Five cities. Two years. Three hundred miles of new bikeways. When PeopleForBikes launched the Final Mile in 2018, the goal was simple to state yet hard to prove: Could a city move faster on building a safe and connected bike network than the usual eight-to-ten-year timeline — and would the investment stick?

Six years later, the 2026 City Ratings have the answer. The five Final Mile cities — Austin, Texas; Denver, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Providence, Rhode Island — are still riding the momentum the program built, and their networks and planned bike infrastructure projects tell a story about what happens when a city gets the resources and political will to make a difference.

What the Final Mile Was

The Final Mile was a two-year partnership between PeopleForBikes and Wend Collective, designed as a playbook for accelerating the construction of safe and connected bike networks. It didn't fund infrastructure directly. Instead, it gave cities the financial resources and expertise to run broad public marketing campaigns, build diverse community coalitions, and give local elected leaders the political cover to move fast.

The five participating cities used that support to collectively build more than 300 miles of new low-stress bikeways in a fraction of the usual time.

Highlights From Each City

Austin, Texas

Backed by the $460 million Proposition B transportation bond, Austin used Final Mile support to build 100 miles of new bikeways in just two years, part of a broader push toward a 400-mile all-ages-and-abilities network.

Denver, Colorado

Denver tripled the pace of its planned low-stress bikeway network, constructing 100 miles of new bikeways during the Final Mile period.

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans wove protected bike lanes into post-Katrina street reconstruction and, more recently, completed the Algiers Protected Bike Lane Network, targeting one of the city's highest-need neighborhoods for investment.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh leaders completed 50 new network miles aligned with the city's Bike(+) Plan, part of a run that took Pittsburgh from the 170th-best U.S. city for biking into the top 20 in a single year.

Providence, Rhode Island

Under its Great Streets Initiative, Providence built 43 miles of new bikeways, including a network of two-way "urban trails" fully protected from traffic on one side of the street.

Where the Five Cities Stand in 2026

The 2026 City Ratings rated more than 3,000 cities across the U.S. and landed at a milestone moment: 555 U.S. communities scored 50 or higher this year, up from 234 in 2025 and just 33 back in 2019. That big improvement comes even as we tightened our Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) methodology to reflect updated design standards and census data.

Against that backdrop, the Final Mile cities are still showing up, each with key projects tracked through our Great Bike Infrastructure Project that are adding to their growing bike networks.

Denver | 2026 City Ratings Score: 47

“Looking back, it was really meaningful for the mayor to adopt a signature initiative with a clear, measurable target — building 125 miles of high-comfort bikeways within just a few short years — backed up with substantial funding, including both general bond funding and appropriations in the annual budget,” said Jill Locantore, executive director of Denver Streets Partnership. “Denver has made significantly more progress toward building out a complete, connected bike network than we would have otherwise, and it's noticeable to anyone who bikes around Denver.”

Key Projects:

• Broadway Bikeway: Denver's first protected bikeway installed on a major arterial street (outside of downtown) provides people on bikes with a direct connection along a popular commercial corridor and demonstrates that reducing space for cars on these types of streets improves safety and access for everyone, not just bikers.
• 13th Avenue Protected Bikeway: One of PeopleForBikes’ Best New Bikeways of 2021 provides a critical connection into downtown from a lower-income neighborhood on Denver's west side that has suffered from decades of disinvestment. The route is still very heavily used.
• 7th Avenue: This project is a great example of a neighborhood bikeway (not a separated bike lane but traffic calming treatments intended to prioritize people biking and walking by reducing the volume and speed of traffic), and an instance where the city held firm in the face of opposition from homeowners who opposed the project.

Austin | 2026 City Ratings Score: 36

“The Final Mile was catalytic in helping Austin accelerate implementation of its All Ages and Abilities (AAA) Bicycle Network from about 15 miles per year at the beginning of 2018 to over 30 miles per year by June 2021. The successful projects and network buildout completed during the Final Mile also helped set the stage for a 2020 voter-approved bond that increased funding for bikeways, trails, and other active transportation and safety infrastructure by 2.5 times,” said Caitlin D’Alton with the City of Austin. “In the five years since the Final Mile concluded, Austin has continued building the network at an average rate of approximately 35 miles per year, allowing the city to meet ambitious council-adopted goals. The total AAA Bicycle Network grew from 132 to 223 miles during the Final Mile and has since expanded to 377 miles today.”

Key Projects:

• Barton Springs Road Safety Project: Completed in 2023, the project made critical safety and multimodal connectivity improvements, including connections to Zilker Park. Data showed that high-risk speeding dropped 64–70% and public support for the project increased. Since completion of the $800,000 project, annual comprehensive crash costs have fallen by more than $10 million.
• Cameron Road/Dessau Road Safety Project: Completed in 2025, this 6-mile project includes a 5-mile stretch that reduced seven traffic lanes down to five. Early data is showing very strong safety results.
• Protected intersections: Austin has completed 38 protected intersections, with more than 30 additional intersections currently in development.

Pittsburgh | 2026 City Ratings Score: 34

Key Projects:

• Smallman Street: This funded project will improve multimodal safety along Smallman Street by adding an outbound bike lane, rebuilding the sidewalk, and improving crossing safety between 21st and 36th streets, tying the Strip District's growing retail and job base into Pittsburgh's low-stress network.
• West End Trolley Trail: Built along a former trolley right-of-way, this off-road, shared-use path will run from the intersection of Noblestown Road and Crafton Boulevard approximately 0.6 miles to McCartney Street. Once complete, it will increase connectivity between West End neighborhoods, downtown Pittsburgh, and the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.

New Orleans | 2026 City Ratings Score: 33

Key Projects:

• Lafitte Greenway: This 2.6-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail and green corridor connects neighborhoods from Armstrong Park to City Park along a historic rail and canal corridor. The path includes a 12-foot asphalt lane for cyclists and pedestrians, roughly 500 shade trees, native plant meadows, and stormwater retention features
• MacArthur Boulevard: This roughly 1.7-mile corridor in Algiers recorded 327 crashes between 2014 and 2018. The city is installing protected bike lanes, improving bus stop access, upgrading intersection geometry, and adding crosswalks as part of Moving New Orleans Bikes, an initiative designed to accelerate the construction of the city's 75-mile connected low-stress bikeway network.

Providence | 2026 City Ratings Score: 28

Key Projects:

• Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project: In June 2026, state and city leaders opened a new one-mile section of the Greenway running from Kinsley Avenue to Promenade Street, creating a dedicated trail for walkers, runners and cyclists. The completed stretch adds three pocket parks near Eagle, Hemlock and Bath streets and two kayak launches near Eagle and Leland streets, extending a greenway that has been in the works for more than three decades.
• Connector Bike Path: This new urban trail section links the Washington Secondary bike path from its Cranston trailhead into Providence's bike network, ultimately connecting through the new 6/10 bike path into the Woonasquatucket River Greenway. The connector ties Providence's 25 neighborhoods into a single low-stress network, giving riders a direct link between the West End and jobs, schools, and recreation across the city.
• Safe Streets for All: Backed by a $27.2 million Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) federal grant, Providence is designing, enhancing, and constructing more than three miles of urban trails, including a protected urban trail conversion on Broadway. The project targets last-mile connections to residential, employment, and cultural activity centers between the city's 25 neighborhoods while eliminating fatal and serious crashes for vulnerable road users.

As all of these cities continue to work towards the 50-point tipping point, it proves that the Final Mile wasn't meant to be a finish line. It was proof that the right combination of funding, community coalition-building, and political will can compress a decade of progress into two years, and that cities can keep building on that foundation long after the campaign ends.

Any City Can Be Great for Biking

The real legacy of the Final Mile isn't just the bike networks it helped build — it's the model it created. PeopleForBikes continues to use the lessons learned from Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Providence to shape how we support cities of all sizes nationwide in improving bicycling in their communities.

No matter where a community is on its journey to becoming a great place to ride, PeopleForBikes' SPRINT framework outlines six things that make the biggest difference in making biking safe and accessible.

Safe Speeds

Slower traffic means safer streets. When cars are going 25 mph or less, bikes and cars can share the road comfortably.

Protected Bike Lanes

A physical barrier, not just a painted line, between bikes and traffic increases road safety for everyone.

Reallocated Space

An extra car lane or unused parking can easily turn into more room for people biking and walking.

Intersection Treatments

Safe crossings at busy intersections make an entire route feel safer.

Network Connections

Bike routes that actually connect to each other ensure riders aren't stranded after a good stretch of bike lane leads nowhere.

Trusted Data

Reliable, up-to-date information shows cities exactly where the gaps exist and investments will make the biggest difference.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPRINT

Want to see how your city's network stacks up? Explore the full 2026 City Ratings at cityratings.peopleforbikes.org, and consider donating to the PeopleForBikes Foundation to help build the next success story in your community.