and abilities.”

Read more: A 1.5-mile stretch of Broad Street in Providence, Rhode Island, is undergoing a holistic mobility upgrade and community engagement is an integral part of the plan.

3. Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In a city with more than seven miles of protected bike lanes, some built in 2021, why would we honor this painted standard lane? While Smallman Street certainly isn’t one of the best bikeways in the true sense of the word, it does represent a significant win for bikes. In an era where even transportation is politicized, that counts for a lot. 

Whereas before this four-block stretch of Smallman Street was completely wild, the redesign made it a little less chaotic. The painted bike lanes were accompanied by sidewalk improvements, new lighting and new crosswalks, making the entire area more appealing to pedestrians and bicyclists alike. Importantly, these improvements are located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Strip District, which helped push the conversation forward regarding the need to create safe bike connections through the area. Scott Bricker, the executive director of BikePGH, is cautiously optimistic about what this accomplishment might mean for the district.

“Smallman Street is both significant and not very comfortable, especially with a bunch of people parking incorrectly,” said Bricker, noting that it’s designated back-in angle only. “But it did win some contested space for bikes at a time when the city had no appetite to carve out space for bikes on that street.”

While there are bike lanes at the periphery, there are currently none that extend through the Strip District, cutting off a neighborhood that’s undergoing major economic development. While a painted bike lane there might seem like a small gain, it established biking in an area that’s coming alive with art and restaurants — and it’s led to new community engagement opportunities for advocates and the city to build on. It's Bike Pittsburgh's hope that 2022 will kickstart a broader neighborhood planning process and be the year to connect the Strip to the surrounding bike lane network.

Read more: How Pittsburgh’s Move PGH pilot is making different forms of shared mobility easily accessible — and car ownership obsolete.

4. North Peters - Elysian Fields Bikeway Corridor
New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans suffered a lot of unforeseen challenges when it came to accelerating the buildout of its bike network, including the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in 2019, a cyber-attack in early 2020, damage caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021, complications with FEMA roadway projects and, of course, COVID-19, which hit the region especially hard. Despite the setbacks, city officials and the New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition formed a potent partnership that achieved far more together than either would have been able to accomplish alone. A prime example is the North Peters - Elysian Fields bikeway corridor, a roadway redesign with multiple safety and mobility benefits.

“This bikeway, like others in the Mayor’s Moving New Orleans program, resulted from listening to residents throughout the network planning and design processes,” said Jennifer E. Ruley, mobility and safety program lead at the city’s Department of Public Works. “Because Elysian Fields connects to other parts of our low-stress bikeway network, even more bike trips can be served.” 

This bikeway, in the historic Marigny neighborhood, was completed through the conversion of a six-lane roadway to four lanes and the introduction of a parking-protected bike lane. Prior to this work, the .8-mile corridor had two bicyclist fatalities, one pedestrian fatality and numerous crashes involving injuries in the last seven years. For many, including Dan Farve, the former executive director of Bike Easy, the transformation of this stretch of Elysian Fields has been nothing short of amazing. 

"I used to avoid it when riding, and now I go out of my way to enjoy the fun and comfy bikeway,” said Farve. “It gets me right to Crescent Park and — with the great, connected improvements to N. Peters — it's an easy shot in and out of the French Quarter."

Residents and business owners alike have attested to how much the redesign has benefited the area, noting how much easier and safer it is for folks to move around — not a small thing in any city, let alone one that sees a lot of tourists. This street transformation demonstrates that even busy streets can be made more comfortable for people who walk, bike, drive and use transit. 

Read more: New Orleans’ Bicycle Equity Index was instrumental in the planning of its proposed 550-mile bike network.

5. Longhorn Dam Shared Use Path
Austin, Texas

Austin is the clear standout among our five Final Mile cities. In two years, the Texas capitol finished 115 miles of new bike lanes and the city’s 400-mile all ages and abilities bicycle network is currently more than halfway complete with another 200 miles to be done by 2025. By then, 83% of Austin’s residents will be able to easily walk, bike or scoot using the AAA network, connecting them to destinations throughout the city.

The Longhorn Dam Shared Use Path is a prime example of taking what a major barrier to biking and transforming it into a bikeway where anyone, from an 8-year-old or their 80-year-old grandmother, might feel comfortable bicycling. Among the east side residents that bore the brunt of the route’s previous safety risks, there has been a longtime desire to see the connection finally realized. After substantial community engagement, these immediate, interim improvements have been made while a brand new “wishbone” bicycle and pedestrian bridge is designed and built over the next five years. The pandemic prompted and accelerated action on the bikeway, which serves as an important connector between other bike paths.

“Our top priority is to improve the safety, comfort and connectivity for people on foot, using bicycles and personal mobility devices to get around Austin,” says Rob Spillar, director of Austin’s Department of Transportation. “This project shows what we can get done when we combine thoughtful community feedback, responsive agile design principles and data-driven programming. It also demonstrates how we can respond to areas of our community with the greatest need, making more equitable investments city-wide.”

Read more: Austin Will Be America’s Next Great Biking City

These builds are all more than just bike lanes — they represent political wins, Complete Streets projects and crucial connections that make up comprehensive bike networks.

The Best New Bikeways of 2021

In 2019, the Crescent City joined forces with Toole Design to let equity lead in the planning of its bike network.

Many cities have taken to using the term “equity” when describing transportation priorities and “equitable” when referring to the types of transit systems or bike networks they hope to create.

“The problem with that is that you have to define ‘equity’ and what it means in each community,” said Jennifer Ruley, mobility and safety lead engineer with the City of New Orleans. “We had to figure out how to define it for the purposes of planning out our bike network, particularly around access and safety and all the reasons people either choose to use a bike or have to use one.”

While researching, Ruley stumbled upon the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Equity Index (BEI), a 2015 framework that attempted to measure equity in a city’s bike network using U.S. Census American Community Survey data. Compiled by Rachel Prelog, at the time an urban planning student at Texas A&M University, the BEI relies on five demographic indicators: transit dependency (those without access to a household vehicle), children under the age of 18, adults 65 and older, race/ethnicity and income below the federal poverty level. The BEI then determines where residents with those demographic characteristics live relative to the location of existing bike infrastructure. In this context, equity was determined by who has infrastructure near where they live and who does not.

At the end of 2019, Toole Design was brought in to collaborate with New Orleans on its bike plan, helping with all facets of the process, from the initial network analysis to the design of low-stress, separated bike lanes. Included in its scope of work was an equity analysis, which ultimately became one of the guiding principles of the plan alongside such factors as whether or not potential routes addressed connectivity, were useful or could be built in a timely manner. Using the League’s BEI as a starting point, New Orleans was keen on creating its own index. 

“The conversation evolved to how we wanted to prioritize the different components of the analysis — whether we wanted them to be equally weighted or not — and what that might look like for New Orleans,” said Ruley. “We identified six or seven different hotspots or areas where the equity analysis was really pointing towards as priorities for bike network connectivity.”

Toole began working with city staff to draft a network plan that would help connect these hotspots to the proposed bike network. Ultimately, the firm identified more than 550 miles that would need to be built or upgraded, including 285 miles of protected bike lanes. New Orleans had already committed to building out 75 miles within a two-year timeframe, so the challenge then became prioritizing 75 miles of projects within that network that made meaningful connections from the get-go and could be implemented quickly. 

To identify priority projects, Toole adjusted the original BEI’s methodology to more heavily weigh the needs of people who experience compound disadvantages that reduce access to transportation. 

“When we have somebody without a car, that’s under 18, that’s a person of color and living below 80% of the median household income — they have several of these factors that increase their potential reliance on transit, walking or biking,” said Toole Project Manager Adam Wood. “We wanted to see those areas of extreme [need] and have that factor in some way.”

Ruley hoped to also identify communities overburdened with chronic diseases, but having previously worked for a public health nonprofit, she recognized the struggle to accurately obtain good data at a sub-neighborhood level. Since race and socioeconomic status are known indicators of things like hypertension, heart disease, obesity and respiratory issues, the BEI got the city closer to identifying an array of concerns without having all the data available. 

“Health data was important to us so that we weren’t just focusing on transportation but biking as a tool for fitness and health,” said Ruley, adding that when COVID-19 hit, many of the hotspot communities saw more deaths. “It just reiterated the need to think about what we do using a bigger picture.”

After running its revised BEI, the city began a community engagement campaign, letting people know that it was using data to guide its decisions. By reaching out to nonprofits and community groups, the city worked to cultivate partnerships with local advocacy organizations and build trust, operating transparently and incorporating feedback. 

“Building those relationships was crucial to getting more people involved,” said Ruley. “It paid off in ways we didn’t expect, such as converting a number of people and other organizations that didn’t directly align with bicycle improvements but they aligned in a different way, whether it was physical health or economic impacts.”

Although the city is behind schedule on the completion of its 75-mile network, largely due to complications presented by the pandemic and Hurricane Ida, it was able to complete the Algiers Protected Bike Lane Network. The Algiers neighborhood, one of the city’s oldest and the only one located on the West Bank of the Mississippi, had a high BEI score and was ripe for investment. The lane build-outs there are a shining example of what New Orleans set out to do: Engage the community around safe, connected bikeways that could be built fast in areas that needed them the most. 

Learn more about the city’s accomplishments in Algiers in our Advocacy Academy video below:

While the city and Toole are happy with how the BEI turned out and New Orlean’s bike plan in general, Ruley and Wood see room for improvement. In our conversations, both noted the limitations of census data: It shows where people live, but it doesn’t show the routes they would take to access essential services, such as grocery stores, medical facilities or schools. In some cases, building a connection through a wealthy, white neighborhood might actually be the best option for increasing access for historically underserved neighborhoods.

“The data isn’t telling you where people go, need to go or would like to go,” said Ruley, touching on the fact that better data is needed alongside a comprehensive outreach strategy. “Part of the work is also figuring out a way to engage people around those issues.”

Higher quality transportation data — such as that generated through surveys, focus groups, polling or traffic data — is costly to obtain but would greatly benefit any index. Community meetings that touch on this information are biased towards those who show up or are invited to attend, so while important, they’re no stand-in for better data. Ideally, bicycle plans should incorporate both. In addition to procuring more detailed data related to people’s travel patterns, Ruley wishes she had been able to do more engagement, perhaps offering childcare or free food as incentives for folks to attend meetings. 

Still, New Orleans remains a prime example of how data can be baked into a bicycle plan with the overall goal of creating more equitable outcomes. Both Ruley and Wood view the New Orleans BEI as a good first-case study and Toole continues to refine its approach to evaluating equity in other cities, including Austin, Texas. As another example, he points to Portland, Oregon’s Equity Matrix, which used census data in a similar fashion. One of Wood’s chief regrets, however, pertains to the way planners and policymakers tend to stop at measuring where people live, when truly analyzing equity requires measuring the outcomes that decisions have on peoples' lives.

“It’s problematic to throw the word ‘equity’ in — it implies putting a bike lane in a neighborhood will inherently increase equity when that’s not really true,” said Wood. “I regret that we couldn't go further to truly measure the equity of current conditions and of the [bike] plan's decisions, because we were limited in data, time and resources. As planners, we want repeatable processes for consistency, but they can overly simplify an incredibly complex challenge.”

In New Orleans, the BEI factored into infrastructure and planning decisions, which was an appropriate use and should be a baseline best practice for any city. For comprehensive guidance on incorporating equity throughout the planning process, Wood recommends referencing research — such as “Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes” or “Performance-Based Methodology for Evaluating Equity for Transportation System Users” — and adapting ready-made methodologies to the place and project resources. 

The BEI’s limitations notwithstanding, all cities should use data to help guide actions with the intent of increasing equity. Not only is it a known method for removing bias in the planning process, but it will always be preferable to simply paying lip service without any structure or framework. What New Orleans recognized was that data must be coupled with inclusive engagement. Unless you’re involving the community you seek to serve in the planning process and humanizing your census data, equitable outcomes will remain out of reach. 

A candid conversation with Charles T. Brown, the lead investigator of a new, groundbreaking report on barriers to biking in the U.S.

Even without the upsurge brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. bicycling is on the rise. As the number of bicyclists and bike trips steadily grows, however, communities still struggle to court diverse ridership and create truly inclusive bike cultures. Plus, for many Americans, bicycling remains completely out of reach due to persistent social and physical barriers.

It’s these barriers that a research team, led by Charles T. Brown of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers University, set out to identify. The 2018-2019 study was commissioned by PeopleForBikes as part of an existing effort, dubbed the Big Jump, to encourage the development and implementation of bike infrastructure across 10 U.S. cities.

“We wanted to understand the reasons why certain populations choose to bicycle and why others do not,” said Brown. “Consistent with that, what infrastructure and incentives, financial or otherwise, would be needed to encourage those who do not bicycle to start, and for those that do bicycle to bicycle more?”

The Big Jump focused on helping communities build strong local partnerships and Brown’s study built on that work by soliciting those partners to convene small focus groups — made up of both community members and businesses — for open-ended discussions. Brown and his colleagues were thus able to gain an in-depth understanding of participants’ perceptions and attitudes towards bicycling.

Where Do We Go From Here? Breaking Down Barriers to Bicycling in the U.S.

Brown, who has devoted his 15-plus-year career to working at the intersection of transportation, health and equity, is widely considered a thought leader in creating safe, equitable and inclusive communities. Keep reading for an honest discussion about barriers to biking in the U.S.

PeopleForBikes: With this study, what void in the research were you trying to fill?

Charles T. Brown: For the most part, prior research had approached the community separate from businesses. We thought it’d be important to hear not only from the residents but also from the businesses to create a clear picture of what the barriers and the possibilities are in regards to cycling in each community.

Why use a qualitative approach in your research?

My preference is a more qualitative approach because it gives you the ability to dig deeper into what the real answers or issues are. With a quantitative survey, you can certainly capture the opinions of more people, but we were more interested in the depth of responses than the number of people surveyed. Focus groups also allow people to network and build relationships and partnerships that may outlast this study and many others. This is imperative in under-resourced communities.

How has your lived experience as a bike rider informed your work?

I've always been into biking recreationally; however, prior to this job, I’d never considered biking for utilitarian purposes. This had a lot to do with the fact that I’d never lived in a community where it was considered safe to bicycle to and from work, given the spatial mismatch between my residence and my job, as well as the unsafe infrastructure. For me, biking has always been an ideal way to spend time with family and friends. Many African Americans also primarily view the bicycle as a recreational device, not necessarily as a utilitarian one — that’s pretty consistent with the research.

How has your lived experience as a Black man informed your work?

It made me keenly aware of issues, such as the lack of infrastructure and maintenance in BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] communities, along with discriminatory enforcement and the importance of representation for racial minorities that lack it. Religious and sexual minorities, too. I came to this work with an understanding that bicycling infrastructure had been perceived, promoted and prioritized predominately in high-income, white communities. As a result, many people of color don’t feel that biking, particularly non-recreational cycling, is for them. My perspective has led me to do research that truly gets to the root causes of these barriers to biking for BIPOC. 

Which of the five recommendations do you think is the most important?

I think the most important one is this need to meaningfully engage with historically marginalized communities and, most importantly, do it on their turf. I would also add: on their terms. There exists a segment of our community who don't get an opportunity to truly enjoy the benefits of bicycling and the freedoms that come with it. A lot of this has to do with the fact that they have been systematically marginalized and thus, have been prevented from enjoying that freedom.

If we are to grow this movement in the way that we really would like to, we have to be humble and empathetic enough to meet people on their terms so that we can create an environment that best serves their needs. For me, that's what it means to be equitable and inclusive. That is the most important recommendation because right now it is by far the biggest hole or gap in our processes and approach to cycling in America. Where America fails, so have we in bicycling.

Here’s what’s surprising: We’ve known the answers. There has been very little progress in terms of removing the barriers that have been identified in study after study. That's surprising because the bicycling community tends to be one that is socially and politically progressive. And yet it still has not moved us. It hasn’t moved us even an iota forward in regards to removing or reducing the systemic barriers around biking in BIPOC and low-income communities.

What do you think it’s going to take for real change on this front?

It is going to take really bold and courageous action by all of us to be the change we’d like to see in this country. We need a reparation-style infrastructure package in BIPOC and low-income communities. That package needs to include bicycle infrastructure and pedestrian infrastructure, plus investments in public transit and public art. We also need to demystify cycling. Right now, it's looked at as a white-only thing or as a thing that only poor people do.

Why are these persistent stereotypes so harmful?

Because these persistent stereotypes are just that: stereotypes. They don’t reflect the reality of cycling in America. For instance, what you see is not a lack of cyclists of color. Your perception is clouded by the reality of your racially segregated community. Few, however, make a connection between that reality and the reality that the same systems that created segregated communities allowed barriers to active transportation infrastructure in BIPOC communities. In some of the cities in which we conducted these focus groups, they're very racially segregated, and those people saw — for the most part — the culture and the people that were dominant there.

Going back to that recommendation you believe is most important — can you outline what “meaningful engagement” looks like?

Meaningful engagement takes into consideration the language in which the meeting will be conducted, the time of day of the meeting, whether or not it's accessible for persons with disabilities and the location. I’m not just talking about physical location, but rather the organization responsible for the meeting and its history, which may or may not be deemed trustworthy by the community that you’re trying to engage.

It also applies to the prioritization of the items that are on the agenda and the flexibility organizers have in accommodating input received from the community. For example, a lot of times we’ll go out to talk about bike lanes and the community wants to talk about crime. If you're not well versed in the various ways in which this work is intersectional, you may not see the importance of addressing a crime question within a bicycle discussion.

Lastly, meaningful engagement has to involve the sharing of power. Sometimes it’s important for the community to have the autonomy to host a meeting to determine its location, its time, its language, and provide valuable input on resource allocation. In short, sometimes you just have to listen. Active listening is a very important component of meaningful engagement.

What’s the low-hanging fruit a city can tackle today?

Metaphorically speaking, low-income and communities of color have been fed low-hanging fruit for far too long. Unfortunately, this has not resulted in equitable and inclusive access for BIPOC communities at the same rate it has in other communities. Therefore, it is time for cities to climb the tree to get the fruit that is higher up so that real systemic change can happen and be sustainable for a longer time. But for the sake of discussion, the low-hanging fruit should be safe and accessible bicycling parking and lockers, lighting, routine maintenance, bike lanes and signage and the establishment of an external equity working group.  

What’s going to take the most work or cost the most?

I think that a shift in the dominant culture is going to take the most work, but equitable and inclusive bicycle infrastructure will cost the most — particularly considering the dire need to fully address the magnitude of historic and contemporary disinvestments in low-income and communities of color. However, it is a cost we should welcome with open arms, given the gross disparities in traffic deaths and injuries, as well as the lack of access to healthy food and nutrition, parks and open spaces, and social connectedness in these communities. These investments will result in the highest return in investment socially, economically, politically, environmentally and in terms of overall health outcomes. We must act swiftly, however, as these outcomes are indicative of our priorities—priorities that have benefited some and burdened others. This must change. Now.

How do you respond to critics who say, “It’s just not going to happen”?

I don’t. I prioritize my time and energy for those who are hopeful and optimistic about the future.

A Q&A With Charles Brown on U.S. Barriers to Biking

“Where America Fails, So Have We in Bicycling.”

Bike advocates in Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Providence share how they’re already using recent recommendations from Charles T. Brown and other researchers.

In early March of this year, we released a new report, “Where Do We Go From Here? Breaking Down Barriers to Bicycling in the U.S.,” based on research conducted in 10 cities across the U.S. from 2018-2019. The research team, led by Charles T. Brown of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers University, was commissioned to identify the factors that prevent and encourage different people from bicycling.

“The report highlights how barriers to bicycling are sometimes physical, but also systemic, institutional, social and cultural,” said PeopleForBikes Director of Local Innovation Sara Studdard. “Our hope is that readers will think beyond bike lanes and apply its five key learnings to any place-based projects — meeting people where they are and making sure changes to communities are resident-led.”

We touched base with mobility advocates in Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Providence to get specific examples of how they’re already beginning to carry out some of these findings. Although no one city is getting everything right, we hope these stories are inspiring and a testament to what a more equitable and holistic approach to planning can accomplish. 

Bike Easy’s work in New Orleans is all about building intentional partnerships in order to engage communities, whether that’s through offering mini-grants to local churches or partnering with GirlTrek for a march. “When the New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition was launching a big campaign to support the rapid buildout of our bike network, we went to the Algiers neighborhood and threw a fun, daylong festival,” said Dan Favre, Bike Easy’s executive director. "Algiers, the first community in New Orleans to have the rapid buildout of the bike network implemented, is primarily Black and has been historically underserved." The event had food, junior high marching bands, popular Black DJs from local radio, walking tours, games and bike giveaways. “The whole day was an opportunity for folks to engage with the city on the specifics of the bike plan,” said Favre.

Healthy Ride, Pittsburgh’s bike share system, has a community ambassador program that similarly works with individuals and nonprofits to authentically engage with new riders, connecting them to bike share and safe riding routes throughout the city. “We’ve also introduced a seasonal Street Team to help create awareness around the infrastructure changes as part of the MoveForwardPGH program to rapidly implement the city’s new Bike (+) Plan,” said Erin Potts, Healthy Ride’s director of marketing and community outreach.

In Denver, the Denver Streets Partnership teamed up with the West Colfax Business Improvement District to launch the Over the Colfax Clover project. “We began community outreach by hosting a series of bilingual meetings and walk audits with community members in this historically Latinx neighborhood,” said Jessica Vargas, the partnership’s program manager. Those meetings were followed by engineers, urban planners, developers and agency officials convening to explore potential re-designs and land re-uses — a rare opportunity to efficiently workshop a critical equity issue. “We then hosted a neighborhood festival to demonstrate some of the design ideas, including a pop-up protected bike lane during the event,” said Vargas. “Car cruising is such an important part of West Denver culture, so we invited the local cruiser club to display their cars as protection for the temporary bike lane.”

“In 2020, the City of Providence and Providence Streets Coalition partnered to organize paid focus groups for people who travel using all modes of transportation as a part of the city’s effort to brand and create comprehensive wayfinding signage for its urban trail network,” said Liza Burkin, lead organizer at the coalition. “We put a special emphasis on recruiting people of color and Spanish speakers. It’s crucial to get feedback and opinions from people coming from a diversity of lived experiences in order to create trail signage that is useful, understandable and reflective of all city residents.”

“Last year in Austin, we developed a GIS map and community stakeholder-driven process to help ensure the equitable and community-driven selection and deployment of Austin's [Healthy Streets] Slow Streets initiative,” said Briana Cohen, Austin lead and community educator at Ghisallo Cycling Initiative. “To gather input, Ghisallo connected with Go Austin/Vamos Austin, a coalition of neighbors and community partners breaking down barriers to healthy living and strengthening neighborhood stability in Austin’s Eastern Crescent.”

Importantly, whenever New Orleans’ Bike Easy sets up focus groups, it invites people from the city government to come and listen. “With messaging, it can’t all be about biking, it has to be about the overall community,” said Favre, noting how pre-pandemic, Bike Easy was canvassing door-to-door in neighborhoods slated for infrastructure improvements. “Sometimes we hear from people that speeding or street flooding are big problems, or they need us to focus on transit rather than bike lanes — it can go a long way when a bike advocate is promoting transit like that.” Favre also noted that Bike Easy worked with a pollster specifically known for having an understanding of getting the perceptions of the Black community.

“Google has a big Pittsburgh presence with shower facilities; large, locked bike storage; tools for people to fix bikes — the company has also pushed to build bike culture by encouraging its employees to take rides together,” said Scott Bricker, executive director at BikePGH. “Additionally, our large universities have recently been prioritizing safe cycling education, bike parking, on-campus bike shops and Bike to Campus events. The University of Pittsburgh also offers free bike share memberships for all students, staff and faculty, as does Google for all interested employees.”

In New Orleans, “Through a partnership with the Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, we’re getting ready to announce a bike rack program where they’ll be able to provide interested members with free bike racks for their businesses,” said Favre. Bike Easy will also do consultations with any businesses that are interested in becoming more welcoming to bikes and facilitates virtual bicycle challenges where different workplace teams can challenge one another to ride more.

In Denver, the Bicycle Colorado education team builds relationships with and compensates community-based organizations that directly serve people who ride and want to ride. Montbello en Bici, a bicycling group made up of Spanish-speaking families in the Montbello neighborhood, is one such organization. The goal is to help give the group the knowledge, skills and resources to lead more programs on their own so the community is less dependent on Bicycle Colorado. This past summer, the City of Denver, Northeast Transportation Connections, Montbello Organizing Committee and Bicycle Colorado collaborated on English and Spanish educational videos for the Montbello Bike Course featuring Montbello en Bici youth riders. 

In Pittsburgh, Eric Boerer, advocacy director at BikePGH said, “With the hope of reaching the parents by engaging with the kids, we developed a MoveForwardPGH coloring book that is a fun way for adults and children to learn about the benefits of slower, safer streets.”

“The Providence Streets Coalition seeks to be a fully bilingual organization in regards to our marketing, outreach and community engagement. So, every element of our creative marketing campaign is translated into Spanish — the social videos, the radio spots, the bus and billboard and print ads,” said Burkin, noting that eventually, the organization would like to be multilingual. “We use the 'Weglot' plug-in that seamlessly translates our website into Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole, and we made it a requirement that our Street Team staffers speak at least one other language besides English.”

Providence is on its way to implementing its Great Streets Plan, which includes a 75-mile urban trail network designed for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, run, scoot, skate and roll. “The two main typologies of the network are two-way protected trails on busy streets and traffic-calmed neighborhood greenways on residential streets,” said Burkin. “Contraflow bike lanes, safer pedestrian crossings and better bus stops are also key parts of the plan.”

In Pittsburgh, the “GAP to the Point” network of bike lanes is the final piece of on-street bike infrastructure that connects the Great Allegheny Passage to Point State Park through the heart of downtown. “The GAP to the Point bike lanes have both concrete and bollard protection, and feature new-to-Pittsburgh innovations to work around several bus stops, making it easier for buses to pull up directly to the curb,” said Bricker.

“The entire New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition and the diverse communities represented there are in full support of connected and protected bike lanes,” said Favre. “We realize that it’s not just about protecting people from traffic, but it’s about lighting and things like that too. When it comes to making people feel safe, the details matter.”

How 5 Cities Are Breaking Down Barriers to Biking

We can all agree, 2020 was tougher than anyone anticipated. As the year began, planning for a pandemic could only be described as a fantastical thought exercise, but by March the realities of COVID-19 reached all corners of America, dramatically changing nearly every aspect of people’s lives.

As our nation grappled with sustained solutions for controlling the spread of the virus, something special happened — Americans returned to bicycling as a safe, healthy method of recreation and transportation. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, 10% of American adults engaged with bicycling in a new way. 4% of the US population (ages 18 and older) rode a bicycle for the first time in one or more years, or for the first time ever. An additional 6% participated in a different type of bicycling during the pandemic, trying indoor riding or riding their bike for transportation.

Local surges in bicycling activity were seen across the U.S., and cities responded. 

By April, more than 200 U.S. cities temporarily changed the layout of their streets — eliminating through traffic, slowing cars and opening roadways for people of all ages and abilities to comfortably enjoy the outdoors while city parks, fitness centers and schools were closed.

While no American city accelerated temporary pop-up bike lane networks at the same scale as those lauded in Berlin, Bogota or Paris, U.S. city leaders did something else amazing — they continued to build permanent bikeways that position bikes as a solution to many of the challenges our communities face, now and in the future.

These projects make biking more useful, more beautiful and more welcoming to all riders. With careful planning and smart construction, cities relied on support from residents to expand access to completely connected, comfortable mobility networks, allowing people on bikes or on foot to travel safely throughout their community. Thankfully, these changes will last well beyond this pandemic.

In celebration of these accomplishments, here are the best new bikeways we found in 2020:

1. Algiers Protected Bike Lane Network (New Orleans, LA)

Our favorite bikeway of 2020 isn’t really a bikeway at all — it’s 11 different corridors that make up New Orleans’ protected bicycle lane network in the Algiers neighborhood. 

Following the conclusion of a city-wide bicycle network planning effort called Moving New Orleans: Bikes, city leaders quickly moved into project development, working alongside a coalition of neighborhood advocates to design and build support for this network. Inspired by the story of Sevilla, Spain, city officials coordinated public input, design and construction as a unified project.

Construction of the network began in November 2019 and faced delays in 2020 as early outbreaks of COVID-19 hit the city hard. However, by summer 2020, construction was back on track and today the network stands a testament to what can be achieved with thoughtful community engagement and dedicated leadership.

“We have reaffirmed our commitment that even as we continue to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, the infrastructure work continues around this city,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “One year ago we began in earnest the plan to expand our bikeway network in order to provide safer, more accessible and equitable transportation options. Now we’re seeing the results of strong community engagement and thoughtful planning on the ground in Algiers with the improvements along Garden Oaks — one of 11 different corridors on the Westbank.”

The bikeways themselves aren’t flashy. Designers will note the use of low-cost materials with plenty of potential for future upgrades that improve the functionality and aesthetic of each corridor. However, the sheer ambition of this work, the speed at which the city has moved and the determination to deliver high-quality projects to one of the city’s most often neglected neighborhoods is worth the top spot in our list.

Take a ride on these new bikeways using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/247844

2. ‘Connect Downtown’ Protected Bike Lane Network (Boston, MA)

Staying with our theme of connected bicycle networks…

Beginning in the fall of 2019, the City of Boston’s ambitious Connect Downtown project sought to center the experiences of people — residents, commuters, and tourists —  in a redesign of iconic streets in the city’s downtown neighborhoods. Planned bike network improvements looked to improve connectivity, access and safety for all riders, regardless of age or ability. 

Rather than allow COVID-19 to derail this comprehensive public engagement process, city leaders embraced the moment and looked for new opportunities to maintain the momentum and strengthen community support for the improvements.

By summer, city leaders had implemented a network of “pop-up” separated bike lanes on seven of the Connect Downtown corridors. They changed traffic signals and used orange traffic barrels to provide space for bicycling on these major roadways. “Safe and reliable transportation, especially for our essential workers and commuters, is one of our top priorities as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

Prompted by the success of these temporary bike lanes and the positive feedback from city residents, Boston’s Department of Transportation began construction in October on 2.5 miles of permanent separated bike lanes on the streets surrounding the Public Garden and the Boston Common areas.

In order to best serve the families who live in these neighborhoods, the new bike lanes are at least 7 feet wide, allowing for side-by-side bicycling and the use of larger cargo bikes and adult tricycles. People riding bikes will also see new bike signals at four major intersections. 

Take a ride on these new bikeways using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/247887

3. ‘Gap to the Point’ Protected Bike Lane Network (Pittsburgh, PA)

Complete bike networks continue to fill our top picks…

For anyone that has ever biked in downtown Pittsburgh, you’re probably aware that this part of the city is the nexus of two of the nation’s most iconic cycling destinations — Point State Park and the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail system that connects long-distance riders to Washington, D.C. What you might not know, however, is that until this year, there was no direct bicycling route connecting these two important landmarks.

Improvements led by the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI), the Downtown Pittsburgh Partnership and other stakeholders have completed the final on-street connections that guide riders through the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh. 

Recently completed projects along Stanwix St. and Liberty Ave. combine with existing protected bike lanes along Smithfield St., 3rd Ave. and Penn Avenue to connect the GAP trail near the Smithfield St. bridge to Point State Park. The Stanwix St. and Liberty Ave. bike lanes have both concrete and bollard protection and feature innovative work around several bus stops, making it easier for buses to pull up directly to the curb. 

The intersections offer dedicated bike signals, complete with radar that detect when a person on a bike is waiting. While there are a few design elements yet to be completed (like replacement of the temporary asphalt ramp with a permanent curb cut entering Point State Park), riders can now rest (and bike) easy knowing that navigating PIttsburgh’s bustling downtown streets just got a lot easier.

Take a ride on these new bikeways using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/247994 

The 5.5-mile protected bikeway on Shoal Creek Boulevard fills a gap in the proposed 30-mile Big Loop trail network around central Austin. To create space for people walking and biking, the Austin Transportation Department led extensive community outreach in 2019 to build support for the removal of on-street automobile parking from one side of the residential corridor and a five-to-three lane conversion on the other half. 

While this street has been a long-time route for recreational cyclists, there was previously no dedicated space for people to bike. Adding delineators, concrete buttons and protected intersections made this street appropriate for riders of all ages and abilities, just in time for the pandemic-related need for social distancing and access to the outdoors.

Take a ride on Shoal Creek Boulevard using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248003 

5. The Hampline – Broad Street and Tillman Street (Memphis, TN)

The Hampline is a two mile long corridor that effectively extends the Shelby Farms Greenline — Memphis’ first and longest greenway — connecting Overton Park and Shelby Farms Park (one of the largest urban parks in the country at 4,500 acres). The project started in 2010 as a grassroots effort by local business owners and residents who used pop-up bike lanes and tactical urbanism to reimagine their streets. Later on, when the project stalled due to a lack of sufficient funding for design, hundreds of individual Memphians crowdsourced $75,000 allowing the work to proceed.

The project features raised medians separating a two-way cycle track from automobiles, enhanced on-street pedestrian crossings, landscaping and Memphis’ first bicycle-specific traffic signals. In addition to seamlessly linking the most popular outdoor spaces in Memphis, the Hampline was supported by community leaders in the Binghampton neighborhood — a predominantly low-income community of color that has experienced decades of disinvestment — to improve access to the local parks and trails at their doorstep.

Take a ride on The Hampline using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248004 

The 1.2-mile Walnut Avenue Bikeway is a new, signature facility in the Bay Area city of Fremont, CA. Extending from Mission Boulevard to Paseo Padre Parkway, this corridor has one of the highest levels of biking in the city and connects to the Fremont BART station, housing and local businesses. 

Designed with community in mind, the Walnut Avenue Bikeway is safe and easy to use for all members of the community and surrounding area.

Raised cycle tracks ensure the safety and comfort of bicyclists by positioning them at the sidewalk level where they are physically separated from vehicles. The corridor also features four protected intersections, shortening crossing distances for pedestrians and bike riders, slowing the speeds that automobiles can turn, improving the positioning and visibility of bikes and pedestrians and eliminating the need for bikes to mix with high-speed traffic in order to make turns.

Take a ride on the Walnut Avenue Bikeway using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248005

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“Where America Fails, So Have We in Bicycling.”

How 5 Cities Are Breaking Down Barriers to Biking

America's Best New Bikeways of 2020

New Orleans’ Connect the Crescent: Final Report

Making Changes Takes Support

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