We’re making biking better in New York 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 early 2020, we helped pass New York’s electric bicycle law, which legalized Class 1 and Class 2 electric bicycles statewide. 

Much of the recent critical reporting around e-mobility products, specifically e-bikes, centers on the Big Apple. New York City’s 8 million residents are seemingly on the front lines (or as many call it, the “wild west”) of folks riding e-mobility devices of all kinds on our streets. The city has been busy proposing new regulations and rules in an effort to rein in the worst outlaw operators, and more importantly, curtail a serious outbreak of dangerous and sometimes fatal fires related to unsafe and untested lithium-ion batteries, and rightly so: Of the 40 deaths nationwide related to lithium-ion battery fires, 29 (72%) occurred in New York City alone.

Thankfully, there is some good news on that last front: According to Underwriters Laboratories, deaths from e-bike fires declined in New York City after battery safety standards were written into law. At the same time, the number of fires and deaths rose rapidly from near zero prior to 2020 to a peak of hundreds of fires and 18 deaths in 2023. So far in 2024, only four people (still four too many) died from a battery-related fire in the city. This progress is no doubt due to the passage of ordinances that require lithium-ion batteries used in all e-mobility devices to be tested and certified by accredited third party laboratories, ongoing public education, and diligent enforcement efforts by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the New York Fire Department, including shuttering some of the worst violators and going after online sellers who openly sell substandard batteries.

Over that same roughly five-year period, the number of people who lost their lives in New York City in a crash involving only an e-mobility device climbed from zero a few years earlier to 11 in 2023. That same year, eight cyclists and two pedestrians lost their lives in crashes that did not involve an e-mobility device or motor vehicle. As one might expect, crashes involving motor vehicles were the deadliest, taking the lives of another 22 cyclists, nine e-mobility users, 101 pedestrians, and 112 vehicle occupants. Despite the grim data clearly showing the dangers posed by motor vehicles to all road users, there has unfortunately been an increased focus on e-mobility devices (collectively and often incorrectly referred to as “e-bikes” in the public discourse) as particularly threatening. As the data clearly shows, New York City streets do present a real and present danger for operating an e-bike or e-scooter.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) both issued reports showing that the growth in popularity of e-mobility devices over the last five years has led to a significant increase in crashes and fatalities nationwide. Appendix B to the NTSB report reveals exactly where these fatalities occurred. Of the 53 reported e-bike fatalities nationwide from 2017 to 2022, 25 occurred in one of the five boroughs of New York City and two more occurred in neighboring cities in New Jersey. New York City had 47% of nationwide e-bike fatalities even though its residents only account for about 2.5% of the U.S. population. So just why is that?

Certainly, one may point to population density and lack of safe cycling infrastructure as possible causes. But New York City is not alone in that regard, and over the same period, other major, densely populated cities like San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago combined had a total of just two fatalities. Other cities also have equally inadequate infrastructure, while New York is actually making strides towards safer streets.

The prevalence of delivery workers in New York City, with an estimated 65,000 people performing the difficult and dangerous work of delivering meals and goods by bicycle, e-bike, scooter, or moped, could also be a factor: according to a recent article, 19 delivery workers died on the job in 2021 and 2022, two of the five years of the NTSB report with the highest number of fatalities (although some of these workers could have been using mopeds, which are considered motor vehicles). It is certainly unfair to blame these workers, many of whom are recent immigrants without other employment options, for the dangerous conditions they face trying to earn a living and support their families.

What is it about New York City in particular that led it to have both 72% of the fire deaths and 47% of the e-bike related deaths from traffic violence? This may be an instance where we should blame the e-bikes, because New York City has a type of e-bike that exists nowhere else on the planet.


When New York legalized electric bicycles in 2020, the legal definition included a “Class 3” e-bike that can go 25 mph by use of the throttle. In virtually every other state (and under federal law), that vehicle is considered a motor vehicle because it can exceed 20 mph on motor power alone.  Forty three states now follow PeopleForBikes’ model three-class definitions and require a Class 3 e-bike to only provide pedal assistance, not direct motor power. What happened in New York City was that no major e-bike manufacturer was willing to make an e-bike that (1) wasn’t legal to sell or operate anywhere else and (2) was likely subject to federal motor vehicle safety regulations.

The result should have been foreseeable in 2020 but has now become painfully clear in hindsight. Thousands of cheap e-bikes with unsafe speed capability and low quality batteries were made by a few foreign companies and sold to a vulnerable population. The names of these companies are well known to authorities. These companies do not have to bother with quality control, safety compliance, or product liability insurance because they are largely beyond the reach of government regulators and our judicial system. These low-quality e-bikes and batteries were sold not through traditional bike shops, but through e-bike stores that popped up all over the city to cash in on the growing demand for food delivery.

New York City is now working hard to undo this mess and reduce fires, crashes, and deaths that have little to nothing to do with the high-quality e-bikes that are sold and safely used everywhere else in the country. A great first step is to end the legal aberration that is a “Class 3” e-bike and align New York’s electric bicycle law to the 20 mph federal limits on motor-powered speed of low-speed electric bicycles and other e-mobility devices that are adhered to elsewhere across the U.S. Slower, throttle-enable speeds and safe e-bikes sourced from reputable U.S. manufacturers can help address these issues and improve safety for all New Yorkers.

Congressional action to close the de minimis loophole that allows foreign sellers to sell unsafe devices and batteries direct to consumers (and avoid tariffs paid by domestic companies)

Adoption of federal safety standards for e-mobility devices that incorporate international consensus standards such as those passed by legislatures in New York, California and Minnesota

Accelerate the construction of safer infrastructure including protected mobility lanes and daylighted intersections which are proven to reduce crashes and save lives

Why New York City Faces a Perfect Storm of E-Mobility Risks

On December 11, the PeopleForBikes Coalition Board of Directors approved our 2024 Industry Community Grants, totaling $75,000 across 10 grants. The grants will help fund projects that support our focus on building infrastructure that makes communities across the U.S. great places to ride a bike. This year’s supported projects include urban and rural trail systems, a pump track and a skills trail, several projects that make it safer for children to bike to school, and infrastructure development in large metropolitan areas. 

2024 PeopleForBikes Industry Community Grants

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia — $10,000

Philadelphia, PA | Support for the Schuylkill Crossing: Connecting Communities and Opportunities project that will activate a set of bikeways that constitute an entirely off road bike and pedestrian connection from Southwest Philadelphia and South Philadelphia to Center City and beyond.

Richmond, CA | A collaboration with community groups and county agencies to support the North Richmond Bike Bus program, leading to safe routes to school and critical improvements to this long-time disadvantaged community.

Pittsburgh, PA | Resources for the development of children’s bike buses throughout the region that may be used as a national guide and lead to advocacy for safe routes to school in hundreds of communities nationwide.   

California Bicycle Coalition — $10,000 

Sacramento, CA | A critical guide to the development of “slow streets” infrastructure on neighborhood streets that represent key links in urban bikeway networks in every American city. 


Berkeley, CA | Materials and advocacy for a demonstration project of a slow street in West Berkeley. 

Houston, TX | Infrastructure, including signage, for the improvement of dozens of dangerous intersections where the 4-mile Columbia Tap Trail crosses roadways.

Lake Placid, NY | A critical match for other donations that will close the funding gap for an 8-mile trail linking rural communities in the High Peaks region in New York’s Adirondack Park.


Native American Advancement Foundation — $10,000

Tohono O’odham Nation, AZ | The addition of a much-needed pump track in a brand new and popular “Free as a Bird Skatepark” in this native community. 

Austin, TX | Eva Carrillo de Garcia Park will get a new Skills Trail connected to a disadvantaged neighborhood in East Austin and a 4-mile bike loop around the perimeter of the park.

McClintock High School Bike Club — $5,500 

Tempe, AZ | Bike bus advocacy for improved school access, including an off-road path reaching the school, neighborhood bike route enhancements, and a new highway overpass.

PeopleForBikes' 2024 Industry Community Grants Recipients

Every year, PeopleForBikes advocates on behalf of the bike industry and bike riders across the country to support the construction of fun, safe, and connected places to ride that welcome more people to the joys of bicycling. 


From championing e-mobility lithium-ion battery safety, to mandating Complete Streets for improved road safety, to advancing the construction of bike infrastructure through climate legislation, PeopleForBikes successfully advocated for a multitude of policies at the state and local levels during the 2024 legislative session that will support bike businesses and riders of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds nationwide.

The safety of e-mobility lithium-ion batteries was a top priority for many states and communities across the U.S. this legislative session.

Following the guidance of PeopleForBikes and other industry experts, New York passed legislation to ensure the quality and safety of e-mobility products while maintaining accessibility to equitable transportation options. The legislation requires that e-bike and other e-mobility lithium-ion batteries be tested to standards that ensure the safety of the products the batteries power. It also enables the enforcement of products that do not meet these standards and contribute to unsafe conditions, including battery fires. 


Read more about this important legislation.

In June, the Chicago City Council committed to working with the bicycle industry and other stakeholders to amend a proposed battery safety ordinance to align with similar safety legislation in New York so individuals, retailers, and manufacturers can rely on consistent e-bike battery testing requirements across the country.

PeopleForBikes looks forward to continuing our work with states and municipalities across the country to promote uniform and effective battery testing regulations that ensure that e-bike batteries sold and used in the U.S. meet the highest safety standards.


PeopleForBikes recognizes the three-class system as the framework to categorize and regulate low-speed electric bicycles (e-bikes). Currently, 43 states officially recognize our model legislation. In 2024, Oregon and Rhode Island signed the three-class system into law. This system promotes a uniform definition of e-bikes across the country to mitigate confusion for riders, retailers, manufacturers, and regulators. 

PeopleForBikes will continue supporting the classification of electric bicycles as bicycles (not motorized vehicles) and will work with legislators to showcase the need for clear definitions and strong enforcement so that bicycles, and bicycling infrastructure, are protected. 


Out-of-Class Electric Vehicle Legislation 

Due to the constantly evolving range of electrically powered devices entering the marketplace and the growth of their use nationwide, PeopleForBikes led efforts to define products that exceed the speed and power limitations of the three-class system and federal law as out-of-class electric vehicles (OCEVs). 


Utah and Minnesota passed landmark OCEV legislation to promote safety and protect hard-won access for bicycles on state trails and paths. You can read more both here and here about why this legislation is so critical. 


PeopleForBikes will continue helping states and municipalities better define and enforce the difference between electric bicycles and overpowered, higher-speed, out-of-class electric vehicles (including electric dirt bikes) to protect the rights of bike riders across the country.

Cities and states nationwide continue to prioritize sustainable, equitable, and accessible forms of transportation through e-bike purchase incentives and rebate programs. This year, the Atlanta City Council approved a $1 million incentive for the purchase of e-bikes and the Bentonville City Council in Arkansas approved $2.25 million in grant funding for an e-bike rebate program.


With $20 million in funding approved in 2023, Portland City Council approved an implementation plan for the city’s e-bike incentive program set to launch in 2025. Michigan legislators also approved $2.95 million in funding for an e-bike purchase incentive program in their state budget to implement a statewide e-bike transportation incentive program. 

The 2024 legislative session included many recreation policy wins that PeopleForBikes helped secure to continue building momentum for eMTB access on natural surface trails. 

In Oregon and Colorado, PeopleForBikes supported the passage of recreational immunity bills that protect landowners from liability resulting from the use of their lands by other individuals for recreational purposes, including mountain biking.

The Tahoe National Forest prepared a Decision Notice/Finding of No Significant Impact (DN/FONSI) and final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Pines to Mines Trail Project. The project, totaling 72 miles of new, natural surface trails, will provide expanded recreation opportunities on National Forest System lands. It also authorizes the use of Class 1 electric mountain bikes (eMTBs) on all new and existing trails where traditional mountain bikes are already allowed within the project area.

A National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Assessment is also underway in the Tahoe National Forest, utilizing a forest-wide approach. This first-of-its-kind approach could yield historic results that allow entire forest districts to allow Class 1 eMTBs on natural surface trails, as opposed to laws differing by individual trail systems. 


Look out for more recreation and eMTB policy wins as we continue engagement with state and local land managers to open access for Class 1 eMTBs on multi-use singletrack trails in Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, and Utah. Additionally, PeopleForBikes is working on recreational trail access for mountain biking within the implementation of the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule. 


A lack of safe places to ride is one of the most significant barriers preventing Americans from biking. Dedicated funding streams for the construction of bike infrastructure creates more safe and connected places to bike, which in turn increases bicycling participation. The construction of bike infrastructure also contributes to other co-benefits, including positive public health outcomes, economic vitality, reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and transportation equity.  


As of July, PeopleForBikes has helped secure nearly $1.5 billion for the construction of bike infrastructure that increases safe places to ride bikes through our 2024 VoteForBikes campaign. With a potential $2 billion more on the November general election ballot, 2024 is shaping up to be a big year for bike infrastructure funding. Stay tuned for our post-election VoteForBikes recap to see how much funding PeopleForBikes helped secure for local communities across the country! 


In addition to our work advocating for bikes at the ballot box, PeopleForBikes supported additional legislation to fund bike infrastructure, including Minnesota’s Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund that invests more than $11 million in the expansion and enhancement of recreational trails, active transportation infrastructure, and mountain bike access across the state. 


Passing dedicated funding streams for bikes and bike infrastructure at the state and local levels is the most important policy priority for PeopleForBikes. We will continue paving the way for the construction of infrastructure that allows more people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds across the country to safely and efficiently travel around their communities and access more opportunities to ride a bike.


PeopleForBikes continues to advocate for legislation that reduces serious injuries, saves lives, and allows people to travel safely throughout their community with confidence. Reducing speed limits and actual vehicle speeds is one of the most effective ways to improve road safety and save lives.

After four years of hard work, PeopleForBikes was honored to support local advocates in New York as Governor Kathy Hochul signed Sammy’s Law into law in May. The new law allows New York City to implement a 20 mile per hour speed limit with additional 10 and 15 mile per hour zones. This legislation will dramatically increase safety for people walking and biking on roads with a high volume of motor vehicles. 


Michigan and Virginia also passed legislation that makes it easier for local municipalities to lower speed limits that are appropriate for the context and needs of those communities. 

We know that in addition to lower speed limits, safer road designs reduce motor vehicle speeds, one of the most significant causes of serious injuries and deaths on roads. As a result, Complete Streets mandates — which require the construction of bike infrastructure when roads are reconstructed or repaved — are one of the most effective policies communities can implement for improved road safety. Complete Streets also close gaps in transportation networks and enable all road users, regardless of their mode of transportation, to easily access places that they need to go. PeopleForBikes will continue to fight for legislation that mandates Complete Streets to promote safe and thriving communities. 

In March, voters in Los Angeles, California, one of the nation’s most car-centric cities, approved Measure HLA. This requires the implementation of the city’s Mobility Plan, including bike and pedestrian infrastructure when road construction or repaving occurs. PeopleForBikes endorsed this measure to increase transportation opportunities and accessibility, improve road safety, promote health, and reduce transportation-related GHG emissions. 


As part of historic legislation, Minnesota also strengthened the state’s Complete Streets policy by adding PeopleForBikes-supported amendments that require the integration of Complete Streets design principles and offer implementation guidance.

Advancing Bike Infrastructure Through Climate Legislation 

There is significant momentum across the country to fund active transportation infrastructure through climate legislation in order to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and GHG emissions. Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed an executive order establishing annual GHG and VMT reduction targets for his state’s transportation sector, requiring the Maryland Department of Transportation to implement a process for evaluating and reducing GHG emissions attributable to transportation projects, and investing in projects that reduce VMT and enhance transportation choices. 

Looking ahead to the 2025 legislative session, PeopleForBikes is actively involved in several local coalitions supporting climate legislation to curb transportation-related GHG emissions. Stay tuned for more bike infrastructure and climate legislation wins next year! 

There is already huge momentum for bikes and 2024 is not finished yet! At all levels of government and at the ballot box, PeopleForBikes is championing policies that create safer and more connected places to ride alongside supporting legislation that maintains safe, reliable, and quality products to get more people on bikes more often. 


You can help us achieve even more! By making a donation to PeopleForBikes, we can make an even greater impact in communities like yours all across the country. You can also sign up to receive our advocacy alerts to learn how you can support similar policy wins where you live.

PeopleForBikes’ 2024 Policy Wins Advance Bicycling Safety and Access Nationwide

Photo Credit: Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau

PeopleForBikes’ annual City Ratings is a data-driven program to identify, evaluate, and compare the best cities and towns for bicycling in the U.S. and across the world. Based on data from PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA), each city receives a City Ratings score on a scale of 0-100. 

High-scoring cities often perform well across six factors captured in the acronym SPRINT: safe speeds, protected bike lanes, reallocated space for biking and walking, intersection treatments, network connections, and trusted data.


For 2024, we ranked more than 2,500 cities worldwide, including 816 new U.S. cities and 133 new cities across the U.K. and Australia.

Medium Cities (50,000-300,000 population)

The New York Senate recently passed a slate of micromobility safety legislation, sending four bills to Governor Hochul’s desk for approval. If signed into law, these policies will set a new standard for lithium-ion battery safety, offering a model for other states to protect consumers and first responders from uncertified and unsafe batteries.

“With the electric mobility market continuing to evolve, our team is collaborating with state governments on model legislation,” said Dr. Ash Lovell, electric bike policy and campaign director at PeopleForBikes. “This package of bills in New York is a great example of how the expertise of our PeopleForBikes team can complement the legislative process to deliver complete solutions.”

As the U.S. bicycle industry’s trade association, PeopleForBikes works to prioritize bicycles in government decisions at the federal, state, and local levels and advocates for policies and legislation that benefit both everyday riders and bike businesses across the U.S. Our policy efforts include protecting bike businesses from trade and tariff issues, advancing sustainability and climate initiatives centering bikes as a solution, improving recreational access for bikes on our public lands, and making electric bicycles safer and more accessible for all Americans.

In collaboration with Call2Recycle, leading battery recycling experts in North America, PeopleForBikes also supports an industrywide e-bike battery recycling program to promote the safe and responsible disposal of old e-bike batteries to keep them out of landfills. The program offers brands and consumers a proactive solution to battery recycling as other cities and states across the country look to address e-bike battery safety. 


Keeping Unsafe, Untested Batteries Off the Market

Part of the New York legislation, the Batteries For Micromobility Devices, Bicycles With Electric Assist, And Limited Use Motorcycles Act (S154F/A4938D) will establish statewide standards for the manufacture and sale of lithium-ion batteries for e-mobility products (like e-bikes). The new policy aims to protect riders by keeping unregulated, unsafe batteries off the market while allowing manufacturers who already meet safety standards to continue sales with minimal impact.

The legislation also includes an important amendment, supported by PeopleForBikes, which recognizes battery standards from Europe (EN 15194) and the U.S. (UL 2849) for electric bicycles and their drive systems. It also specifies that testing labs must be properly accredited or be an OSHA-approved nationally recognized testing lab (NRTL). This ensures only high-quality, tested batteries are used in e-mobility products, reducing the risk of accidents or malfunctions due to unsafe batteries. At the local level, the New York City Council previously adopted this same approach to lab accreditation, also suggested by PeopleForBikes.

“Our team advocated for the European and American e-bike standards in New York since both of these testing standards are proven and powerful tools to prevent battery fires,” said Matt Moore, PeopleForBikes’ policy counsel. “We hope other states will follow suit to implement EN 15194 or UL 2849 as the gold standard for battery testing for electric bicycles.” 

A number of other bills that cleared the state legislature put New York on the leading edge of lithium-ion battery safety in the nation. Senator Cordell Cleare and Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia sponsored S6809B/ A6811C, which requires the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to establish a sustainable lithium-ion battery exchange program for New Yorkers using old, untested batteries to power their e-mobility devices, many of whom rely on those devices for delivery work.

Senator Cleare and Representative Manny De Los Santos sponsored S8743/A9338, which will direct the New York Department of State to develop and maintain safety resources with respect to fire hazard prevention for lithium-ion batteries. These bills provide tangible and actionable safety solutions to the challenges New York faces with battery fires while also encouraging New Yorkers to better understand their responsibilities and role in fire prevention.


This critical progress in New York will help shape e-bike battery safety regulations nationwide. PeopleForBikes looks forward to working with other state and local legislators, as well as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in advancing consistent and harmonized regulatory standards for lithium-ion batteries used in electric bicycles and other mobility products.

New York Legislation Leads the Nation on E-Mobility Safety

From bustling cities to small towns, communities from coast to coast amplified their commitment to better biking with an unprecedented surge in safer, more comfortable places to ride in 2023. And, with thousands of additional projects planned across the country and more federal funding for bikes available than ever, we can reasonably expect the pace of construction to increase more dramatically in the coming years. 

Even for the most ardent naysayers, it’s difficult to deny that the landscape of bicycling in America is transforming (although not as quickly as many of us would like to see). While we have yet to see any U.S. cities emerge with truly bold citywide plans for bike networks as we’ve seen in places like London, Paris, and Bogota, many are (slowly) beginning to envision a future where cycling takes center stage. Although there remains a substantial amount of work ahead of us to cultivate a safe and comfortable environment for people of all ages and abilities to ride bikes in the U.S., it's well worth pausing to commemorate the significant infrastructure victories U.S. cities achieved in 2023.

Photo credit: New York City Department of Transportation

After car-free streets took the top spot on last year’s list, we’re delighted to witness locales like New York City continuing to adopt more of these low-stress environments for cyclists. Launched in March, NYC’s much-anticipated vision for Broadway is beginning to transform the iconic street with pedestrian plazas, inviting outdoor dining structures, planters, and bike improvements, with the stretch between West 25th and 32nd streets being reshaped in 2023. While the full vision includes a “people-centric” Broadway connecting Union Square to Columbus Circle, the city’s next phase is on the horizon, with planned improvements underway between West 33rd and 21st Street.

2. 156th Street Cycle Track | Redmond, Washington

Featuring a two-way cycle track, Redmond’s 156th Street Cycle Track improves access to the Redmond Technology Station — part of Sound Transit’s East Link Extension — and the NE 40th Street Shared Use Path. This area of Redmond, the longstanding home of the Microsoft Corporate Campus, remains a focal point for the tech giant's ongoing commitment to community development. While the Microsoft-funded section is complete, the City of Redmond is working to expand it further from 140th to Turing.

In September, Salt Lake City celebrated the completion of its most significant public works project to date, the 300 West Reconstruction Project, which features a separated, two-way, 10-foot-wide bike lane, upgraded sidewalks, and more than 200 new trees to provide shade and serve as a buffer to the roadway. New "bioswales" were also integrated to improve water quality by filtering debris from stormwater runoff. The project, funded through the "Funding Our Future" bond, showcases Salt Lake City's commitment to prioritizing biking as a sustainable and accessible mode of transportation while fostering greener and safer corridors for all road users. Special project features include raised sidewalks and bikeways at all non-signalized intersections, bike counters, wayfinding signage, and green-tinted concrete.

4. Inman Square | Cambridge, Massachusetts

After two and a half years of construction, the Inman Square project in Cambridge reached its much-anticipated completion in 2023, featuring sidewalk-level bike lanes, protected intersections, shorter crosswalks, and a vibrant new plaza. Serving as a pivotal crossroads for various modes of transportation, these enhancements further Cambridge's dedication to Vision Zero and demonstrate the power of their Cycling Safety Ordinance, which propelled Cambridge to a score of 58 in PeopleForBikes’ annual City Ratings program. As evidence of its high quality, the project made headlines earlier this year after a social media video seemingly showcasing bike infrastructure in the Netherlands went viral, only to be revealed as a playful deception filmed in Cambridge's Inman Square.

5. Bryant Avenue South | Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis’s Bryant Avenue South reconstruction project, stretching from Lake St. to 50th St. W., reshaped a residential street in the heart of south Minneapolis. Despite its quiet residential character, Bryant Avenue is a key bicycling corridor parallel to the congested Lyndale Avenue. Previously converted into a "bicycle boulevard" in 2010, the reconstruction — which created a bidirectional sidewalk-level protected bikeway, intersection improvements, pedestrian-scale lighting, and stormwater infrastructure — reflects a forward-looking commitment to safer and more sustainable transportation that’s helped Minneapolis become the best large U.S. city this year’s City Ratings.

In September, Pasadena celebrated the completion of its first two-way protected bike lane along Union Street. The new 1.5-mile protected bike lane enhances connectivity to Pasadena's popular destinations, including Old Pasadena, Playhouse Village, Pasadena City College, Caltech, and the Metro Gold Line Station at Memorial Park. Approved by the City Council in 2016, the project repurposed existing road space to accommodate the protected bike lane, converting the previous one-way westbound street into a cyclist-friendly corridor. This initiative supports Pasadena's commitment to sustainable transportation and efficient urban planning. The project was funded through a combination of local and federal sources, including the American Rescue Plan Act, California’s Active Transportation Program, Gas Tax, Los Angeles County’s Measure R, CMAQ, and Pasadena’s Traffic Reduction Fee.

Inspired by successful implementations in cities like Toronto, Boulder introduced new "tall curbs" along Baseline Road in 2023 to physically separate bike and vehicle lanes, offering increased protection for people biking. The project is a critical element of Boulder's Core Arterial Network (CAN), which includes plans for strategic improvements along some of the city's least safe corridors for people walking and biking. With local artist Talia Swartz Parsell adding vibrant paintings to the barriers, the initiative combines safety and public art that complements the surrounding mountainous landscape. Further enhancements are slated for 2024, including additional bike lane barriers. 

8. Pinellas Bayway South | Tierra Verda, Florida

The Pinellas Bayway South Cycle Track in Tierra Verde is a significant addition to the more extensive Pinellas Trail network that spans more than 50 miles. Originating in 1983, the Pinellas Trail has steadily expanded since, becoming a regional destination with more than 1.5 million annual users. The new cycle track, separated from traffic by a raised concrete island, rectifies safety issues caused by vehicles parking in the prior non-protected bike lanes and helps reduce speeding along the corridor. Managed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) as part of a resurfacing project, the new cycle track closes a two-mile gap between the Pinellas Trail, connecting trail users to Fort De Soto County Park. “FDOT was able to use their existing standard detail for median islands to separate the cycle track from the travel lanes,” said Kyle Simpson, an active transportation planner with Forward Pinellas. “[That] reduced the cost of the project and did not require moving any drainage.”

9. East Main Street | Rochester, New York

Photo credit: Erdman, Anthony and Associates, Inc.

Rochester’s East Main Street Reconstruction project features sidewalk-level bicycle lanes designed in accordance with the City's Complete Streets policy. While addressing needs such as roadway repaving, water main replacement, and new sidewalks, the project also introduced decorative lighting, street trees, and new signage. As part of Rochester's "spine network," a vital element outlined in the city’s Active Transportation Master Plan, the East Main Street project reinforces the city's dedication to creating a well-connected and accessible bike network.

Through a $6 million Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone project, San Antonio transformed Avenue B into a one-way, southbound street to accommodate protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks, on-street parking, and landscaping. Serving as a vital connection between the River Walk, Downtown, and various amenities, Avenue B contributes to San Antonio's expanding network of bike lanes and links to trails along the San Antonio River. Ultimately, the city hopes to extend the bike lane north of I-35 to reach the Witte Museum and Brackenridge Park. 

In a commitment to enhance road safety, the City of Dayton completed a $12 million reconstruction project along Salem Avenue between the Great Miami River and Cornell Drive. The federally funded initiative transformed a six-lane “stroad” into a lower-speed street with widened sidewalks, a bi-directional protected cycle track, decorative lighting, and pedestrian islands. The Salem Avenue project connects to more than 350 miles of regional trails as part of the Miami Valley Trails network. In September, Dayton approved an Active Transportation Plan to expand the network further, with more than 20 projects slated for construction by 2027. 

12. 12th Avenue South | Nashville, Tennessee

Photo credit: Nashville Department of Transportation

The 12th Avenue project in Nashville — envisioned as part of the 2017 WalknBike master planning process and subsequently identified as a top bikeway priority by the community — transformed a vital stretch of Nashville into the city’s first complete and green street. The 1.5-mile project includes physically protected bike lanes, bioswales for stormwater management, bus boarding islands, and safer pedestrian crossings. 

“The corridor had existing, substandard bikeways — with significant demand for better, safer facilities to connect affordable housing and student housing with Nashville’s downtown and other commercial districts,” said Anna Dearman, NDOT’s walking and biking manager. In response, NDOT moved the project swiftly from conceptualization to reality, with accelerated final design and construction phases to improve connectivity for affordable and student housing residents along the corridor to downtown and other commercial districts.

13. Turner Avenue | Grand Rapids, Michigan

With funding from a combination of the city’s Vital Streets program (a voter-approved income tax for road and sidewalk projects) and federal Surface Transportation Program and Carbon Reduction Program sources, Turner Avenue represents a major bike infrastructure upgrade for Grand Rapids. This transformative project, which replaced a striped one-way bike lane with a new, separated, two-way facility, spans 1.2 miles from 4th Street to Richmond. The project also increased greenspace to mitigate stormwater runoff and filter pollutants entering the Grand River. The city plans to begin design work to extend the bikeway from 4th Street to Fulton Street West in 2024.

14. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive | Atlanta, Georgia

Photo credit: Central Atlanta Progress/The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District

The Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Cycle Track in Downtown Atlanta was a collaboration between the City of Atlanta Department of Transportation and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, furthering the Downtown Atlanta Master Plan by enhancing safety and accessibility in the city center. According to Stacy Grolimund, senior project manager with Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, the project began in late 2022 when the Atlanta City Council voted to resurface streets near City Hall and the State Capitol. Councilmember Jason Dozier advocated for the inclusion of multimodal safety enhancements to align the project with the City’s Vision Zero goals. For now, the protected two-way cycle track stretches from Forsyth Street to Capitol Avenue, but the project is part of a more extensive planned network that will ultimately provide direct access to State Farm Arena, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Georgia World Congress Center, and westside neighborhoods like Vine City. 

Physically separated bike lanes in the suburbs? Yes, please! In Agawam, Massachusetts, Dutch-style bike infrastructure emerged as one of the standout bike lanes of 2023. Sparked by the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge replacement and MassDOT’s Complete Streets directive, the project resulted in separated bike paths along Main Street, Springfield Street, Suffield Street, and Memorial Avenue. The area, dotted with strip malls, now offers improved accessibility to local businesses and schools, marking a significant step toward sustainable transportation for this suburban area. Since completion, it's proven highly successful, with increased student biking and plans for further extensions to expand the network. Michelle Chase, Agawam’s town engineer, emphasized, “MassDOT’s Complete Streets program has been absolutely critical for the success of this project,” noting that it “inspired everyone involved in the design to push for the best accommodations even when challenges were encountered.”

16. 17th Street | Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica further solidified its reputation as a great city for bicycling with the completion of curb-protected bike lanes along 17th Street. Stretching just over a mile from Wilshire Boulevard to Pico Boulevard, this project features Southern California's first curb-protected intersections, offering significant safety improvements for cyclists. The 17th Street bikeway conveniently connects key locations such as the 17th Street Metro E Line Station, Santa Monica College, and the Michigan Avenue Greenway, creating a more accessible and interconnected bike network.

Earlier in 2023, Santa Monica's innovative use of a concrete extrusion machine for bike lane construction garnered significant attention, with the efficient, precise technology creating multiple blocks of protected bikeways in a single day. In a Streetsblog article from June, the city's principal engineer, Selim Eren, highlighted the sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and speed of the method, emphasizing the significant transformation from traditional bike lanes to the new protected design on Ocean Avenue, resulting in a substantial increase in cyclist volume. 

17. Meadowbrook Road | Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson’s new Meadowbrook Road project, unveiled in May 2023, has been championed by the Mississippi Department of Health for its role in improving public health and well-being. From Old Canton Road to West Street/Northbrook Drive, the $3.3 million project features a new road-adjacent shared-use path for people walking, rolling, and biking. Funded through a federal FAST Act grant and Jackson’s One-Percent Municipal Sales Tax, the project also included roadway resurfacing, ADA modifications, and traffic signal upgrades. Meadowbrook Road is one of several projects the city has underway to connect its downtown to the Fondren District and Jackson State University. “In our community, our residents value both cycling and walking along with accommodating wheelchair users. With a smaller right-of-way in the heart of the city and the need to use our limited space efficiently, the shared-use path has become our go-to choice in the city,” said Robert Lee, Jackon’s city engineer.

Stretching approximately 1.25 miles, the recently constructed Belmont Avenue protected bike lanes create a low-stress, east-west route across Chicago’s Kennedy Expressway and over the Chicago River while connecting several north-south protected lanes, neighborhood greenways, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Belmont Station, and the 312 Riverrun Bike Trail. The project also improved safety for pedestrians and transit riders through curb bump-outs, concrete refuge islands, and bus priority treatments. 

The project marks just one of the dozens recently completed by Chicago — contributing to more than 55 miles of bikeway projects completed in the last year alone along streets like Augusta, Central Park Avenue in Garfield Park, Clinton, Dearborn, Grand, Kedzie, and Milwaukee. Together, these projects are signs of definite improvement for Chicago, which scored only 7 out of 100 points in our 2023 City Ratings. We’ll be watching closely to see how the city’s score improves in the coming years with its new commitment to protected bike lanes. 

For the sixth consecutive year, PeopleForBikes is proud to release our annual City Ratings, a data-driven program to evaluate, identify and compare the best cities and towns for bicycling. For 2022, more than 1,000 cities were rated in the U.S. and Canada, the largest number in program history.

Below are 2022’s top-ranked small, medium and large U.S. cities for bicycling. All cities in these lists have a City Ratings score greater than 50, the threshold score for a great place to bike.

2022's Top-Ranking U.S. Cities for Bicycling

These six U.S. cities are top of class when it comes to their bike networks, infrastructure and political willpower.

At PeopleForBikes, we put a lot of emphasis on a city’s bike network and its residents’ ability to safely bike to the things they need, such as transit connections, jobs, schools, grocery stores and hospitals, as well as the things they like, such as recreational amenities like parks, trails or major shopping centers. We also account for a community’s perception of its local bike scene — every year, we conduct an online survey to hear from people that live, work and play in the cities we’re rating. 

Based on a combination of their network and community scores, all of the places on this list ranked among the top 10 cities in the U.S. Although some of these scores might seem low, cities with scores of 50 and up demonstrate higher ridership, improved safety and greater access than their peers. We spoke to experts in each location to better understand what it takes to build better bicycling communities on a large scale. 

San Francisco’s bike culture is long-established and draws from a 30-plus year history of Critical Mass, a form of direct action where people meet at a certain location and time in order to amplify bicycling via a large group ride.  

“The culture in San Francisco is very supportive of change and you have various organizations pushing for improvements,” said Mike Sallabarry, senior transportation engineer with the city. “It’s not just about on-street facilities, it’s about the different programs and events — all those things add up.”

From big events like Bike to Work Day to smaller workshops and educational gatherings, there are plenty of opportunities for folks looking to build community around bikes in the Bay Area. Even before the pandemic hit, San Francisco had a vibrant Sunday Streets program, a nod to more livable, car-free neighborhoods. Since the city is relatively small — roughly 47 square miles — many residents naturally see driving as unnecessary and unsustainable.

“San Francisco gets a reputation for being a hilly city, which of course it is, but so much of our network bypasses those steep hills,” said Matt Lasky, a project manager at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). “Recently, with e-bikes, it’s become even more manageable and accessible.”

San Francisco’s commitment to building out additional bicycle infrastructure has also helped, as has the pace at which it's doing so. In 2019, San Francisco Mayor London Breed pledged to build 20 miles of new protected bike lanes over the course of two years, doubling down on the city’s Vision Zero plan by focusing on high injury zones. This May, Mayor Breed announced that the city had exceeded that goal, laying out additional plans for more and better bike parking, as well as safer and slower streets. 

“Our network build-out has accelerated significantly in recent years, primarily due to our quick build program,” said Sallabarry, noting that the process involves using low-cost materials to focus on safety improvements. Adds Lasky, “The program allows us to evaluate what’s working and then iterate on it.”

San Francisco now boasts an extensive, connected network of 450-plus miles of bike lanes, roughly 40 miles of which are protected. The city hopes to release a map of the network that shows the existing bikeways and where gaps exist, allowing for the prioritization of connectivity going forward.

Since all of New York City's five boroughs could be considered a city in and of itself, our City Rating program scores each borough individually. Of the five, four ranked in the top 10 for big cities with Brooklyn scoring highest (62), followed by Manhattan (55), Queens (54) and the Bronx (44). Although automobile ownership in New York City is lower than the national average (about 45% versus around 90%), it’s not surprising that the one borough lagging behind when it comes to bicycling, Staten Island, also has the highest rates of car ownership (83%).

New York City also boasts the highest number of transit users in the country and in many areas, is densely populated. In Manhattan, which only spans about 22 square miles, there’s the added benefit of everything being relatively close together. When it comes to bike infrastructure, however, what really sets the city apart is its commitment to careful planning combined with rapid implementation. Over the last six years, the city built more than 50 miles of bike lanes each year. Even more impressive, it averaged more than 20 miles of protected lanes per year.

“I think the most important thing you can do [for bicycling] is to build more bike infrastructure,” said Ted Wright, director of the bicycle and greenway program at the NYC Department of Transportation. “You can’t just do protected bike lanes, you can’t only do capital projects — you have to deal with what’s out there right now, listen to where people are riding, use your planners to think about where people could be riding, and go out and build stuff.” 

New York City’s aggressiveness when it comes to construction has paid off, with the number of bicyclists in the city jumping roughly 8% per year since the ‘80s. In particular, the city prioritized projects that have immediate benefits, such as bike lanes across bridges or greenways, what Wright refers to as “beautiful highways for bikes.” The city relies on both data and listening to its stakeholders — accounting for all users and modes is especially crucial when space is at a premium. By improving on projects that weren’t quite right, New York City has managed to build trust and success over time.

Despite having a reputation for rain, the climate in Seattle is relatively temperate. When it does rain, it tends to be more of a constant drizzle rather than a downpour and the city rarely gets snow or intense heat. Add in the fact that Seattle is known as an outdoorsy place — it’s the birthplace of REI, after all — and you get a populace that’s already primed for biking.

“We also have a great advocacy community that has a good relationship with the city,” said Serena Lehman, senior transportation planner with the city. “They push the city to be bolder and prioritize funding for bike projects.”

Even internally, Lehman notes that in the last 15 years, bike champions have become ubiquitous, helping to connect bicycling to transit, advocate for connections from certain neighborhoods or allocate funds for underserved communities. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has also made a big commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, opening up substantial funding for bikes and allowing for the completion of critical infrastructure segments that connect Seattle’s larger network.

“We prioritize our unbuilt segments based on several factors,” said Lehman. “The top factors being safety, then equity and finally connectivity, ridership and livability.”

In 2014, Seattle adopted an ambitious bicycle master plan, prioritizing 226 new citywide network miles to be completed by 2030. Today, the city has completed 33 miles and plans to have another 55 done by 2024. In order to make it easier for new people to ride and commute, Seattle prioritized building key bicycle connections to transit, emphasizing first and last mile connections.

Portland has a reputation for being a bikeable city, something that’s only bolstered by events like Sunday Parkways, where streets are closed for folks to “discover active transportation” and the World Naked Bike Ride, meant to highlight the vulnerability of bicyclists. When new folks move to Portland or relocate in town, the city’s SmartTrips program delivers tailored emails and materials showcasing various active transportation options for their new residence. Unsurprisingly, Portland has the highest percentage of bike commuters for any large U.S. city.

“There’s a long history of advocacy at the political level that stretches back decades, as well as advocacy at the community level,” said John Brady, communications director at the Portland Bureau of Transportation. “There's a tradition of biking in Portland that has flowed both on the policy side of things and also on the culture side of things.”

Portland continues to build infrastructure at an impressive clip, emphasizing network connections between neighborhoods through its Missing Links program. As a bridge town with major freeways that bisect its core, the city has begun to build north-west crossings over interstates and bicycle-pedestrian bridges across the Willamette River. In order to bring in new bikers, the city also focused on expanding greenways and building more infrastructure in East Portland, where more historically marginalized communities reside.

“As a city, we’ve begun assessing everything we do through the lens of racial justice, and biking isn't immune from that,” said Brady, noting that PBOT has a full-time equity and inclusion manager and that they’ve also prioritized the expansion of their fully electric bike share system. “There’s safety in the sense of not being hit by a car while riding, but there’s also personal safety from bigotry and violence. We can build a really great bicycle facility but if Black or Latino Portlanders don’t feel safe taking advantage of it, then we’re not completely doing our job.”

Every city on this list has a bike share program but, when it comes to successful community outreach, none quite compare to Philadelphia's Indego system. The city of Philadelphia is a founding member of the Better Bike Share Partnership and from its inception, Indego has maintained strong equity and educational components, working to bring biking to low-income and historically marginalized communities.

“In our bike network development, we've been able to learn from Indego on how to closely work with neighborhoods,” said Kelley Yemen, Philadelphia’s director of complete streets. “Maybe what’s needed isn’t a bike lane but rather street calming on an adjacent street — we have those conversations and really work to meet people where they’re at as we expand.”

Philadelphia is also working to build out a high-quality, safe and connected network, which it hopes will not only bring in new riders but also keep them riding. The city has consistently seen an increase in bicycling year over year and to keep its numbers growing, Philadelphia is in the process of converting to LED lighting citywide and making all-season bicycling more accessible through winter snow clearing efforts.

“We’re not the richest city but we try to leverage every investment we have to make Complete Streets,” said Yemen, noting that Philadelphia is opportunistic when it comes to development. “When PennDOT is reconstructing a bridge or a street is getting repaved, we’re filling in gaps and making bike network connections.”

While a score of 45 leaves a lot of room for improvement, we’re including Detroit in our list based on its progress. The city built its first protected bike lane in 2017 and by the end of this year, will have added another 43 miles of protected bike lanes. That dramatic increase in quality infrastructure has been bolstered by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who loves two-way protected bike lanes, as well as the transfer of key employees from the Planning and Development Department to the Department of Public Works.

“We weren’t making a lot of headway before,” said Erika Linenfelser, an urban planner with the city who moved departments with her boss, Deputy Director of Complete Streets Caitlin Marcon. “The Department of Public Works is the one that installs and maintains the bike lanes — for it to now have a Complete Streets focus has been a fundamental shift.”

Detroit is also relatively flat and blessed with incredibly wide streets, a vestige from the time when it earned the nickname Motor City. In the decades since then, Detroit has lost most of its car manufacturing business and its population, declaring bankruptcy in 2013. The city, which was originally built to accommodate 2 million people, now has a population of under 700,000, leaving those big streets with very little traffic. 

“We don’t have a lot of money but it's also fairly easy for us to go in and build protected bike lanes,” said Linenfelser. “We don't have to eliminate street parking, as we can literally just take out a lane that isn’t being used.”

There’s a general consensus among Detroit residents that safer streets are needed and Linenfelser’s team has been emphasizing the fact that more bicycle lanes and lower speed limits benefit pedestrians and drivers alike. Black and Latino residents make up almost 85% of the city and there has been a valid concern, often voiced by City Council members, that bike lanes “aren’t for them” or that they might lead to gentrification. In order to promote bicycling as an activity for everyone, the city upped its educational outreach, diversified its marketing, utilized social media more and partnered with community organizations.

Currently, Detroit is considering how it might grow its network as part of a larger Transportation Master Plan. Since the money isn’t available for a citywide network of protected bike lanes, slow streets with wayfinding signage will likely play an important role when it comes to filling in network gaps and making bicycling viable for less central neighborhoods.

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.

The Village of Ossining, located 40 miles north of New York City on the banks of the Hudson River, is indicative of a lot of other small, more rural communities throughout the United States. With a population of roughly 27,000 people, Ossining faces an incredibly high cost of living, leaving many of its residents underwater with rising housing costs and little in the way of affordable transit options — in fact, the average Ossining household spends 55% of its income on housing and transportation.

Introducing a new method of transportation came about organically. Ossining was working with the holistic planning firm Nelson\Nygaard on a mobility and parking study, the goal of which was to ease some of its downtown parking problems and improve curb management. When that project ended, the village — which prides itself on being a leader when it comes to sustainability — continued to work with the same consulting team, brainstorming ideas for new ways to expand its transportation network over relatively hilly terrain, all without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Those sessions led to the creation of Project MOVER. 

MOVER stands for Moving Onto Vast E-Micromobility Replication, and the project’s goal is to dramatically expand access to shared and personal e-bikes for all residents. Not only will Project MOVER feature comprehensive support infrastructure, including e-bike charging docks, low-cost lease-to-own e-bikes, reduced fare shared e-bike trips, and additional bike parking but community-led training and marketing are also integral to the plan.

The Village of Ossining and its project lead, EIT InnoEnergy, were recently selected for a grant through the New York Clean Transportation Prizes program administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). One of just 10 projects selected(and one of only four in the electric mobility category), Project MOVER was awarded $7 million and will be eligible to compete for additional funding down the road. 

Project MOVER was designed to deploy e-bikes across three different models. The first is a classic bike share program where people can use a mobile app to find and book a bike, unlock it from a docking station, pay as they use it, and then return it to a docking station to charge. Another is through the use of bike libraries — individual employers or multi-family residences will have fleets of bikes available for their staff or residents to use around Ossining to conduct business or run errands. Finally, the lease-to-own program will allow folks that wish to acquire an e-bike for their exclusive use — and who can demonstrate financial hardship — to enter into a program under which they can lease the e-bike for a short time before transitioning to ownership. 

“We wanted to ensure that e-bikes are not out of reach for anyone in our community, and that is one of the core tenets of Project MOVER,” says Ossining Mayor Rika Levin. “I suspect that most of our adult community members will interact with Project MOVER at several points during the duration of the project.”

Levin predicts that for some, an e-bike will become their primary mode of transportation, while others will use the bikes to connect to recreational opportunities or to run errands when a car is less practical.

“I expect that, even for folks who don’t use the bikes themselves, this program will touch their lives — more bikes on the road, and infrastructure for bikes, makes drivers more conscious of their movements behind the wheel,” says Levin, adding that more alert drivers are always a good thing. 

Crucially, Project MOVER was co-designed with four local nonprofits — Hudson Link, Neighbors Link, Open Door Family Medical Center, and the Interfaith Council For Action — that represent folks often marginalized in community planning processes, including immigrant families, affordable housing tenants, and formerly incarcerated individuals. Ossining is surprisingly diverse for a small town, with a growing immigrant population that 

includes many low-income BIPOC residents. Not only was it important that this population had seats at the planning table from the outset, but they’ll continue to play an important role as the project is lived out, assisting in everything from the placement of charging stations to equipment maintenance to facilitating educational workshops and helmet giveaways.

“One of the most important issues we discussed in planning this project was not only the ability to pay but also, the ability to make payment,” says Levin, explaining that not everyone has access to a debit or credit card and not everyone feels comfortable uploading their personal data into a mobile app. “Fortunately, we have developed strategies so that even those who are unbanked can use the program, with the assistance of partners like Neighbors Link, who will assist in cashiering services.”

In addition to offering a cash payment option, Project MOVER will accept alternative forms of identification and accept offline bookings. Subsidized and free membership options will also be available. The project’s partners will deploy 1,000 e-bikes and 120 charging stations across four incubator communities, with bikes and stations spread out to connect residential areas with public amenities (schools, jobs, grocery stores, etc.), as well as transportation hubs like the regional train station. Part of the new infrastructure will also include a network of convenient and safe bike “boulevards” between key destinations, and many of the e-bike libraries are being established in partnership with local businesses hoping for increased customer traffic.

“Ossining is a socio-economically diverse community—many of our residents cannot easily afford a personal automobile, let alone the insurance, maintenance, and storage requirements that come along with that,” says Levin, adding that many who do own cars do so at the expense of a higher quality of life. “Pedal-assist e-bikes, readily and affordably available, will be a solution for many Ossining residents, while at the same time alleviating some of our parking woes and improving our health by making our community more walkable. It’s a win-win.”

Project MOVER doesn’t yet have a set start date but there are plans for a soft launch at Green Ossining’s Earth Day Festival in April. Once it’s off the ground, data will be a huge part of the project. The implementation team will track how folks choose to get around, as well as what they might choose differently with more options. Learnings from the initial deployment in the Village of Ossining will be shared through the newly formed Electric Mobility Incubator, a knowledge exchange platform for communities to access deployment blueprints and replicate the project in nearby communities.

The plan is to first expand to the towns of Tarrytown, Dobbs Ferry, and Croton-on-Hudson before scaling to include dozens of communities by 2030 (already, the project team has identified 20 additional municipalities within a 30-mile radius with similar mobility profiles). Hopefully, what the small Village of Ossining is doing with e-bikes will ripple outwards, proving a replicable framework for other underserved, car-dependent communities across the country. 

“I think a cultural shift is coming in which we all, regardless of immediate financial condition, will need to re-consider the practicality of using an automobile,” says Levin. “With gas prices ever fluctuating and climate change in our very midst, we in Ossining are working to change the culture around biking infrastructure and make alternative transportation the norm — and maybe even cool.”

This story was originally published on the Better Bike Share Partnership website. To learn about more ways to make shared micromobility more equitable, make sure and sign up for the BBSP newsletter.

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