We’re making biking better in Pennsylvania 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. A devastating flash flood in July 2019 created a 40-foot chasm in the 51-mile Redbank Valley Trail in New Bethlehem, rendering it impassable along a popular stretch. In spring 2020, our Community Grant Program provided funding to help the Redbank Valley Trails Association build a bridge to reconnect these sections and revive this popular destination for residents and visitors.

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)

PeopleForBikes’ annual City Ratings includes 816 new U.S. cities for 2024, 708 of which are home to less than 50,000 residents. While these newcomers may not have the populations of some of our other great places to bike like Minneapolis and Seattle, there is still plenty to celebrate and learn from small cities across the U.S.

The top 10 small cities in this year’s ratings scored an average of 89 out of a possible 100, showing that great places to bike come in all shapes and sizes. We collected a few of our favorite new small cities in this year’s rankings stretching from North Carolina to Alaska.

Located near Zion National Park in southwest Utah, there is one main road running through the town of Springdale, State Route 9, with sections of a nice bike path running alongside it. Thanks to a $10.8 million grant approved by the Utah Department of Transportation, an 18-mile paved trail will soon run from the city of St. George through Springdale all the way to the entrance of Zion National Park, giving local residents and outdoor recreationists from across the country a safe and accessible route to travel to the park without having to get in the car.

The small coastal community of Emerald Isle along North Carolina’s Crystal Coast has an 11-mile bike path that stretches nearly the entire length of Bouges Bank Island called the Emerald Path. The city hosts an annual bike ride called Bike the Banks, with the shortest race option taking place entirely on the bike path.

The community of Valdez supports a growing theme of Alaskan cities punching above their weight in our City Ratings. Viewing city score averages by state, Alaska is the highest scoring state for 2024 with an average population-weighted city score of 59 out of 100. The town sits on the edge of a bay and the 6.5-mile DOT Valdez Bike Path connects the town center to the west side of the town, where the Shoup Bay Trail takes bicyclists out further along the bay and into the wilderness. There is also a multi-use path that connects Port Valdez on the other side of the bay to the DOT path into town. Valdez is home to excellent fat tire biking, where you can bike on frozen lakes with icebergs, and partake in the annual Fat Bike Bash.

Despite its name, Jersey Shore is an inland town along a river in central Pennsylvania, neither close to New Jersey nor the ocean. The town’s main bike infrastructure is the Pine Creek Rail Trail, a 62-mile trail that terminates in Jersey City. The Bald Eagle Valley Trail project is currently underway (tracked via our Great Bike Infrastructure Project), ending in Jersey Shore and connecting to the rail trail. The Bald Eagle Valley Trail is part of a much bigger effort for this region called the Susquehanna Valley Greenway, along the Susquehanna River in Appalachia. 

Situated between Los Angeles and Santa Barabara, Ojai is not as rural as the other cities on this list, but it is currently constructing a major bike path and safety project along one of its most dangerous roads, Maricopa Highway. The project is a great example of a dedicated effort to improve safety for people biking and walking because it takes a lot of work for small cities to marshall the kind of resources needed to complete a project of that size, with Ojai receiving competitive Active Transportation Program funding from the state. The city is also choosing to tackle one of its biggest connectivity barriers rather than go after easy, cheap, but less impactful projects. An existing regional trail, the Ojai Valley Trail, runs 15 miles from the coastal city of Ventura into the town center of Ojai, allowing residents and visitors to bike from the town to the beach.

This small historic island located off the northern tip of Michigan’s mitten is our #1 ranked city in this year’s City Ratings. Mackinac Island received an impressive score of 99 out of a possible 100 and for good reason — the town banned motor vehicles in 1898. While the island itself is only 3.8 square miles in size, 80% of Mackinac is a state park and is home to more than 70 miles of trails to explore, including an 8.2-mile coastal trail that circumnavigates the perimeter of the island. Mackinac Island’s lack of vehicular traffic and 19th-century charm have made the small Michigan town a major national tourism destination, with the year-round population of around 600 welcoming nearly 1 million visitors each year.

The Better Bike Share Partnership, a collaboration between PeopleForBikes, the City of Philadelphia, and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), is proud to announce its second cohort of Living Labs focused on creating replicable programs for improving shared micromobility in BIPOC and low-income communities.

A strategy launched in 2020, BBSP Living Labs are testing grounds for innovative solutions. The program helps fulfill the partnership's mission of identifying barriers to bike share and developing strategies to address those barriers. The Living Lab approach provides time, flexibility, and gives grantees the opportunity to create lasting change, specifically to make their micromobility systems more equitable by increasing access to and use of bike share. 

Learn about our previous Living Labs and their achievements.

The new cohort includes bike share systems housed in and operated by a variety of organizations and companies. They operate in mid to large-sized cities and are diverse in their system size.

City of Tucson, Arizona — Tugo Bike Share

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority — Metro Bike Share

City of Philadelphia — Indego Bike Share

BBSP received 30 letters of interest from partnerships of cities, bike share operators, and community-based organizations looking to pilot, expand, replicate, or scale strategies and tactics to break down barriers to bike share in historically marginalized communities. 

Over the course of two and a half years, BBSP is committed to disbursing $200,000 to each Living Lab, covering costs associated with programming as well as technical support, scholarships, and travel stipends for relevant conferences. Grantees will also convene virtually every month to share learnings and build camaraderie as a cohort. Check back often as we showcase the work of each Living Lab.

Read the full press release below to learn more about each project.

Better Bike Share Partnership Announces Second Cohort of Living Lab Partners Focused on Equity

The Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP), funded by The JPB Foundation to build equitable and replicable shared micromobility systems, is pleased to announce the selection of its second cohort of Living Labs. A collaborative between PeopleForBikes, the City of Philadelphia, and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), BBSP will provide four organizations with funding, support, and additional resources to develop best practices for creating access to shared micromobility and increase use of shared micromobility in historically marginalized communities. 

Each Living Lab identified barriers to bike and scooter share for BIPOC and those living on limited incomes in their cities. The organizations will spend the next two years working with local partners and community members to address these barriers.

“As a Living Lab, each grantee will have the time and flexibility to test strategies and implement new ideas so that BIPOC and lower-income communities can more easily access and use their bike share systems,” said  Tangier Barnes Wright, deputy director of shared micromobility at PeopleForBikes. “They will be part of a cohort of organizations advancing equity in shared micromobility and we look forward to learning from their work.”

Building on the work of Philadelphia — the first BBSP Living Lab city — the 2024 cohort will grow partnerships, lead with community engagement, expand already successful work, and test and refine strategies to bring bike share and historically marginalized populations together.

Here are the 2024-2026 Living Lab projects:


Through a community-led planning effort, Tugo Bike Share will collaborate with community-based organizations to determine how to reinvest resources to serve the south and west sides of Tucson more equitably. Through more equitable station siting and in-person engagement, Tugo will assess utilization rates in previously underserved areas and engage with community organizations and residents to better understand barriers to access and bike share adoption. The group will also work with partners and underserved communities to create a process that incorporates feedback, represents community needs, and builds capacity to better support and advocate for future bike share system expansion or electrification.


Equitable Outreach and Engagement in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh’s bike share system, POGOH, will work with community partners to develop a local engagement plan to address low ridership and awareness in the Homewood neighborhood. POGOH will address barriers to biking and mobility by building connections with Homewood students and families through a youth ambassador program, community rides, learn to ride courses, and programming with Safe Routes to School. By hiring neighborhood outreach associates to engage residents in bike share expansion, POGOH will create lasting opportunities for Homewood residents of all ages and skill levels to engage in biking and bike share. POGOH’s Living Lab work will take place alongside planned system expansion over the next two years.

Community-Led Coalition for Equitable In-Fill and Expansion of

This coalition of community partners will promote local involvement and trust in bike share for communities that, for the first time, will be directly served by Metro Bike Share. Through partnerships with community-based organizations, Metro Bike Share will implement educational programming and expand outreach efforts to create a process for sustained engagement, fostering community ownership in bike share initiatives. The project scope includes pre-station siting community engagement in central and westside Los Angeles as well as service area gaps. The Living Lab work will help ensure Metro’s planned bike share expansion is achieved while centering community members and equity.  

The City of Philadelphia, in collaboration with Bicycle Transit Systems and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, remains steadfast in its commitment to the equitable growth of the Indego bike share program. As Indego expands, it will use community input to continue refining its engagement initiatives which currently include the Indego Community Advisory Council, local mini-grants, Wheels to Work, Indego Community Ambassadors, and bike safety education and encouragement programs. Indego’s goal is to ensure communities within their service area can access the benefits of bike share and that community members’ voices are heard.

Meet the Better Bike Share Partnership's New Living Lab Grantees

On December 12, the PeopleForBikes Coalition Board of Directors approved our 2023 Industry Community Grants recipients, totaling $100,000 in funding across 13 grants. The grants will help fund projects that support our focus on building infrastructure that makes communities great places to ride a bike. The projects include several pump tracks, efforts to build safe routes to schools, demonstration projects to promote the importance of protected bike lanes, innovative solutions to combat bike theft in college towns, and mountain bike parks in flat urban areas.

2023 PeopleForBikes Industry Community Grants

Delmont, PA | Trail construction and intersection improvements for a connection to the Westmoreland Heritage Rail Trail. Our funds leverage an additional $18,000 to build a new and vital bikeway for residents and visitors in Delmont.

Sandersville, GA | Funding to construct the first 3 miles of a 250-mile trail system in Georgia, leveraging $6 million in other funding.

Los Angeles, CA | One in a series of “CicLAminis,” a neighborhood-focused open streets event celebrating new neighborhood bike infrastructure. This grant will highlight the specific trail extensions and protected bikeways that improve bicycling locally. 

Ann Arbor, MI | Demonstration project to install and evaluate permeable surfaces on a segment of the Treeline-Allen Creek Urban Trail to create a safe and accessible bike path through a floodplain.

Durango, CO | Demonstration projects of fully protected bike lanes on key portions of a proposed citywide network of low-stress bikeways.   

Saint Johns, AZ | A collaboration with the Legacy Teen Center to build a new pump track that will help launch the Legacy Bike Club. 

Jersey City, NJ | Demonstration project to install and evaluate protected bike lanes in Jersey City to leverage $670,590 in state funding for permanent construction.

Clear Creek Off-Road Bike Association — $7,650

Pearland, TX | Initial construction costs for an innovative mountain bike trail system in an urban park, using shipping containers to create hills in an otherwise flat, low-income neighborhood.  

Providence, RI | Community rides and organizing to win community support for protected bike lanes in low-income communities and leverage $28 million in federal grants.

Tempe, AZ | A "bike bus" to highlight the need for infrastructure that’s safe for children to enjoy on a bicycle and support its construction.

Eugene, OR | An innovative solution to prevent bike theft with a strategy to expand the use of public funding and provide an example for other college towns where bike theft prevents people from relying on a bike for transportation.

St. Louis, MO | Support for the construction of a quick-build protected bike lane on Compton Avenue, a key connection to existing bike boulevard projects in the citywide network.

Kearns, UT | An upgrade to the Lodestar XC Bike Park to enhance the trails and add skills features including adaptive features. Open to the public, the park provides the only training opportunities for students from six high school mountain bike teams.  

PeopleForBikes' Industry Community Grants Program provides funding for projects that make bicycling better in communities across the U.S. Since 1999, PeopleForBikes has awarded more than 400 grants to nonprofit organizations and local governments in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Our investments total more than $3.5 million and have leveraged $775 million in public and private funding for bike-related projects nationwide.

PeopleForBikes' 2023 Industry Community Grants Recipients

Even great biking cities need to constantly improve to ensure they remain at the forefront of creating better communities for bicycling. Just ask Munich, Germany, which, even with a City Ratings score of 83, strives to make its city even better for bicycling with the 2022 announcement of a new plan for six cycling expressways and a bicycle ring road to be completed by 2025. 

City Ratings scores and the creation of great places for biking are positively impacted by plans that embody PeopleForBikes' SPRINT framework: reducing speeds, constructing protected bike lanes, reallocating road space, improving intersections, establishing comprehensive networks of safe cycling routes, and using trusted data to inform decision-making. These strategies help communities enhance bike infrastructure and make riding better for everyone.

With that in mind, we explored our top-rated U.S. cities for 2023 to find the most exceptional bike plans. Each of these communities sets an inspiring example for others to follow, demonstrating the transformative power of well-crafted bike plans in building vibrant, bike-friendly communities that get more people riding more often.

Rated as the top large U.S. city in our City Ratings program for 2023, Minneapolis has developed one of the country’s most robust bicycle networks thanks in part to its 2011 Bicycle Master Plan, 2013 Climate Action Plan, 2020 Transportation Action Plan, and 2015 Protected Bikeway Update to the Bicycle Master Plan. The 2015 plan outlined a long-term objective of creating 174 miles of protected bike lanes as part of the city's bike network. To help implement these plans, Minneapolis’ Street Design Guide was created to steer the design of road reconstructions and retrofits.

In 1967, Davis constructed a bike lane on 8th Street, making it the first U.S. city with a designated bike lane. Today, Davis is PeopleForBikes’ highest-rated medium-sized city, with more than 100 miles of bike lanes and paths. The city has bike plans dating back to 1977 available on its website, offering a glimpse into how thinking about bike infrastructure has changed over the decades. Davis’ most recent plan, its 2014 Beyond Platinum Bicycle Action Plan, outlines strategies to help Davis continue leading the way in creating a safe and attractive bicycling community to meet climate adaptation goals and accommodate a growing population.

San Francisco's Vision Zero Action Plan and Quick Build Program is part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's efforts to prioritize safety and sustainable transportation. In recent years, it’s gained significant traction, building upon the city’s transit-first policy, which voters approved in the 1970s. The program’s success lies in its iterative design process, which uses streamlined delivery to produce quick results, project evaluations to determine what’s working in regard to safety outcomes, and the willingness to redesign projects if needed. 

As it approaches its tenth anniversary, the program has showcased notable achievements for people riding bikes, including increasing bike volumes by up to 75%, reducing vehicle-bike interactions at bike signals by 93%, reducing vehicular speeds, and decreasing the percentage of vehicles blocking bike lanes by 90%.  All of this has helped land San Francisco our number two spot among large U.S. cities in this year’s City Ratings program.

In 2021, Seattle updated its Bicycle Master Plan to guide the city’s work over the next four years, listing specific infrastructure projects to be completed within that time frame. Through regular updates to the plan, Seattle has been able to adjust project lists and provide progress reports to the City Council and the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board on the implementation status of the overall master plan — something that is required by City Council Resolution in Seattle. 

The Bicycle Master Plan works in conjunction with the city's Vision Zero Plan and Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Analysis, which help prioritize bicycle infrastructure based on safety considerations, as well as the Seattle Trails Upgrade Plan, which helps guide trail connectivity and maintenance projects. Together, these four plans have helped the city lower speed limits to 25 mph for more than 90% of its arterial streets and, as of November 2022, build out 32 miles of protected bike lanes and trails, as well as nearly 60 miles of neighborhood greenways. All of this work has helped Seattle increase its Bicycle Network Analysis score — which directly informs City Ratings results — from 47 in 2018 to 62 in 2023. 

From 2000 to 2009, Philadelphia saw a 151% increase in bicycle commuting, making it the fastest-growing mode of transportation in the city. In 2012, when Philadelphia released its updated Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan, the city had already used its 2000 version of the plan to create more than 230 miles of bike lanes and other on-road bicycle facilities to keep up with growing demand. In 2013, the city also released its Trail Master Plan, which has since been updated annually. 

While the 2012 plan focused on improving network connectivity by filling gaps in the network, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia wanted more, challenging the city to construct 30 miles of protected bike lanes. That idea gained traction in 2018 when the Kenney Administration integrated it into Connect: Philadelphia's Strategic Transportation Plan. 

Key components of these plans (and the city’s Vision Zero Plan) helped increase Philadelphia’s Bicycle Network Analysis score from 43 in 2018 to 57 in 2023. They include the creation of neighborhood slow zones, an impressive regional trail network, and new protected bike lanes on JFK Boulevard, Market Street, Race Street, Torresdale Avenue, and Parkside Avenue.

In 2019, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller made a commitment to Vision Zero, joining more than 40 other U.S. communities in an effort to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. That commitment has clearly paid off for the city’s bike network: While it’s not a top-rated city (yet), Albuquerque's Bicycle Network Analysis score jumped from just 13 in 2019 to 29 in 2023. 

Released in 2021, Albuquerque’s Vison Zero Action Plan incorporates clear themes and corresponding action items, designating lead agencies and organizations responsible for implementing each. Importantly, the plan overlays a vulnerable communities index map with the high fatal and injury network map to address safety concerns to improve equity. 

From 1997 to 2007, Teton County and the Town of Jackson constructed more than 25 miles of paved shared-use paths. Since the completion of the Pathways Master Plan in 2007, that mileage has grown exponentially, landing Jackson in the number six overall spot in our U.S. City Ratings program with a score of 79. With 70 miles of paved pathways and 152 miles of trails, the pathway system now links the community to even more riding opportunities in nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park. 

Beyond identifying priority infrastructure investments to improve and expand the Pathways system, the Master Plan lays out clear recommendations for needed policy changes, team structures, and finances to complete the plan’s vision and maintain the Pathways network, ensuring the system is set up for long-term success. The 2015 Community Streets Plan complements the Pathways Master Plan by providing a street design manual that governs the development of public infrastructure projects, ensuring that bikeways are developed under set standards and in line with the master plan. 

In 2021, Hoboken released its Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to achieve Vision Zero in five years by implementing immediate improvements for safer streets. The plan helped the city identify high-crash corridors and intersections and recommend specific measures to reduce crashes and their impact, many of which the city has moved quickly to implement, including protected bike lanes, curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, and a citywide 20-mile-per-hour speed limit. 

Hoboken’s 2010 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan also helped put the city on the right track to becoming what is now one of the best medium-sized cities in the U.S. for biking, with a City Ratings score of 62. Even more importantly, Hoboken has achieved something most advocates in other U.S. cities can only dream of: no traffic fatalities for four consecutive years.

Cambridge achieved one of the most significant increases in our City Ratings program, soaring from 31 in 2018 to an impressive 58 in 2023. Improvements in Cambridge have been propelled forward through the 2020 Cambridge Bicycle Plan, the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan, and the implementation of separated bike lanes as mandated by the Cambridge Cycling Safety Ordinance. Perhaps most influential, the Cycling Safety Ordinance requires the city to build almost its entire citywide network of protected bike lanes by 2026.

How Great Bike Plans Transform Communities

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.

Whether it’s to reduce their carbon footprint, for exercise, to save money or just for fun, more and more college students across the United States are choosing to get around by bike. As a result, many colleges and universities are putting in extensive time and resources to make biking more accessible and safe on campuses nationwide.

In this year’s City Ratings, PeopleForBikes’ annual program to evaluate, identify, and compare the best cities and towns for bicycling, many college towns ranked in the top 50 out of more than 1,000 U.S. cities for bicycling. Read on to learn what these places are doing to become great places to bike.

Coming in at number two overall in this year’s City Ratings with a score of 72 (out of a possible 100) is Davis, California. A hip college town 11 miles west of Sacramento, Davis is home to the University of California at Davis, a large public university with 31,000 students spread across its 5,300-acre campus. Known for being one of the best places for bicycling in the United States, it’s hard to ignore the city’s incessant love for biking when riding around Davis. Davis has a myriad of different bike share options, including e-bikes and long-term rentals, so it’s never difficult to find a way to get around town by bike.

Davis was an early pioneer in bicycle mobility, constructing their first bike lanes in 1967, which have since expanded to include 50 miles of on-street bike lanes and 50 miles of off-street shared paths. Close to 98% of the streets in Davis have some sort of bicycling provision and the city is also home to the Bicycling Hall of Fame, built in 1987. Cycling through the college campus, you’ll see both staff and students alike commuting on their bikes. An estimated 47% of staff use bikes to get to work every day and about 20% of all trips in Davis include a bike.

As a town, Davis has fostered a shared sense of mutual respect between motorists and pedestrians and created a strong sense of biking culture. Davis’ compact city size, flat topography, access to bike rental services and relatively mild climate make it an ideal place to get around on two wheels!

Home of Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania, ranked 35th overall with a City Ratings score of 53. A majority of Penn State’s 40,000 students use cycling as their main form of transportation due to its massive sprawling campus, but up until 2008, cycling was not very accessible.

In 2008, Penn State's Transportation Services proposed a “Bicycle Master Plan,” which not only added multiple bike lanes throughout campus but also included bike climbing lanes for steep uphill sections, showering and changing facilities, more bike racks, covered bike parking, more effective snow clearing for bike-heavy areas and a bicycle education program for all incoming freshman. Many of these facilities are located no more than a five-minute walk from any destination on campus and 21 bike share rental stations across campus provide more than 15,000 rides each year to students, faculty, and staff.

State College is especially unique from other cycling college towns because of its active efforts to create a culture of biking for everyday travel and recreational use by building a community around it. The “Bike Den” on Penn State’s campus is a community-building space where cyclists can work on bike maintenance projects, attend bike workshops and connect with other local cyclists. State College’s hilly topography, harsh winters, and large campus do not make being a bike-friendly college town easy, but the campus transportation services are continuously working harder to make cycling safer and more convenient for everyone.

Oregon is known as the most bicycle-friendly state on the West Coast, and Corvallis, home to Oregon State University, is certainly no exception. Corvallis’ abundance of nature, compact size, mild summer temperatures, and network of bike lanes make it a dream to bike around! In fact, 97% of the city's streets are connected by bike lanes and shared-use paths, which means almost any trip can be made in 15 minutes or less by bicycle.

Corvallis has been promoting active recreation and transportation for decades. In 1971, the Citizens Advisory Commission on Bicycles was formed to create an advocacy group for bike infrastructure, safety, and culture. Oregon State University followed in Corvallis' steps, encouraging bicycling as an easy, healthy transportation option using a program called “ZAP,” which rewards students and faculty for biking around campus. In 2019 alone, ZAP logged 54,337 trips!

OSU also provides amenities including bike parking, repair stands, bike share and bike loan options, bicycle safety training, and bicycle registration services. Oregon State’s efforts for biking are paying off: In 2019, about 20% of students got to campus by bike, higher than other comparable universities by a whopping 10-15%! Corvallis is the perfect home base for anyone looking to explore the views of the Sunset State by bike.

Madison, Wisconsin, or “Mad Town” as it is lovingly referred to, ranked 24th overall in this year’s City Ratings with a score of 57. Known as the Bike Capital of the Midwest, biking is not only acceptable but accessible in the Wisconsin capital. The city’s 295 miles of paths, routes, and streets were specifically designed to be accessible by bikers for a safe and convenient ride. These paths are well-utilized, with more than 2.9 million users being logged across Madison’s state-of-the-art counting stations annually.

Madison is also home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of eight universities in America named at the Platinum level by the League of American Bicyclists. UW Madison is home to a strong network of bicycle routes and is continuously adding more to make every destination on campus accessible by bike. Boasting many amenities including bicycle share programs, 40+ e-bike stations, bicycle parking, repair stations, and after-ride amenities, the city’s biking success was almost inevitable. 25% of students and 18% of staff will bike to campus in good weather, with about 10% of students and 4% of staff still biking to campus in poor weather. Madison’s efforts have not gone unnoticed, and the city has cultivated a strong, year-round culture of biking for active everyday travel and transportation.

Nestled deep in the Appalachian foothills of gorgeous Southeastern Ohio is Athens, a lively college town that ranks number 36 on this year’s list. Athens County is home to nearly 1,000 miles of paved and gravel roads open for cycling use, with world-class mountain biking trails just a short drive away. Residents of Athens take full advantage of these trails — 4% ride their bikes to work and even more ride their bikes recreationally. The state of Ohio recently published its Walk.Bike.Ohio policy plan and the city of Athens also established a Bike and Pedestrian Safety Plan intending to expand its current bicycle network by adding new bikeways, more bicycle parking, and other facilities as well as growing education and safety initiatives throughout the state and city.

Ohio University, located in Athens, has 21 miles of bike paths on campus for its 28,000 students, and much of the university's bikeways underwent major repairs in 2014 and 2015 to uphold OU’s responsibility to provide safe transportation to their campus community. Their unwavering commitment to active transportation can be seen in the extensive network of bicycle parking, events, and resources for students and staff biking or walking to class.

Boulder, Colorado, is the perfect combination of urban living and the wild outdoors. Resting right where the mighty Rocky Mountains meet the rolling plains in Colorado’s Front Range, there is an abundance of food, breweries and live music to enjoy in the University of Colorado college town. The minute you set foot in Boulder, you’ll be greeted by helmet-clad enthusiasts riding leisurely, perfect-for-kids bike paths like the Boulder Creek Path, adventure-seeking mountain bikers enjoying stunning views on the Canyon Loop in Betasso Preserve, and working professionals getting in a workout on two wheels during their lunch break.

Biking is core to Boulder culture, with an average of four bikes for every household and a myriad of different bike share services available across town. More than 300 miles of bikeways weave throughout Boulder, making it easy to get to the dentist, a Psychology 101 class, and a gorgeous state park all in the same day. Cyclists take advantage of every good-weather day, and with about 300 days of sun per year, the city is always bustling with bikes. 10.5% of residents bike to work in Boulder, significantly higher than the U.S. average of 0.6%.

The best day of the year on campus is CU Bike Fest Day — a day full of bike community, culture, and fun for CU Boulder students. The festivities and culture of biking in Boulder make it an obvious choice for any cycling fanatic.

Ames, Iowa, has the quintessential college town experience, with an equal amount of big- and small-city feel in the town of 64,000. During the Iowa State University football season, the city is full of energy and excitement, and even when the students go home, the community finds other ways to stay active. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Ames was home to the Raleigh/Levi cycling team which produced big-name riders like Andy Hampsten and Connie Carpenter. Recently, a trail network of about 600 miles was built around central Iowa, with 52 of those miles directly in Ames! Any talk about cycling in Iowa must also include the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, better known as RAGBRAI, which is an average 468-mile-long ride that has stopped in Ames four times during its tenure.

Biking is a great way to get around in Ames — in fact, about 15% of residents get to work by walking or biking! Iowa State University students are also big bikers — sitting on 1,800 acres and home to nearly 27,000 students, you can almost always find someone zipping around campus on a bike. ISU is looking to expand its infrastructure by connecting high-use trails like the High Trestle Trail to campus and bringing a bike share service on campus for students. Ames and ISU already have some fantastic bike infrastructure, and it certainly looks like the improvements won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

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 Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) recently announced their final internal policy on the use of electric bicycles (e-bikes) on DCNR lands, effective immediately in state parks and forests. During the policy session, PeopleForBikes was eager to offer resources and information with our partners at the PA DCNR to help inform policy decisions around e-bike access in the state.

After receiving more than 640 public comments, the DCNR will allow e-bikes on trails already open to traditional bicycle usage on DCNR-managed lands, as long as e-bike users follow the guidelines consistent with the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code. Under the final policy, an electric bicycle is a bicycle equipped with an electric motor that assists the rider when they are pedaling and must:

Have a motor that does not exceed 750 watts

E-bike users must also propel their e-bikes by pedaling on non-motorized trails — the use of throttle-only functionality is not permitted on non-motorized trails managed by the PA DCNR.

E-bikes make Pennsylvania state parks and forests more accessible to more people, including older individuals and those with physical limitations or medical conditions. The DCNR’s final policy expands such opportunities for healthy outdoor recreation while at the same time managing impacts on other visitors and on natural places.

Because other public lands in Pennsylvania (such as federal lands, local parks, and preserves) have different requirements related to e-bikes, users should check the guidelines for their destination before they go. The new policy only allows e-bikes to be used on DCNR-managed trails where traditional bikes are allowed. E-bikes will be allowed on DCNR-managed motorized trails and public-use roads unless they are marked as prohibited to bikes. Riders under the age of 16 are not permitted to ride e-bikes on state or local highways.

Bike trails found in Pennsylvania state parks feature a variety of sizes, terrain and scenic views. Currently, there are approximately 3,800 miles of state forest trails open to mountain biking, and of those, 447 miles within 11 state forests are specifically designated and maintained for mountain biking.

Want to learn more? The Pennsylvania DCNR created a printable fact sheet on biking in state parks and forests and plans to share this resource with bike shops, riding organizations, and state park and forest visitors.

Pennsylvania DCNR Finalizes E-Bike Policy for State Parks and Forests

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. 

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