North Omaha is the heart of Omaha, Nebraska’s Black community. It’s home to artists and activists and rich in culture and history. North Omaha is the birthplace of Malcolm X, home to three-weight world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, and where jazz icons like Duke Ellington performed in the historic Dreamland Ballroom.

Like countless Black communities across the country, North Omaha has experienced generations of disinvestment, including being deliberately cut off from the rest of the city and denied basic public infrastructure and other services. Positively, residents in North Omaha are making strides toward a more connected and healthy neighborhood with projects like the North Omaha Trail, which aims to reconnect the neighborhood and increase public health infrastructure, guided by the communities along the route.

I became interested in sharing this as an Omaha native. Although I grew up in West Omaha,  I had the opportunity to bike on the trail in 2022 during the Juneteenth Joy Ride as part of the annual Juneteenth JoyFest, a Black Arts and Cultural Festival founded by Alajia McKizia in 2021.

Manuel Cook, a North Omaha resident, returned to Omaha after studying in the Netherlands in 2017 and wanted to bike around the city as he had gotten used to overseas. Upon returning, he took a job as a planner for the City of Omaha Planning Department, working with Neighborhood Action and Fact on a North Omaha neighborhood revitalization plan. While searching for different routes to get downtown, he stumbled on the route that is now the North Omaha Trail. He found that other folks in the neighborhood were using it as well to cross the Pratt Street Bridge over Highway 75, which divided and displaced the community in the 80s.

“The idea that came up was having a linear park. That's how we got some initial funds to clean up the area, and then through that, worked with Papio NRD and the National Park Service to put together the concepts for the North Omaha Trail,” says Cook. “That's where it really originated, it was that work with the community.”

This set in motion planning and fundraising for the trail in 2018. It was during this same period that Heartland Bike Share, Omaha’s bike share system operated by nonprofit ROAM Share, introduced electric bikes into its system. Cook partnered with Heartland Bike Share to organize a ride, with the first e-bike ride taking place on what would become the North Omaha Trail. 

Supporters of the trail project have always seen bike share as a natural fit, and the final build-out of the trail project will include Heartland Bike Share stations.

“Often, I learn about a project, and then I force myself in. I have to justify why it makes sense to put bike share,” says Benny Foltz, CEO of ROAM Share, which operates Heartland Bike Share. “But this [project] was very holistic, exciting, and everyone understood. We got no resistance. Bike share was just expected to be on the trail, as bike share should be.”

ROAM Share launched in 2011 with Heartland Bike Share and added Bike LNK in 2018 and Valentine Bike Share in 2020. Equity has always been a priority across the cities they serve in their operations, programming, and community engagement. Heartland Bike Share, specifically, has a Library Pass Program — where bike share passes can be checked out for free at Omaha’s 13 libraries, the Council Bluffs Public Library in Iowa, and the Sump Memorial Library in Papillion. They also offer a Reduced Cost Membership Program across all of their locations, providing $5 annual memberships to financially vulnerable residents, and host a free community rides series called We on Wheels (W.o.W). 

In 2024, Foltz worked to introduce the first bike share-specific state bill in the US — LB 1250. The goal of the bill is to create a grant program of up to $250,000 within the Nebraska Department of Economic Development for nonprofit organizations that operate bike share programs. While no action has been taken on the bill yet, it sets an important precedent in the push to ensure dedicated funding for bike share, which is a form of public transportation. The strategies that Foltz has used over the years to gain support for bike share (including taking elected officials on bike rides using bike share) can be added to the list of best practices. In a place that is not particularly bike friendly, where bicycling is often not a priority issue, Foltz has successfully turned unlikely groups of people on to bike share.

Eventually, Cook left the city to work at Spark CDI, a nonprofit community development organization in North Omaha, where he continued the trail project. He led community engagement and wrote the North Omaha Trail community design guide. He then led the design team through construction, leading public art and placemaking efforts for Phase 1. Heartland Bike Share was just one of the many partners Spark engaged with. Spark connected with residents and organizations in the neighborhood to design and vote on the trail project logo, and to have their input in the planning of the trail build-out with a community advisory board. Spark receives comments about what's happening in the community and gathers information about what they know the city is going to do, which they can then communicate to the board. The board, in turn, communicates it back to the community. A separate technical community of experts shares with Spark what they should focus on, review, or consider.

Construction for Phase 1 started in February/March of 2022, with the ribbon cutting on October 22, 2022. Some of the partners during Phase 1 included Keep Omaha Beautiful, who planted trees along the route during the ribbon cutting; artists, including Gerard Pefung, pictured below, on a mural project; and Bike Walk Nebraska, which hosts ride classes. Using data from Strava, a fitness tracking app, Spark was able to gauge trail usage.

“From a recreational standpoint, the number of people that were crossing the Pratt Street Bridge before the trail versus after, it was like an 800 or 1,000% increase,” says Ryan ZimmerMas, senior project manager at Spark. “It was something crazy like that. It’s really opened up that bridge to more users. Put it on the map, literally.”

In 2024, Spark was awarded $8 million from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to begin work on Phase 2 of the trail. Cook believes more commuters will use the trail with the completion of Phase 2, which will include a solid connection all the way into downtown and to Omaha’s RiverFront. In Phase 2, Spark will be able to install the encasement areas for the Heartland Bike Share docks.

Spark was hopeful that Phases 3 and 4, which would have included the installation of seven bike share stations, would be funded through an Environmental Protection Agency Community Change Grant, but a few months after submitting the grant application, the program was essentially nonexistent. Although this particular grant did not work out, Spark formed lasting partnerships as a result of the grant application process. ZimmerMas says the most impactful piece from this experience was getting the buy-in from the city, other institutional partners, and local grassroots partners, which was emphasized in the grant. Partners on the application included Spark Capital, City of Omaha, Keep Omaha Beautiful, Culxr House, Bike Walk Nebraska, Douglas County Health Department, One Omaha, Seventy-Five North Revitalization Corp., and ROAM Share.

Spark was able to fundraise to complete an initial 10% feasibility study for phases 3 and 4. Now they have a clearer picture of what these future phases will look like and cost, and will continue to fundraise for implementation.

Deisy Cole, current project manager for the North Omaha Trail at Spark, is working with the technical experts to strategize what the trail would look like if Phases 3 and 4 are broken up as smaller amounts of funding become available, and works with those partners to help them identify other funding sources to be able to move their pieces forward as well.

The trail is set to break ground on Phase 2 this April, with expected completion in 2027.

The vision of the North Omaha Trail encapsulates the uniqueness of this Black community in the Midwest — sparking community engagement, multimodal transportation, and environmental justice. 

"This trail offers an exciting — and visible — opportunity to encourage walking, cycling, and just plain old exercise,” says Omaha Mayor John W. Ewing Jr., a native North Omahan. “More than that, it offers a connection between North Omaha and the City, which should not be mutually exclusive places but instead part of the larger fabric that is One Omaha. I’m so excited to see this trail, and I’m excited to support cyclists and others who will use it.”

North Omaha Trail Connects Communities and Centers Its Culture

For the second year in a row, sustainability sponsors at PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Leadership Conference will support local biking efforts in the city of Tucson. This year, BOSCH, Ortlieb, the Outdoor Industry Association, and Zwift are providing funding to a successful bike program led by FUGA — Familias Unidades Ganar Accesibilidad (aka Families United Gaining Access). FUGA has partnered with local operator TUGO Bike Share since 2018 on programming that centers the bicycle as a tool to connect and lift the voices of historically underserved communities across Tucson.

FUGA organizes around, advocates for, and mobilizes on issues that are important to the south and west sides of Tucson including housing, transportation, education, access to libraries and public services, and community connection. The monthly “Bicicleteada del Sur” and “Bici + Burro” rides help draw attention to the accessibility and infrastructure issues these communities face while celebrating the joys and utilitarian aspects of bicycling.

“FUGA has been able to engage multigenerational families on accessible free bike rides in their barrios, while using and highlighting bike infrastructure but also drawing direct attention to the historical inequities in connectivity.” says Vanessa Gallego, chief operating officer at Recyco, Inc. and project manager at FUGA.

Sponsorship dollars from the 2025 BLC will support FUGA’s two standard volunteer-led monthly rides with ride leaders and trained safeties who protect riders on the road. FUGA’s goal is to build community in a welcoming, safe space. They do this by incorporating a safety vehicle to act as a buffer between traffic and riders and provide aid if needed. They also distribute free bike lights, high visibility vests, water, snacks, and food. The rides have historically taken place with FUGA providing what they can without much financial support. The funding from our 2025 BLC sustainability sponsors will help make sustained investments in these monthly rides possible, including patch kits, helmets, and cooling measures for the upcoming rides during the hottest times of the year.


Born and raised in Tucson, Gallego knows the heat very well. “It is the last mile that can mean life or death in our desert city. As our community works towards a resilient Tucson, we know that means accessible mobility.”

Advancing Resilience and Access to Biking in Tucson

Last month, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released its 2023 Shared Micromobility Report, breaking down station-based bike share and dockless e-scooter and e-bike ridership in North America in 2023 while offering recommendations on how cities can plan for the long-term viability of their systems.


Surpassing the previous record set in 2019, more people took shared micromobility trips in 2023 than in any other year.


At 157 million, total shared micromobility (SMM) trips increased by 20% over 2022, far surpassing the 2019 peak of 147 million trips. In Canada, SMM trips increased by an impressive 40% with 24 million trips in 2023. In the U.S., 133 million trips were taken last year — up 16% from 2022.

Station-based bike usage continues to increase, driven by the growing popularity of e-bikes.

The U.S. saw a total of 61 million station-based bike share trips in 2023, up from 53 million in 2022. Station-based trips taken by electric bicycle (e-bike) increased from 20 million trips in 2022 to 28 million trips in 2023, a substantial 40% growth. E-bike trips represented 46% of all station-based bike share trips. 

Canada saw a total of 20 million trips on station-based bikes in 2023, compared to 15 million in 2022. Differing from the U.S., this growth was largely due to station-based traditional (non-electric) bike rides. Canadians took 15 million trips on traditional bikes in 2023, increasing by nearly 40% from 2022.

Prices are rising, making shared micromobility more expensive compared to other public transit options, highlighting the need for accessible pricing models for every rider.

Shared micromobility riders often bear the brunt of paying sales tax on their trip, unlike other forms of public transportation. While income-based discounts offer substantial savings to those living below the federal poverty level, with the cost of living increasing for all, shared micromobility is moving further and further out of reach for working and middle class families.

Thankfully, the popularity of more-affordable annual or monthly pass options has significantly increased in recent years. Since 2019, annual pass sales have increased by 20% or more in places like Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Toronto. 


Infrastructure that supports safe bike and scooter share riding leads to increased ridership. 

It’s proven through research and practice that the build-out of connected and safe bike infrastructure motivates people to ride more. Cities that invest in safe bike infrastructure see the greatest increase in shared micromobility ridership year after year. 


A study conducted in Hamilton, Ontario, showed that increases in bicycling were greatest on concrete-barrier-protected bike lanes and other protected infrastructure on arterial streets well connected to other protected biking routes.

Public funding is vital for keeping shared micromobility programs sustainable.

The existence of shared micromobility programs continues to be threatened by financial instability. Public funding, foundation support, and longer-term sponsorships are necessary for sustainable systems. 

In the last few years, systems across the country (including Nice Ride in Minneapolis, Houston BCycle, RedBike in Cincinnati, and This Machine in Tulsa) have shut down because of a lack of sustainable funding. With these closures, it’s becoming abundantly clear that shared micromobility systems require dedicated public investment to provide stable, reliable service. 


When bike share systems first launched, few places considered it to be a form of public transportation. Cities often relied on outside operators to fund these mobility options. Now, 15 years after the first bike share system opened in North America, shared micromobility is no longer an experiment — it's a proven and vital piece of many cities' transportation systems. Unfortunately, funding is still unstable in many places. 

Shared micromobility is an essential transportation service. The Better Bike Share Partnership is taking this opportunity to highlight success stories and advocate for more support of bike and scooter share systems through increased public investment, the construction of safe and connected infrastructure, the creation of sustainable partnerships with system sponsors, and setting clear plans for long-term growth.


Last year, David Zipper highlighted the issue of expecting bike share to operate without subsidy in an article published in Fast Company. The North American Bike and Scooter Share Association has hosted webinars and industry conversations (which can be found here, here, and here) on the role local, state, and federal governments should play in funding shared micromobility. Now, we have NACTO’s 2023 report reinforcing these conversations by calling out that “it is more important than ever to secure sustainable funding models for shared micromobility programs.”


As ridership and popularity of shared micromobility only continues to grow, we must capitalize opportunities to stabilize bike and scooter share systems through sustained public investment and work with cities to safeguard the future of their shared micromobility systems. 


You can access NACTO’s full 2023 report here.


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  PeopleForBikes to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

NACTO’s 2023 Shared Micromobility Report Highlights Need for Partnerships and Public Investment

As someone new to the shared micromobility (SMM) space, spending this past year as BBSP’s writer was both encouraging and inspiring. I discovered an industry that is far more vibrant and intersectional than I realized going into this position. What began as an exploration of bike share systems unfolded into understanding how SMM brings people from all walks of life together to build better, more equitable communities.


One of the most surprising aspects of SMM is its broad appeal across different professions. It’s not just urban planners who are shaping this space — there are public health professionals, tech innovators, activists, entrepreneurs, mechanics, and nonprofit leaders all contributing in their own unique ways. 

Additionally, I learned how SMM systems are intertwined with infrastructure development. A well-designed SMM network relies on bike lanes, docking stations, and safe streets — all of which require thoughtful urban planning, investment, and intentional community engagement. These improvements create safer and more livable cities for everyone. 

Looking ahead, I’m eager to continue telling the evolving stories of SMM. Solar-powered charging stations, adaptive fleets, and cargo bike options are becoming more and more relevant. I’m particularly excited to see the impact of the free Pacers Bikeshare program in Marion County in Greater Indianapolis after its first full year. Similarly, regional systems like those emerging in the Sonoma and Marin County region, Western New York, and Greater Boston have the potential to reshape their transit ecosystems in meaningful ways.


Transportation Justice Fellowship: Our newest cohort is well underway with fellows engaged in skills-building sessions and one-on-one coaching. Fellows are supported by both BBSP staff and Robin Wright-Pierce and Nelson Pierce, Jr. from Transforming Change. Stay tuned for upcoming BBSP stories as we feature fellows each month leading up to the NACTO Designing Cities Conference where they will have a role in facilitating BBSP’s annual Shared Micromobility Roundtable.

Living Labs: The LA Living Lab Coalition, POGOH Bike Share, Tugo Bike Share, and Indego Bike Share are entering their first full year as Living Lab cities. With monthly cohort calls, the Living Labs serve as a space for cities across the country to connect and learn from each other. Each group is addressing barriers to accessing and using SMM in low-income communities and communities of color in their cities. As they test strategies for increasing participation, we look forward to learning from their work and reporting on their lessons learned.

Mini-Grants: Encouraged by the success of the 2024 awardees, we are thrilled to open our next round of mini-grants next month. Nonprofit community-based organizations, cities, and SMM operators are all encouraged to submit a proposal for grants ranging from $2,500-$10,000. Applications will open in mid-February — stay tuned!

As we kick off 2025, we have the opportunity to reflect on how far SMM has come and imagine what’s next, both for the industry and for BBSP. The potential for SMM to serve and engage diverse communities, connect with other public transit options, and lower transportation-related emissions is enormous. I look forward to telling these stories in the year ahead.

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. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or sign up for our weekly newsletter. Have a question or a story idea? Email odochi@peopleforbikes.org

Reflections on Shared Micromobility and the Road Ahead

If you’ve ever attended a town hall meeting to support a proposed bike lane or trail, or simply engaged in a lively discussion about one on Nextdoor, you know it can often be a pretty frustrating process. These days, when discussing anything that involves growth or change, there’s almost always a small, vocal contingent that relies on emotion to argue why something shouldn’t happen. You might know a new bike lane — or another proposed project, like a housing bill that indirectly affects bicycling — would be a good thing for your community, but without data or research to back up your argument, speaking up can feel like a lost cause. 

That’s where our new guide comes in. At PeopleForBikes, we spend our days firmly entrenched in the research and data that supports building better communities for bicycling. We developed this 15-point fact sheet to help counteract misconceptions that often arise when advocating for change, as well as to promote strategies we know work. Bookmark it, print it out, and email it to everyone you know — let this article support you in shifting the larger conversation around the power of bicycling.

This might feel like a given, but if Utah Senator Mitt Romney’s recent remarks are any indication, we’re not all on the same page about the climate benefits of getting more people on bikes. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation makes up 28% of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with 57% of those emissions coming from passenger vehicles. When we build more (and better) bike lanes, the environmental benefits are clear: higher bike ridership, less driving, and an overall reduction in emissions.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon found that “if even 10% of short car trips during peak afternoon travel were replaced with micromobility, more than 4,800 car trips would not happen, decreasing vehicle miles traveled by more than 7,300 miles a day.” While this would translate to a 2.76% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it would only be possible with “wide-scale bike lane deployment.” This study confirms similar findings from McGill University that spotlight bike infrastructure in Montreal, as well as research from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, which found new bike lanes lowered emissions in Guangzhou, China, and Bogota, Colombia.

According to another European study, if 10% of the population were to replace one car trip a day with a bike ride, overall carbon emissions from transportation would also drop 10%. Research done by Portland State University showed that if 15% of car trips were instead taken by electric bicycle, we could see a 12% decrease in transportation-related emissions. Add in the fact that bikes are one of the lowest carbon-emitting modes of transportation, and it's safe to say that any way you look at it, bicycling benefits the environment.

Ask most people why they don’t bike and they’ll likely name safety as a key concern. A nationwide survey from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities found that a whopping two-thirds of U.S. residents would be more likely to bike if they were separated from cars by a physical barrier. There is so much research that shows people will bike if cities build good infrastructure. Overall, the average protected bike lane sees bike counts increase 75% in its first year alone.

Notably, bicycling in Sevilla, Spain, increased 435% when the city added 86 miles of dedicated bike lanes. Even smaller transformations to include protected bike infrastructure can have a huge impact. After buffered bike lanes were installed on Philadelphia's Spruce and Pine streets, bike traffic increased 95%, while intersections in Montreal with protected bike lanes saw 61% more bike traffic than comparable intersections with no bike infrastructure. There’s also evidence that protected bike lanes are better for bike share.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a 2022 upgrade brought a two-way protected bike lane to a section of Garden Street, where before there had only been sharrows and door-zone bike lanes. The changes transformed the entire neighborhood: Bike mode-share nearly quadrupled and increased by more than 2%. Even accounting for seasonal dips in ridership, bicycling in the area increased more than sixfold since the separated bike lanes were built.

3. Yes, protected bike lanes are better than sharrows or standard bike lanes

As a rule of thumb, if something’s not going to be comfortable for people of all ages and abilities to ride, then don’t build it.

For decades, U.S. traffic engineers assumed that people on bikes could almost always share the road with cars. But a shoulder — even a striped bike lane — on a street with fast traffic isn’t an appealing place to bike for most people, especially women and less experienced riders. Putting a bike symbol in the middle of a busy thoroughfare does little to make it a place where parents feel comfortable riding with their children.

We now know, based on both U.S. and international experience, what kind of infrastructure designs give people of all ages and abilities the sense of safety, comfort, and enjoyment that makes them want to ride. This includes protected bike lanes, which are located next to the road and physically separated from traffic, as well as things like better lighting, traffic-calming barriers, and well-marked crosswalks. While sharrows might have a place in small towns or on low-stress streets, protected bike lanes should be the default for roadways with speeds above 25 mph or when vehicular volumes exceed 6,000 average daily traffic (ADT).

People living in bike-friendly communities tend to have better health outcomes due to increased physical activity, improved cardiovascular health, and reduced stress levels. A 2015 Columbia University study showed that New York City's $10 million investment in bike and pedestrian improvements resulted in an estimated societal health savings benefit of $230 million. Put another way, every $1,300 New York City invested in building bike lanes provided benefits equivalent to one additional year of life at full health over the lifetime of all city residents. 

According to the British Medical Journal, regular bicycling is associated with a 41% decrease in the risk of death from any cause, a 45% decrease in the risk of cancer, and a 46% decrease in the risk of heart disease. And the benefits don’t stop there: a PLOS Medicine study showed that people who began bicycling regularly after age 50 saw a 20% decrease in the risk of Type II Diabetes. 

5. Bikes lanes and trails are good for business

In response to proposed or newly built bike lanes, it seems like store owners often complain about reduced parking and customers lost. All of the evidence, however, points to the fact that installing protected bike routes tends to boost local shops. For example, after a hugely contested bike lane was installed on Skillman Avenue in Queens, New York, data shows that sales in the stores, bars, and restaurants on the seven-block commercial stretch collectively rose by 12%.

Other streets in New York have seen similar results: After the construction of a protected bike lane on 9th Avenue in Manhattan, local businesses saw a 49% increase in retail sales (on other streets in the borough, the average was only 3%) and a redesign of the city’s Union Square to include a protected bike lane resulted in 49% fewer commercial vacancies, compared to 5% more throughout Manhattan. And it’s not just in New York: In Salt Lake City's Broadway, replacing parking with protected bike lanes increased retail sales. 

There’s also evidence that customers who arrive at retail stores by bike spend the same amount per month compared to people who arrive by car — they tend to make smaller purchases but return more frequently. What’s more, neighborhoods that don’t require a car to move around are more economically resilient. Bike trails and greenways also benefit communities economically by attracting visitors, promoting job growth in tourism-related industries, and revitalizing communities through the "Trail Town" model and Trail-Oriented Development.

6. More bike infrastructure can benefit drivers, too

It’s important to remember that even if the infrastructure is perfect, not everyone will choose to bike. Die-hard drivers can still become bike advocates, however, especially when they realize that the more people ride bikes, the less car congestion there is. 

This was a key messaging point in Austin, where the city completed 115 miles of new bike lanes in just two years. By shifting traffic from cars to bikes and making it easier to reach transit stops, Austin's planned 400-mile protected bike lane network is projected to increase the city's traffic capacity by about 25,000 trips per day at about the same cost ratio as a single expressway widening.

In 2014, a New York City Department of Transportation (NYDOT) study found that after a six-foot buffered bike lane was installed on Columbus Avenue, car volumes were unaffected and that those cars moved 35% faster. According to an NYDOT statement, the “study found that on corridors with protected bike lanes traffic flow was maintained or improved on average because of the enhanced organization of the roadway.”

7. Protected bike lanes and reduced speeds save lives

Time and again, we see that when speed limits fall, safety rises. Because the likelihood of fatality increases exponentially with vehicle speed, even small reductions in speed limits can have an outsized effect. The Highway Safety Manual shows that deadly crashes can be decreased by 17% if speeds are reduced by just 1 mph, while a separate study from Sweden's Lund Institute of Technology found that a 10% reduction in average speed led to 34% fewer fatal crashes. (As an added bonus, there's evidence that lower speed limits improve air quality.)

A widely celebrated success story comes from Spain: When the speed limit on single-lane urban roads was lowered to 18.5 mph, road deaths fell by 14%. For cyclists, deaths were cut almost in half. This is good news as cities nationwide lower speed limits across the board, making streets safer for everyone. 

The even better news? Protected bike lanes reduce speeding and make streets safer for people walking, biking, and driving. After protected bike lanes were installed in New York City, injuries for all road users on those streets were reduced by 40-50%. Similarly, protected bike lanes in Montreal led to a 28% decrease in injuries. This 2019 study of twelve cities also found that protected bike lanes decrease fatalities for all road users. 

8. Bikes help reduce the cost of living and make cities more affordable

In 2021, U.S. households spent an average of $10,961 on transportation, making it the second largest household expense after housing. One in four U.S. adults suffers from transportation insecurity, a phenomenon that often has an inequitable impact on low-income families. Increasing access to low-cost modes of transportation like bikes — and safe places to ride them — effectively reduces this often-overlooked household expense and ensures communities remain affordable for everyone. The Housing and Transportation (H+T®) Affordability Index is a great tool to determine the neighborhood-level housing and transportation costs for your community. 

9. Housing policy and bike policy are intertwined

The right kind of housing policy can make our communities more bike-friendly. When we create transit-oriented neighborhoods, remove parking requirements, allow for more infill housing in existing urban areas, and permit the building of accessory dwelling units and multi-family housing, we naturally start to create places where destinations are closer together and people feel more comfortable biking.

The U.S. is in the midst of a severe housing crisis, forcing residents to live increasingly far away from important destinations. Adopting climate-friendly land use policies promotes a mix of land uses in close proximity to one another. When people’s homes are closer to their basic needs — jobs, grocery stores, schools, pharmacies, etc. — they’re more likely to ride a bike for daily trips. For those who drive, trips are considerably shorter.

10. Parking reform is key to building bike-friendly cities

The U.S. has about 2 billion parking spots, which translates to about seven parking spaces for every car. And parking is expensive for new developers to build — it can cost between $40,000 and $60,000 per parking space — increasing housing costs for everyone and taking valuable space away from development.

What’s more, fewer homes have led to a slew of other intersecting issues: a nationwide housing shortage, an increase in home prices, and growing inequity. Lower-income families who drive less and use transit more inevitably end up paying for infrastructure they don’t need while drivers are subsidized for their car use. 

When parking is required, buildings are forced to spread further and further apart, decreasing an area’s walkability and leading to urban sprawl, which swallows more and more land to sustain the same population. This in turn pushes people to drive more, upping greenhouse gas emissions, while the ensuing traffic makes it harder for everyone to get where they need to go. 

Essentially, this plethora of free car storage is at the root of a number of societal woes. A much better investment is a network of protected bike lanes and trails. Less parking means more proximity — since most people only want to bike one or two miles, the more destinations you have in that radius, the better a place becomes for bicycling. That’s only possible, however, if you’re not required to build big parking lots. Thus, parking reform is key to building bike-friendly cities.

While the federal government currently offers a federal tax credit for electric cars of up to $7,500, nothing similar exists for people buying an electric bike. With a lack of federal initiative, more and more states, counties, and cities across the country are taking matters into their own hands, creating e-bike incentive programs that are as varied in substance as they are geographically. While many programs are relatively new, the data is compelling. 

Launched in the spring of 2022, Denver’s incredibly popular e-bike incentive program has led to some notable results, including $1 million in cumulative annual savings for the city. Researchers also calculated that the program avoided considerable amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, with some 71% of survey respondents claiming to use their gas-powered vehicles less often (those surveyed rode their e-bikes an average of 26 miles per week, replacing 3.4 round trip vehicle trips). Importantly, 29% of Denver e-bike redeemers who completed the program survey indicated they were also new to riding.

12. Shared micromobility is a good investment for cities

Bike and scooter share, known collectively as shared micromobility, is a good investment for cities. When shared micromobility is done equitably, it can help alleviate transportation insecurity and lead to better public health, environmental, and economic outcomes. Unfortunately, not nearly enough municipalities treat shared micromobility as an integral part of their transit landscape or fund it accordingly. That’s a huge miss.

A 2021 study found that bike share systems are a boon for public health, saving the U.S. healthcare system more than $36 million a year on average. Another research paper from that same year looked at New York’s Citi Bike and found that the system — the largest in the U.S. — is a net win for the climate. In Britain, a more recent study found that if one-fifth of car trips were taken by shared electric bikes or scooters, the result would be a more than $1.2 billion boost to the economy.

On paper, many bicycle laws — such as those that require people to wear helmets, use bike lights, obtain a bike license or register their bikes — seem like a great idea. After all, helmets can protect our heads in the case of a crash, lights help bikers see and be seen, bike licenses can raise money for infrastructure, and bike registrations safeguard people against theft. At least that’s all true in theory. In reality, these laws are virtually unknown and rarely enforced. When they do get enforced, it’s usually to the detriment of Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) or those experiencing homelessness.

A report from Equitable Cities outlines how prevalent these transportation laws are in the U.S. In addition to the obvious trauma that can make even the most essential trip to the grocery store a fraught affair, these policies limit mobility, opportunity, and access for BIPOC. They also have implications beyond mobility, contributing to adverse social, political, economic, environmental, and health outcomes. There’s also evidence that repealing laws doesn’t have negative effects: A 2023 study also found that after a helmet law was abolished in Seattle, helmet use actually increased.

14. Bicycling is really good for our youth

There are obvious reasons why any bike advocate would want to see more kids on bikes, including the fact that youth are our cities’ future riders and the next generation of community leaders. What’s less often talked about are the holistic health benefits bicycling offers our children. Aside from the obvious physical benefits of increased activity, youths who engage in regular physical activity report fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, have higher self-esteem, and also perform better academically than kids who are inactive. Additionally, Outride’s “Riding for Friends, Fun, and Fitness” report highlights how youth who ride regularly report higher levels of mental well-being and spend fewer hours in front of screens. 

Don’t always focus on bikes — in fact, if you can manage it, your messaging should focus on the benefits to everyone rather than just people riding bikes. This may seem antithetical to the goal of getting more people riding but research bears out this messaging strategy. Make a point to talk about how bicycling infrastructure improves the lives of all, whether or not people choose to bike, by increasing opportunity, relieving congestion, and growing the economy through recreation improvements. 

When discussing bicycle infrastructure, dwell less on the cyclists and instead focus on how infrastructure can help make streets safer for everyone, benefit people’s health, and provide crucial transportation access to jobs and essential services. Your messaging around bikes should always focus on bringing people together and turning drivers into supporters. 

As the leaders in the fight for building better communities, the responsibility for messaging falls on us. To win over diverse groups and achieve a bike-forward agenda, we need to shift the conversation.

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

While prioritizing sustainability at conferences is not a new concept, including bike share in conference sustainability efforts is certainly less common. Thanks to our generous 2024 Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC) sustainability sponsors Revelyst and Ortlieb, as well as Tugo Bike Share in Tucson, Arizona, PeopleForBikes is helping expand access to active transportation opportunities by providing 500 annual bike share passes to Tucson residents who qualify for Tugo’s equity pass program, TugoForAll.


The Bicycle Leadership Conference is the bike industry’s annual event where top leaders and decision makers come together to chart the course of the bike business. The event features a perfect blend of inspiration, education, and action, allowing for peer-to-peer conversations aimed at moving our industry forward. 

Tugo Bike Share is the City of Tucson’s bike share system. A docked system with more than 300 bikes, Tugo provides a sustainable option for getting around the city. The system contributes to making Tucson a thriving and accessible place for residents and visitors alike.


This year’s BLC sponsors understand the connection between sustainability and biking and their generous support is making it possible for Tugo to increase the number of BIPOC and low-income Tucsonans who can get to where they need to go without a car.

"The City of Tucson is excited and grateful to have PeopleForBikes supporting shared micromobility in Tucson. By providing this funding, the city will put more Tugo For All annual bike share passes into the hands of those who rely on low-or-no-cost mobility options to access their everyday destinations. Eliminating that initial cost barrier is a key step to ensure our bike share system can be embraced by more Tucsonans," said Ben Elias at the City of Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility.


Better biking means accessible biking. Bike share systems across the country are leading the way creating access to bicycling by attracting, including, and serving people from diverse backgrounds. Systems like Tugo are building community engagement processes and systems that serve everyone, as well as advancing equity and sustainability through programs that make bike share nearly free for those who qualify. 

PeopleForBikes is grateful for the generosity of Revelyst and Ortlieb, our new partnership with Tugo, and the opportunity to promote sustainability at our conferences in a new and meaningful way.

This past September, as I biked the streets of Lyon, France, I was struck by the signs and signals catering to cyclists. From the small, dedicated bike traffic lights alternating between red and green to a sign indicating that bikes could turn right on a red or even go straight at an intersection, the roads were easy to navigate, even for a foreigner. This dedication to the bicycle has paid off: Yet another sign broadcasts the fact that more than 28 million bike trips have been made so far this year.

My time in Lyon was reminiscent of similar experiences I’ve had in well-known cycling cities such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Antwerp. The city, situated close to the Swiss border and home to just over half a million people, ranks high in PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings with a score of 81 for 2023. A high score (anything from 80-100) indicates that most common destinations are accessible by safe, comfortable bike routes that serve people of all ages and abilities. 

It’s one thing to see a network map and read about what makes a city great for bicycling, and quite another to experience it firsthand. 

In Lyon, there’s an abundance of protected bike lanes — separated both from cars and pedestrians — that can accommodate two-way traffic. Greater Métropole de Lyon, which is comprised of 59 municipalities, currently has 1,200 km (745 miles) of cycling facilities, of which 450 km (279 miles) are separated from traffic. Included in that mix is the impressive 1.75 km (1 mile) Crois Rousse multi-modal tunnel built in 2009, which includes a dedicated lane for buses, a sidewalk for pedestrians, and a 3-meter wide bi-directional bike lane, with barriers separating all three.


All of this from humble beginnings, considering that for most of the 20th century, Lyon was a car-centric city. In the 1970s, the first of the city’s bike infrastructure went in, advancing at no more than a trickle until the early aughts, when progress began to noticeably ramp up. By 2005, Lyon launched its bike share system, Velo’v, and began building more bike infrastructure for people to safely use it. Lyon also curbed driving by instituting low-emissions zones, which restrict vehicles according to the city’s air pollution levels, since 2016.

Today, Lyon’s bike lane network continues to grow, thanks in large part to an ambitious $290 million program known as Les Voies Lyonnaises (“The Lyon Routes”), which on completion will consist of 12 bike roads spanning 250 km (155 miles). The overarching goal of this network is to connect Lyon’s downtown core with its satellite, suburban communities to the north, south, east, and west, making it safer and more convenient for both commuters and leisure travelers from outlying areas to get into the city safely by bike. 

As shared by Arthur Bajula, the cycle and pedestrian planning officer for Métropole de Lyon, the city currently has roughly six miles of the new Lyon Routes network built. “We plan to have a third of the project — 90 km or 55 miles — completed or under construction by the summer of 2024,” says Bajula, noting that the network also plays a role in the city’s ongoing efforts to reduce air pollution. “The idea is to strengthen alternative mobility options such as cycling… and to promote cleaner vehicles within low emission zones.”

These numbers point to something of a hockey stick model, with a slow beginning which then ramps up. This echoes the trajectory of the Green Party, which came to power in Lyon in 2020 and has dedicated much of its early years to laying the groundwork for substantial climate work. This includes goals such as reducing C02 emissions by 40%, creating thousands of new ‘green jobs,’ and securing Lyon’s place among the world’s top bike cities. 

Unsurprisingly, part of the delay can also be attributed to a handful of car-centric mayors from other Métropole de Lyon municipalities who have sought to slow down the city’s two-wheel transition.

“There’s a lot of political opposition by certain mayors who are not green,” says Pamela Vennin, project manager with Lyon’s International Relations Department, explaining that the mentality is that citizens need cars to maintain their lifestyles and rights to privacy. “They don't want the cars to have problems.”

Still, in the face of vocal opposition, the Green Party has continued to push ahead, choosing to take space from cars by instituting “road diets” — slashing four or six-lane roads with parking on each side of the street to one or two lanes, with no parking, a bike lane, and wider sidewalks. 

“Some citizens have been pushing back,” says Vennin. “But it's the political will to tackle global warming, starting with mobility.”

Despite some pushback, all signs point to the Lyonnais embracing bicycling. Within the highest traffic areas of the downtown core, protected bike lanes are commonplace. So much so that you need to make a mental note when walking about to always look both ways for bikes when crossing the street. Even in outlying areas where traffic is lighter and there’s less of a need for protected bike lanes, painted lanes with sharrows on shared streets are the norm.

Last year, 72 bike counters tallied more than 42 million trips in Lyon, reflecting the fact that over the past decade biking trips have grown by 10-15% annually. Since COVID, the pace has picked up with 15-20% year-over-year growth. Overall, bicycling has increased by an incredible 370% since 2013. 

With so many cyclists, the city is also working to actively expand its bike parking infrastructure. In 2020, Lyon had 15,000 bike racks and according to Bajulaz, the goal is to quadruple the number of bike racks to 60,000 by 2026. For secure parking, such as bike garages, the goal is to increase the number of spaces tenfold, from 1,500 in 2020 to 15,000 by 2026.

In addition to the expanding network of bike lanes and places to park, other initiatives have helped pave the way for more widespread bike adoption. For instance, the Velo’v bike share program has been a tremendous success, with 422 stations serving 22 of Greater Lyon’s municipalities and more than 10 million rentals in 2022. In my time there, stations were prevalent and obviously well-used by both tourists and locals alike.  Shared micromobility becomes even more critical when you consider that one in three residents doesn’t even own a car — a statistic underscored by the fact many locals use Velo’v for commuting. 

Lyon is also making an effort to remove financial barriers to mode shift through its bike purchasing program, whereby any city resident is eligible for a grant of up to 1,000 Euro (about $1,053) towards purchasing an e-bike, a cargo bike, a folding bike, or an adaptive bike. The city also loans some 10,000 bikes, many of them reconditioned, to students or young adults seeking jobs between the ages of 18 and 25 through its Free Velo’v program. Most unique perhaps, is Lyon’s Les Auteliers de l’Audace, a bicycle repair training and resale program that recruits residents without a job as a way to help them reintegrate into society. 	

City officials are also working to make it easier for residents to take their bikes on public transit. “It is now possible to bring your bicycle on trams outside of peak hours,” says Bajulaz, adding that bikes are also allowed on the metro, funiculars, and trains. “We are also experimenting with bringing bikes on certain buses.”

Lyon’s civic leaders remain cognizant of everyday challenges that intersect with the city’s biking experience, ranging from getting more residents on board and comfortable with biking to discouraging drivers from parking or driving on road space dedicated to bikes. Or, as I experienced firsthand during my tour, the prevalence of bikers riding too fast or aggressively, which impacts the safety of both pedestrians and other cyclists. 

Still, compared to most North American cities, Lyon is an exemplary place for bicycling. With a solid network already in place and a population that’s already attained critical mass, the city’s key players are thinking bigger. The planner Bajulaz continues to draw inspiration from other top cities while Lyon Mayor Grégory Doucet is aiming for a city that is “100% walking and cycling.”

The other challenge and opportunity is that, with just three years left in their term, the city’s ruling Green Party feels a sense of urgency to get as much biking infrastructure built as possible before the next election. The concern is that if they don’t win, opposition parties will be less willing to continue advancing the substantial cycling work already underway, or, possibly, to begin prioritizing drivers. 

For now, that outcome is hard to imagine. Biking through Lyon’s streets, some of which have been around since Roman times, one feels as if they’ve landed on the right side of history. Everywhere you turn, there are people on bikes as well as clusters of bikes parked adjacent to where residents work and play. Increasingly, there are streets with few, if any, cars.

Mark Douglas Wessel is an urban journalist and communications consultant whose writing focuses on what we can do to create a more sustainable, more liveable world. For more of his work, go to: www.markdouglaswessel.com

What It’s Like To Ride in a Top-Rated Bike City

Paul Van Dyk was born and raised in Long Beach, California, never living more than a mile outside of the city’s limits. When it came time to attend college — at California State University, Long Beach — he decided to study traffic engineering, driven by a longtime love of cars. Van Dyk was eventually hired on by the Long Beach Public Works Department, where he has worked as an engineer for more than a decade.

“After being tasked with the design of bike facilities, I started riding a bike to and from work and fell in love with the principles of living in a 15-minute city,” says Van Dyk, who was recently promoted to the position of city traffic engineer. “My work is now trying to expand that type of lifestyle to the entire city, so folks can bike or walk to a grocery store or school or the dentist or wherever around town.”

Van Dyk’s conversion from car to bike lover isn’t so surprising — Long Beach has the year-round sunny, warm weather California is known for and there are few things as joyful as riding a bike near the coast. As early as 2012, Van Dyk saw an opportunity to bring bike share to Long Beach to help make bicycling more accessible to visitors and locals alike. While it was still the early days of shared micromobility, the nearby city of Fullerton already had a bike share pilot and Van Dyk and his team took notes with their own system in mind. In 2016, in partnership with CycleHop, the city launched Long Beach Bike Share with 10 stations and 100 bikes. 

About a year and a half later, seeking more unilateral control over the program, the city took ownership of the operation of the bike share system. Since August 2017, the city has owned and operated the program with the assistance of Pedal Movement, a Long Beach-based operator that oversees maintenance and rebalancing services for the pedal-powered system. Under this operational model, Long Beach Bike Share has expanded considerably, refurbishing more than 500 bikes from now-defunct systems and more than doubling its fleet size and geographic reach. 

“The bike share system has been complimentary to our rollout of infrastructure — they leverage one another,” says Van Dyk. “If we're trying to promote our bike share hubs somewhere, we'd better make sure that we have a bike boulevard or protected bikeway that gets people to that ultimate destination.”

For example, the rollout of bike share at Cal State Long Beach wouldn't have been possible without protected bike lanes on the campus arterials and bike boulevard projects that move folks from downtown to campus safely. Since the city oversees bike share as a public service, its integration with safe places to ride just makes sense. It also means that as bike share has expanded outside of the more tourist-heavy parts of the city, infrastructure has too. 

When Long Beach Bike Share was first deployed, it was primarily concentrated mostly in the southern half of the city, an area that includes the downtown core, coastline, and access to the local light rail. In the last few years, however, city planners have shifted their focus to making bike share a primary commute option that equitably serves all community members. That means expanding the system’s footprint into the more underserved area of North Long Beach and Central Long Beach.

“Having now deployed throughout the city, we are analyzing the gaps in our network in order to better serve disadvantaged communities,” says Van Dyk, explaining that in places without sufficient sidewalks, that might mean adding in-street docking stations. “In the past, we’ve been limited to places with park space, so we’re moving now towards an in-street paradigm which gives us more flexibility.”

As a way to complement the system expansion and grow use among low-income residents, the city recently launched Bike Share For All. The program, which is funded through the Long Beach Recovery Act, provides qualifying applicants with $5/year memberships, which include up to three hours of ride time each day (a standard annual membership costs $15/month or $120/year and includes 90 minutes of daily ride time). 

To qualify, applicants must provide proof of enrollment in one of 16 various local, state, or federal assistance programs, which include food assistance, state financial aid for students, and veterans benefits. Interested community members can sign up online or in person and are able to pay in cash. Members without smartphones can also receive a tap card to unlock bikes, available upon request during the application process.

As part of a larger effort to break down barriers to use, Long Beach Bike Share has removed out-of-hub parking fees for mid-trip stops. For example, if you check out a bike from a hub, go to the grocery store, and then return the bike to a hub at the end, you won’t be charged. Additionally, Bike Share for All members will receive a warning call before they’re ever fined.

“Our libraries don't collect fines and we really wanted to adopt a more user-friendly model for bike share, similar to a library,” says Van Dyk. “I really consider these bikes to be a public amenity, almost like a book we want people to lend back and forth.”

Inspired by low-income bike share programs in Philadelphia and New York City, Long Beach’s main concern when designing Bike Share For All was to make sure the cost was affordable and that everyone could use it. While marketing materials are already available in the city’s four most common languages — English, Spanish, Khmer, and Tagalog — Van Dyk says that the plan is to conduct more targeted community outreach around Bike Share For All in the upcoming year. 

“We plan to build relationships in the year to come, partnering with local community organizations that connect us to those who would benefit the most,” says Van Dyk, adding that a collaborative advocacy environment is also crucial when it comes to implementing bike infrastructure. “We also have a youth climate core intern on staff and he'll be deployed as a Bike Share For All ambassador this summer, performing some in-person engagement throughout the city.”

Long Beach city staff has found that whenever they do conduct community outreach, people consistently ask for the same thing: More protected bike lanes. The city has responded with an ambitious Bicycle Master Plan, which by 2040 will bring an all-ages and abilities network to every Long Beach neighborhood. Once completed, Long Beach will be one of the safest bicycling cities in America, with protected bike facilities on every single one of its arterial streets.

The challenge thus far has been balancing that vision with other priorities, including rail and pedestrian amenities. This year, the city is taking yet another step in the right direction by creating its own Street Design Guide for engineers. The goal of the design guide is to connect all relevant departments around a shared vision that ties into the city’s Bike Master Plan, Vision Zero work, and sustainability commitments. So every time a road is repaved, planners will have to account for a variety of considerations from what species of trees to include to where a bike share hub will go. 

“We’re equipping our staff, whether they’re engineers, planners, or interns, to have a street design guide that lays out all of these considerations,” says Van Dyk, adding that engineers especially need a toolbook to draw from. “We’re overhauling our project implementation to put people first and create more opportunities for 15-minute lifestyles.”

Long Beach’s City Ratings score hovers in the 30s, a ways off from a score of 50, the benchmark for safe, convenient places to bike. Still, the city is committed to making bicycling safe, convenient, and accessible for all. Crucially, there’s also political will amongst Long Beach’s electeds, including a city council that wants to see 30% bicycle mode share by 2040 and Vision Zero in a decade. At the national level, Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat and the former mayor of Long Beach, introduced a bill that would eliminate parking minimums, a crucial step in creating better cities for bicycling. 

Currently, Long Beach offers more than 150 miles of bike paths, bicycle boulevards, and separated bike lanes, about 50% of the 300 miles the Bike Master Plan calls for. While there’s a lot of work ahead, the city is well-positioned to see it through. Indispensable to meeting its goal is Long Beach Bike Share, which will not only make bicycling an option for casual cyclists or those with limited means but will help spread the gospel of bicycling by making it ubiquitous on city streets.

“Over the past few decades, it's been easy to be in a bubble, whether it's inside of your personal vehicle or in a social media space — bikes are such a great antidote to that,” says Van Dyk. “Bicycles humanize a city and make it a place of community, where you can turn your head and greet a person, engaging with the city at that tactile level. That's something that we just really want to share with people.” 

Bike Share Boosts Long Beach's Bikeability for All

When in Washington, D.C., Congressman Earl Blumenauer doesn't drive. That’s an incredible feat considering Blumenauer is 75 years old and has served as a Democratic representative for Oregon’s 3rd congressional district since 1996. For decades, the congressman has commuted to Capitol Hill and around town by bike, living his values while simultaneously advocating for bicycling at the national level.

During his tenure, Blumenauer founded the Congressional Bike Caucus, fought to extend commuter benefits to cyclists, and co-sponsored the introduction of the E-BIKE Act in 2021, which though it has yet to pass, has inspired a proliferation of e-bike incentives at the state level. This Congress, Blumenauer reintroduced the E-BIKE Act alongside the Bicycle Commuter Act, which would offer tax benefits to Americans commuting to work by bike, and the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Act, which would unlock Highway Safety Improvement Program funding for projects that connect two pieces of safe cycling infrastructure.

Blumenauer’s efforts have also directly improved his daily commute: Over the course of two years, he successfully lobbied to get two miles of protected bike lanes built on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol, a powerful symbol of integrating bicycling into our nation’s the transportation ecosystem. 

“The key for me has been to take the bicycle, the most efficient form of urban transportation ever designed, and be able to try and help people understand its power,” says Blumenauer, who regularly positions bicycling as a way to create a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable world. “The ability to be able to make that case, to engage people, to show what a difference cycling makes — that’s something I'm very proud of.”

Blumenauer was a featured speaker at PeopleForBikes’ recent SHIFT‘23 conference in Bentonville, Arkansas. We interviewed the congressman ahead of the conference to talk about federal support for bicycling, the need to close the de minimis loophole, and — in line with this year’s conference theme — all things electric bikes.

Your focus has always been on leaving a better world for our children. Can you speak to that and how a push for bicycling makes sense in that context?

The bicycle is such a powerful tool and we need to make sure that it is integrated in both domestic and foreign policy. As I’ve said, the bicycle is the single most efficient form of transportation ever designed. It liberates young people, it costs relatively little to access, it's better for congestion, and it allows the rider to burn calories instead of fossil fuel, something that is important if we're going to fight climate change. There are also a great number of positive economic impacts.

There's so much money that is, for example, consumed parking cars. We have some estimates that there are six, eight, ten parking spaces or more for every vehicle. Those spaces give the illusion that we provide “free parking” — well, that is paid for with higher rents, more air pollution, and problems with stormwater runoff. Parking spaces cost $8,000-12,000 per parking space, and if it’s structured parking, we’re talking about $20,000-30,000 per space. “Free parking” is extraordinarily expensive.

You can easily park eight, nine, or ten bicycles in a space that would just be one car. And part of what we are finding is that people who bike are actually better customers. If you're biking at 10 or 15 miles per hour, you're more likely to pull over and explore something. You're more likely to have lunch or shop as opposed to when you're whizzing through a neighborhood at 40 miles per hour.

We know that parking reform is key to building bike-friendly cities, but I think it's hard for the average person to see the connection. How do we talk about bicycling more holistically in the context of some of our nation’s most pressing issues?

When parking is removed, that makes it much easier to finance and build affordable housing. There are so many of these elements that are ingrained in the way that we do business. Less parking means more choices and healthier air. You have to show people the impact the bicycle can have.

More bike utilization gives us a way for us to reduce the challenges for housing. It's a way to reduce congestion since every bicycle that's next to you when you pull over a stoplight is a car that’s not in front of you. Bikes provide a healthy alternative to cars and the more people take advantage of it, the more they're sold, which naturally helps build momentum.

What do you think are the chief impediments when it comes to getting people to bike in the first place?

A big part of it is having safe cycling infrastructure. Traffic safety is a huge problem in this country and the carnage on the road is really painful. The more we invest in improving that cycling infrastructure, the more people will actually use it. The bicyclist and the pedestrian are the indicator species of livable communities.

Part of what needs to happen — and I’ve been involved with this work in my congressional district in Portland — is that we need to redesign roads to be more bike-friendly. We need to lower speed limits and create bike boulevards. One of my proposals that was enacted included creating a $1 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program to fund projects that help prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets.

These are things that really make a difference to individual commuters, but they also provide a sense of safety and security so that those commuters then want their family to cycle with them. And when they do, they're healthier and they're happier. They also save money and are making a difference for the health of the planet.

What are you currently working on to address these challenges?

Between the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we’re putting in the resources to ensure local bike projects qualify for federal funds and that much-needed infrastructure gets built. There’s been a 70% increase in funding to create and maintain bike lanes and sidewalks, and we’ve also made it so that shared micromobility like bike sharing and scooter systems are eligible for federal resources. Bike infrastructure is something we’ve dramatically underinvested in in the past and there’s now more funding for it than ever before.

We've also had a proposal to allow electric vehicle charging station credit to be used for two and three-wheeled electric vehicles. There's a lot of talk about the infrastructure for electric cars, but we need the same thing for electric bikes. 

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