UPDATE: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025, officially eliminating the bicycle commuter benefit.  

Over the last month, lawmakers in Congress have been working feverishly to find cost savings in the government budget. In doing so, Congress advanced a bill that includes a provision to eliminate the Bicycle Commuter Benefit.

The Bicycle Commuter Benefit is a tax benefit that allows employees who bike to work to get a tax-free reimbursement from their employer. Specifically, it allows employers to reduce their federal tax bill by paying (and then claiming a business expense on) a $20/month reimbursement to employees for the costs associated with bicycle commuting.

This provision benefits riders, who enjoy cost savings for choosing to bike to work. The benefits are also multimodal — public transit can be more accessible by riding a bike for the first or last mile of a trip, driving fare revenue for transit agencies.

The tax incentive also benefits bike businesses. More people may buy a bike at their local bike shop or bring their bike in for a tune-up. Riders may also visit a local retailer to purchase a new helmet or new apparel to support their bicycle commuting. Upstream, the sales bump drives demand, increasing revenue for manufacturers and suppliers.

In 2009, Congress created the Bicycle Commuter Benefit as a matter of parity with other modes of transportation, since the same benefit already existed for employees who drive their car or take transit to work. The benefit was suspended in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act until 2026.

PeopleForBikes fought this suspension, with our supporters sending 3,500 letters to members of Congress in all 50 states asking that this benefit be maintained. After the suspension, PeopleForBikes has strongly advocated for the Bicycle Commuter Act, which would reinstate and expand the benefit.

In May 2025, the House of Representatives voted to permanently eliminate the benefit. The bill is now being negotiated by the Senate.

The Bicycle Commuter Benefit is ultimately about expanding choice. By expanding the list of viable, affordable transportation options for commuters, the benefit gives more people more freedom to choose their preferred method of commuting. PeopleForBikes believes everyone has a right to choose how they get to work, and should enjoy the same tax benefits regardless of that choice.

Our federal policy team remains engaged on this issue and we will work with lawmakers to reinstate this helpful benefit for bike commuters nationwide. If you would like assistance in reaching out to your elected officials to tell them why the Bicycle Commuter Benefit is important to you and your community, please contact PeopleForBikes Director of Federal Policy Chris Bell at chris@peopleforbikes.org.

Congress Drops Tax Benefit for Bicycle Commuters

PeopleForBikes’ 2025 City Ratings rank the bikeability of nearly 3,000 cities across the U.S. and around the world. For the first time, this year’s ratings divide New York City into its five boroughs, recognizing the local-level work being done to improve bicycling. Three boroughs landed in the top 10 best large U.S. cities for biking for 2025: Manhattan took the #10 spot with a score of 51 (out of a possible 100), Queens came in at #4 with a score of 63, and Brooklyn took this year’s #1 spot with a score of 73, narrowly surpassing last year’s top-scoring large city, Minneapolis.

So how did Brooklyn become the best large U.S. city for biking? An impressive network of safe and connected places to ride. New York City as a whole is home to 1,550 miles of bike lanes, bike paths, and neighborhood greenways, making it North America’s largest bicycle network. Brooklyn specifically has more miles of bike lanes than any other borough.

Brooklyn’s bike network. Image credit: PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis

In addition to an impressive network of dedicated bike infrastructure, Brooklyn’s borough-wide residential speed limit of just 25 mph also makes its streets low-stress and safe for bicyclists according to PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis, the data-driven program behind City Ratings.

Image credit: PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis

On a citywide level, 99% of New York City residents live within one mile of its bike network, making bicycling an easy and accessible transportation option in the densely populated and developed city.

“I think what’s so special about biking in Brooklyn is that you’re never doing it alone — there’s always so many people doing the same thing,” says Alexa Sledge, director of communications at Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit organization dedicated to better biking and walking in the five boroughs. “We know that there is safety in numbers. When drivers are in their cars on the street, they’re expecting to be around people riding bikes.”

As New York City’s bike network grows, so does the number of people riding. Between 2008 and 2023, the estimated total daily cycling trips made in NYC grew from 240,000 to 620,000, with an astounding 226.3 million trips made by bike in 2023.

“Biking is the easiest and fastest way to get around,” says Drew Bennett, founder of Good Co. Bike Club, a Brooklyn-based cycling club founded in 2020 as a way for the Black community to come together through a love of cycling during the pandemic. “MTAs are good, but trains can be delayed or slow. If you want to get somewhere fast, go by bike.”

While Bennett says biking for transportation is one of the main reasons people get on a bike in Brooklyn (with an estimated 25,000+ residents commuting by bike in 2023), the borough does have some amazing recreational riding.

“I would say my favorite place to ride is Prospect Park where you don’t have to worry about cars or other bikers because there is so much space,” says Sledge. “I also love the greenways — there’s one that stretches all along the outer edge of Brooklyn.”

Biking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Photo courtesy of Michael DeHerrera

Whether it’s for transportation or recreation, Sledge also says Brooklyn’s bridges are another key element of what makes the borough great for biking. “We have a huge network that all connects in downtown Brooklyn. So much of Brooklyn gets to Manhattan over the bridges, and you really get to see a different perspective of the city versus taking the subway.”

Even with its impressive existing infrastructure, Brooklyn’s bike network continues to grow. “One of our newest bike lanes is on Bedford Avenue in Bed-Stuy,” says Sledge. “It’s a major thoroughfare that didn’t have any protected bike lanes. Having a safe bike lane makes it safe and easy to ride through central Brooklyn.”

While New York City is the most densely populated city in the country, Sledge still has some sage advice on how cities and towns of any size can prioritize better and safer biking. 

“Make the fight bigger than one single bike lane — it’s exhausting to go one at a time,” she says. “By leveraging a citywide plan, you can take it from trench warfare to a much bigger project and vision.”

Outside of infrastructure, culture and community can make just as much of an impact on getting more people riding. 

A local youth joins hundreds of others riders for Good Co. Bike Club's Freedom Ride across Brooklyn. Photo courtesy of Ryan Birkicht

“People want community. I think that goes unnoticed or unappreciated a lot,” says Bennett. “You need to create spaces where people can feel included and welcome. There are bike clubs for everyone: women, older folks, kids. People want to feel like they belong. That’s kind of where our name came from — when you’re with Good Co., you’re with good people."

Want to know how your city scores? Explore the entire 2025 City Ratings by visiting cityratings.peopleforbikes.org.

America Has a New Best Large City for Biking

Picture a community where kids can ride safely to school, employees have a stress-free commute, and families can explore their neighborhood by bike on sunny weekends. Across the U.S., communities are making this vision a reality by investing in great places to ride, and PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings program shows where it’s working. Each year, our City Ratings scores more than 2,000 U.S. cities and towns based on the quality and connectivity of their bike networks, helping community members and decision-makers understand how easy it is to get around by bike and where improvements can make the biggest difference.

But why does this matter? Why should communities prioritize bike infrastructure in the first place? Here are six reasons why investing in great places to ride transforms lives, neighborhoods, and local economies. 

When bike infrastructure is safe and connected, it works for everyone: daily commuters, kids riding to school, older adults staying active, and families enjoying weekend outings. Whether you're biking to work or to a nearby park, safer streets make every ride more enjoyable and accessible. Investing in quality bike infrastructure like protected bike lanes, side paths, and safe intersections, reduces conflicts between road users and helps prevent crashes.

Streets with protected bike lanes experience up to 90% fewer injuries per mile compared to those without bike infrastructure.

Cities with protected bike lanes see 44% fewer fatalities for all road users and 50% fewer serious injuries.

Adding bike lanes can reduce crashes by as much as 49%.


Cycling offers a fun, low-impact way to stay active, supporting both physical and mental health. When biking is safe and enjoyable, more people choose to do it, leading to healthier lifestyles. For example, West Jefferson, North Carolina, invested $300,000 in a Complete Streets project and saved more than $2.7 million in health care costs in the first year alone.

Every $1 invested in active transportation saves $24 in averted medical costs.

People living in bike-friendly neighborhoods engage in 35–45 more minutes of moderate physical activity each week.

Proximity to trails increases the likelihood of meeting physical activity guidelines by 50% and riding a bicycle by 80%.

Youth who ride regularly report higher levels of mental well-being and spend fewer hours in front of screens.

Bike-friendly areas — both rural to urban — often see growth in small businesses, real estate value, and tourism. People riding bikes are more likely to visit local shops and restaurants, and a well-maintained bike network can boost foot traffic in commercial districts.

Great places to ride benefit not only commuters and city dwellers, but also outdoor recreationists and weekend visitors. Whether it's a local trail system, a downtown greenway, or a bike park, communities that build for biking see increased tourism, recreation spending, and demand for nearby housing and businesses.

The U.S. outdoor recreation economy generates $124.5 billion in tax revenue and supports nearly 5 million jobs, according to a 2024 Trust for Public Land report — highlighting the sector’s major role in national economic health.

Mountain biking tourists spend an average of $416 per visit, showing that trail-based recreation directly benefits local businesses and economies.

In Lancaster, California, a Complete Streets project led to a 96% increase in retail sales, demonstrating the transformative local economic impact of safer, more walkable and bikeable streets.

Protected bike lanes on 9th Avenue in NYC resulted in a 49% increase in retail sales, compared to just a 3% increase on nearby streets without the upgrades—showing the clear benefit of safe bike infrastructure for businesses.

Tourism revenue in areas with active transportation options is eight to nine times greater than the cost of infrastructure investment, according to Smart Growth America, offering a compelling case for public spending on walking and biking improvements.

Additionally, communities with higher City Ratings scores — those with robust, low-stress bike networks — often see increased sales at local bike shops, reflecting the positive economic impact of bike infrastructure.

Having the freedom to ride a bike makes it easier for people to get where they need to go, especially for short trips. In many communities, biking offers a reliable alternative to sitting in traffic or waiting for a ride, and it often costs significantly less than driving.

Safe, connected bike infrastructure gives people real choices in how they travel. And it serves all types of riders — not just those commuting to work, but also families biking to the playground or teens heading to a local park, pump track, or restaurant. When biking becomes a viable transportation and recreation option, the entire community benefits.

Fifty two percent of daily trips in the U.S. are three miles or less, a distance easily covered by bike.

In New York City, adding bike lanes reduced travel time along a key corridor by 35%.

U.S. households spend an average of $10,961 on transportation annually, making it the second-largest household expense.

One in four U.S. adults experiences transportation insecurity, often impacting low-income families.

By increasing access to low-cost modes of transportation like biking, communities can reduce household expenses and improve affordability.

Great bike infrastructure connects people to jobs, schools, parks, and transit, making opportunities more accessible for everyone. When bike networks are designed with all neighborhoods and riders in mind, they open up new possibilities, whether you’re traveling for work, heading to class, or enjoying an afternoon ride with your family.

Bike infrastructure like trails, BMX parks, and pump tracks are just as essential. These spaces offer safe and welcoming places for youth, families, and new riders to ride, learn, and build confidence, helping foster a lifelong love of biking while supporting physical and social wellbeing. 

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) found that building greenways, sidewalks, and bicycle infrastructure contributes 17 jobs per $1 million spent compared to other road and highway projects that range from 9 to 12.5 jobs created per $1 million spent.

An analysis of Complete Streets projects conducted by the National Complete Streets Coalition found:

A project in Lancaster, California, saw employment grow along the targeted corridor by 64% over three years. Comparatively, employment only increased by 3% citywide and a similar corridor that did not receive upgrades saw a decrease in employment during the same time.

In Orlando, Florida, streets with infrastructure updates saw 77 new businesses open, creating 560 jobs over seven years. 

Bicycling is one of the most efficient and low-impact ways to get around. When more people choose to bike, especially for short trips (which make up a significant percentage of all trips in the U.S.) it helps reduce air pollution, leading to cleaner, healthier air for everyone.

From work commutes to recreational trail rides, every bike trip taken instead of a car trip reduces greenhouse gas emissions. And by making biking safe and convenient for all types of riders, communities encourage more people to choose it, creating healthier environments and a better quality of life for all.

The transportation sector emits 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., making it the most significant contributor to national emissions.

Fifty two percent of all car trips made in the U.S. are three miles or less, and 28% are one mile or less. Three miles is equivalent to a 20-minute bike ride for an average person, indicating that shifting close-to-home trips from cars to bicycles is possible and can significantly reduce the number of miles driven in cars.

Shifting short car trips to walking or biking trips and using walking and biking to access public transit saves 13 million tons of CO2  emissions annually. Building additional active transportation infrastructure holds the potential to save more than 54 million tons.

Want to know how your community stacks up? PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings gives you the data. Use City Ratings to:

Explore your community’s score and see how it compares to other cities nationally and globally.

Identify where bike networks are strong and where there’s room to grow.

Support informed decisions about transportation and community planning.

Investing in great places to ride isn’t just about bikes — it’s about building communities that work for everyone. Whether you’re a weekday commuter, weekend mountain biker, small business owner, or parent teaching your child to ride, safe and connected bike infrastructure opens up countless opportunities.

From protected lanes and urban trails to pump tracks and natural surface paths, bike infrastructure creates healthier, more active, and more connected communities. No matter why you ride, great places to bike benefit us all.


Explore PeopleForBikes' City Ratings and discover how better biking can benefit your community.

Are you looking for a fun way to get kids to school while reducing traffic congestion? Starting a bike bus might be the perfect solution. With funding from PeopleForBikes, Bike Pittsburgh created a valuable Bike Bus Guide that empowers communities in Pittsburgh and beyond to implement bike buses and promote biking with students.

A bike bus is a coordinated group ride where children bike to school together under adult supervision. These rides help reduce traffic, build community, and give kids a healthy, active start to their day.

Although already popular throughout the world, the bike bus movement really gained momentum in the U.S. after the Alameda Bike Bus in Portland, Oregon, was featured on NBC Nightly News in 2022. The popularity of the bike bus even inspired a state bill to provide school districts across Oregon with funding flexibility to support bike buses and walking school buses. Sam Balto, who started the Alameda Bike Bus, has since launched Bike Bus World to help other communities launch their own bike buses. 

“After leading my first bike bus in Portland and seeing the joy it sparked — not just in kids, but in parents, neighbors, and school staff — I knew this wasn’t just a local idea,” says Balto. “As videos of our bike buses spread online, I started getting messages from people all over the country asking how they could start one too. That’s when it clicked: this movement wasn’t just about bikes — it was about reimagining how communities connect and how kids get to school. Bike Bus World was born out of that realization: people needed inspiration, tools, and support to make it happen where they live.”

Bike Pittsburgh’s guide walks families and schools through every step of launching a successful bike bus:

1. Define Your Goals
Specify your reasons for starting a bike bus. Whether your goal is to reduce traffic congestion at school drop-offs and pick-ups, encourage physical activity, or bring families in your community together, a clear purpose will help you shape your messaging, stay on track, and get more people on board.

2. Build a Team of Volunteers
Parents and other adults are essential for organizing, guiding, and keeping the bike bus running safely and smoothly.

3. Plan a Safe and Simple Route
Choose a safe, comfortable route with designated stops for riders to join in along the way.

4. Create a Consistent Schedule
Decide how often the bike bus will run — daily, weekly, or seasonally — and stick to it. Regular rides keep kids engaged and excited.

5. Put Safety First
Assign roles for ride leaders, rear “cabooses,” and intersection helpers who can help manage the group and keep all riders safe.

6. Work with School Leadership
Connect with your school’s administration to discuss logistics and liability. 

7. Spread the Word
Promote your bike bus through school newsletters, social media, flyers, and PTA meetings. The more visibility you get, the more kids will want to join in on the fun.

“We’ve seen a great desire from parents to bike to school with their kids — whether to replace cars and buses or simply for the joy of it,” says Edward King-Smith, education manager at BikePGH. “But many parents have felt overwhelmed by the logistical and administrative challenges involved. Our goal was to simplify the process and provide support, encouragement, and supplies to help parents take the first steps to mobilize their community for a greener, funner commute to school.”

If a parent or teacher is hesitant about starting a bike bus, Balto’s advice is simple: start small. “You don’t need a parade of bikes or a perfect plan — just a few kids and one adult can make a huge difference,” he says. While it might feel a little messy or awkward at first, that’s all part of the process. “Leading a bike bus isn’t about being perfect, it’s about showing up and modeling joy, independence, and community for our kids. Once people see it in action, they want to be part of it.”

If you’re ready to launch a bike bus in your community, start by exploring Bike Pittsburgh’s Bike Bus Guide and check out Bike Bus World for more resources. With the proper planning and support, you can help kids get to school in a fun, safe, and healthy way.

How to Start a Bike Bus: A Step-by-Step Guide for Families and Schools

It’s time to pedal into May Bike Month, a nationwide celebration of the joys and benefits of bicycling promoted by the League of American Bicyclists. As part of May Bike Month, thousands of businesses across the U.S. will encourage their employees to get out on two wheels. Is your organization ready to ride along?

To help inspire your staff to participate, PeopleForBikes gathered five practical and impactful ways to boost engagement and make biking fun for everyone.

If you’re reading this blog, your company’s Bike Month champion may be you! Many organizations have specific committees focused on employee wellness or office morale. Include these groups early in the planning process so they can help lead and support bike-related activities and events all month long. 

Anticipate common deterrents to bike riding and get creative with ways to mitigate those barriers. A few examples include:

“I live too far away.” Offer a park-and-ride option closer to the office.

“It isn’t safe to ride near the office.” Encourage staff to ride in their own neighborhoods or on safe cycling routes nearby and count that towards participation.

“I don’t have a bike.” Partner with a local bike shop to offer subsidized rentals or work with employees to implement a bike share program. 

People love being part of something bigger than themselves, and Bike Month offers the perfect opportunity to cultivate that sense of community. One fun way to bring people together is by creating custom Bike to Work Week t-shirts for participants. Not only can employees collect them each year, they also become great conversation starters.

Another fantastic way to build a strong sense of camaraderie is by having your executive team host a tailgate commuter breakfast for employees who bike to work. Involving senior leadership in these activities is key because it shows that bike commuting is valued and supported from the top down. This reinforces the idea that bicycling is not just a personal choice, but a celebrated and sustainable mode of transportation within your organization. Read more about why senior leadership buy-in is paramount. 

Use simple games like Bike Month BINGO to keep spirits high and the competition friendly. You can even add challenges like “Best Decorated Bike” or “Best Costume” to spice things up! 

Download PeopleForBikes' Bike Month BINGO Card

Surprise your team with small yet meaningful rewards when they hit special milestones. Whether it’s riding for the first time, attending every weekly event, or biking through rainy days, unexpected rewards will keep the momentum going! Check out this list of free and inexpensive ways to motivate your team. 


May Bike Month is the perfect opportunity to kickstart a lasting bike culture at your workplace. We hope these creative ideas spark inspiration and help keep your team motivated, excited, and ready to ride all month long — and beyond!

Five Ways to Boost Employee Engagement During May Bike Month

PeopleForBikes’ latest initiative, The Great Bike Infrastructure Project, is an ambitious program aimed at transforming communities across the United States by championing pro-bike policies and launching thousands of bike infrastructure projects. The goal of the project is to create safer and more accessible biking opportunities for everyone.

This visionary program comprises three vital components:

1. The implementation of thousands of bike projects

3. Significant investments in local communities 

In this four-part blog series, "A Legislative Playbook to Build More Bikeable Communities," we’ll dive into the legislative arm of our new program, exploring policies that promote safe, complete bike networks while also highlighting states and municipalities that are successfully putting these policies into action.

The policy pillars that make up The Great Bike Infrastructure Project’s legislative arm are outlined in the program’s Legislative Guide. Designed to aid policymakers and advocates in expanding local bike infrastructure for transportation and recreation, this comprehensive guide outlines four highly effective legislative solutions to accelerate the construction of safe and connected biking infrastructure. 

The key strategies featured in the guide include:

Funding for Bike Infrastructure: While there is an unprecedented amount of federal funding available for bike infrastructure, state and local funding are essential to propel more projects forward. Local funding also provides the 20-50% local match required for most federal grants. Our guide offers examples of more than a dozen different state and local funding mechanisms for bike infrastructure, ranging from Tax Increment Financing districts to sales tax revenue and everything in between.


Mandating Complete Streets: The implementation of Complete Streets mandates is a pivotal strategy for advancing bike infrastructure. Complete Streets ensure that all road users — including pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users, and drivers — have safe and accessible ways to reach their destinations. Our guide provides examples of legislation that includes strong and specific requirements for creating Complete Streets, including language that allows for limited exceptions and denotes clear roles and responsibilities to make mandates effective.


Advancing Bike Infrastructure Through Climate Legislation: Our guide underscores how state and local climate legislation can facilitate the construction of bike projects. By including bike infrastructure in climate legislation, communities can help reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions, ultimately delivering significant environmental and fiscal benefits. We highlight examples of climate legislation in Minnesota, Washington, Rhode Island, and Hawaii, showcasing the most effective components.


Creating Safer Places to Ride: Ensuring streets are safe for cyclists is paramount to encouraging the adoption of bicycling for both transportation and recreation. Our guide emphasizes several strategies for local communities and states to achieve safer streets, including measures to reduce traffic speeds, ban right turns on red, and adopt modern design standards.

In this blog series, we will provide in-depth insights into each of these legislative strategies and demonstrate where we are already witnessing success stories. Promoting safe and connected places to ride remains our overarching goal to get more people on bikes.

Our work at PeopleForBikes to advance bike riding across the U.S. relies heavily on our local advocacy partners in all 50 states. If you are actively involved in improving bike infrastructure in your community, we would love to hear from you and discuss how PeopleForBikes can support your efforts. Please reach out to us at info@peopleforbikes.org. Together, we can make biking safer and more accessible for all.

A Legislative Playbook to Build More Bikeable Communities

Every year, PeopleForBikes releases the results of its City Ratings, a data-driven program that evaluates, identifies, and compares the best global cities and towns for bicycling. Using this data, we help city leaders pinpoint improvements to make biking better and safer for everyone in their communities.

City Ratings scores are generated using PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis, which you can learn more about here. 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 2023, we rated 1,484 cities of all sizes throughout the U.S. and 249 international cities on the quality of their bike networks. Each city receives a City Ratings score on a scale of 0-100. A low score (0-20) indicates a weak bike network, meaning the city lacks safe bikeways or there are gaps in the network. A high score (80-100) indicates that most common destinations are accessible by safe, comfortable bike routes that serve people of all ages and abilities. For larger cities, a score of 50 is the tipping point to becoming a great place to bike.

With so much data to sort through, we created this summary report to showcase how the program works alongside high-level takeaways from this year’s ratings.




For 2023, the top-scoring small, medium, and large U.S. cities for bicycling are: Provincetown, Massachusetts; Davis, California; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minnesota, saw a tremendous increase in its score over last year, improving 31 points between 2022 and 2023, landing at the #1 spot in large U.S. cities for this year. 

Newcomers to the top 10 include Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a large city that improved its ratings score from 35 out of 100 in 2022 to 45 out of 100 in 2023. That jump also helped Wisconsin see a substantial rise in ridership as well. Eco-Counter data shows that ridership growth in the state outpaced the rest of the Midwest region: On the weekends, there are 20% more rides happening across Wisconsin than there were in 2019 and weekday rides are up 27%.  

Longmont, Colorado, also edged its way into the top 10 medium cities, improving its score from 36 in 2022 to 59 in 2023. Among small cities, Blue Diamond, Nevada; Murdock, Nebraska; Shorewood, Wisconsin; and Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, are all new to City Ratings and earned top 10 spots for 2023. Jackson, Wyoming, also moved into the top 10 small cities for the first time this year.


The average score among all U.S. cities is 23 out of 100. Cities in the top 10 score 55 out of 100 on average.


Five percent of U.S. cities score 50 or higher in this year’s City Ratings, with 50 being the threshold score for becoming a great place for bicycling. Meanwhile, more than half of U.S. cities score between 10 and 30.


Among medium and large cities with more than 50,000 residents, the top-scoring city in each state ranged from Davis, California (77) to Cheyenne, Wyoming (7).

Speed limits play a large role in City Ratings scores, and a growing number of cities across the U.S. are lowering speeds to make their roads safer. Slightly more than half of U.S. cities have speed limits of 25 mph or less on residential roads, while the remaining cities with speed limits of 30 mph or greater on residential roads could improve the safety of their bike network by reducing travel speeds.

Roads outside of residential areas also benefit from speed limit reductions, alone or in combination with other safety improvements such as upgrading bicycle infrastructure. The chart below summarizes the bike infrastructure needed on local roads based on their speed limits to improve a city’s score. 

Now in our sixth year of City Ratings, multiple years of data allow us to see changes in the quality of cities’ bike networks over time. Data quality has improved over the years as well, which is reflected in score changes. The chart below illustrates five years of data measuring the quality of bike networks among this year’s top 10 large cities.

More than just data, PeopleForBikes utilizes its City Ratings program to benchmark cities’ progress on improving the quality and connectivity of their bike networks as well as establish best practices for city leaders, decision-makers, and advocates to identify improvements to be made in their communities, ultimately making bicycling better for everyone.

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

For the first time since our City Ratings program launched seven years ago, Minneapolis, Minnesota, tops the list of the best large U.S. cities for bicycling with a score of 68. In 2022, the city’s score hovered in the 30s, and its leap to number one speaks to a number of notable changes. 

First, Minneapolis’ data received a massive update — while that’s not the most exciting reason, it’s essential. Our scoring system is informed using data from OpenStreetMap, which is essentially the Wikipedia of street maps, meaning anyone can edit it. If a city’s data in OpenStreetMap doesn’t adequately reflect the breadth and/or quality of the city’s on-the-ground infrastructure, then its corresponding City Ratings score will be lower. Thanks to updates to its OpenStreetMap data, Minneapolis saw its score rise.

That being said, the midwestern city, home to a population of about 425,336 people, has also made huge strides in building out the safe, connected bicycle infrastructure that demands OpenStreetMap updates — and defines the world’s best places to ride. 

“What's really unique about Minneapolis — what's different than many of the other notable cities for bicycling in North America — is that the backbone of our network is probably one of the best urban trail networks in the country,” says Luke Hanson, a senior transportation planner for the city. “Minneapolis' status as one of the top cities for bicycling is both a combination of strategic multimodal investments that include that kind of urban trail network, as well as deliberate complimentary policy guidance over time. Those pieces go hand in hand to create our current bike network.”

A key component of Minneapolis’ cycling urban trail network is the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, a continuous, 51-mile loop of off-street bike trails that traverses the entire city. For more than 100 years, the byway has been a recreational and transportation resource for people biking, walking, and rolling — a historical network that the city has been able to build off of over time with strategic and complimentary investments primarily along former rail corridors. That includes the Midtown Greenway, the Cedar Lake Trail, the Hiawatha LRT Trail, and the Dinkytown Greenway, which are all repurposed, grade-separated trails that avoid conflicts with motor vehicles and connect some of the most important destinations in the city. 

“All of this has been augmented by a series of initially painted buffered bicycle boulevard facilities throughout the city that provided network-level connectivity,” says Hanson. “More recently, many of these facilities have been improved by transitioning them from traditional unprotected bike lanes to protected facilities in a variety of different design types, utilizing things like protected intersection design and other tools we have available to us.”

Hanson is quick to point to the various policies that have helped Minneapolis develop one of the country’s most robust bicycle networks: its 2011 Bicycle Master Plan, 2013 Climate 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. In 2019, the city also conducted a neighborhood greenway study to look at ways to transition traditional bike boulevards to make them more comfortable, safer, and more appealing to a wider group of people. Finally, the city’s 2020 Transportation Action Plan provides policy guidance to continue implementing protected and safe bike facilities throughout the city.

Minneapolis currently boasts 21 miles of on-street protected bike lanes and 106 miles of off-street sidewalk and trail miles. By 2030, the goal is to have 141 miles of newer, upgraded all ages and ability bikeways throughout the city, along with a micromobility mode share of 10% (the Climate Action Plan outlines a long-term goal of raising the bicycle commute mode share to 15%). Unfortunately, the loss of the city’s Nice Ride bike share system earlier this year complicates that vision (and is arguably a huge oversight on the part of the city).

“[Mass mode shift] is still a goal and it’s important to work towards that even with the challenge of not having a reliable bike share system,” says Hanson. “What we're trying to establish is a complimentary transportation network where people have options beyond just driving and single occupancy vehicles. In addition to transit, we're thinking through walking, biking, rolling, and other methods to make sure people have transportation options and choices to help us get to those mode shift goals. Marketing is important but we’re reinforcing that with infrastructure.”

Other complementary policies, such as redesigning intersections and reducing speeds, play an equally important role. In 2020, Minneapolis and its twin city St. Paul lowered their default speed limits, switching from 30 to 20 mph on residential streets and 25 mph for larger, arterial, city-owned streets. Lowering speed limits aligns with Minneapolis’ Vision Zero work by reducing the likelihood of crashes and the likelihood of a crash leading to serious injuries or death. Since lower speeds are critically important in places where people are walking, rolling, and biking — which is most locations in Minneapolis — they correspond with higher City Ratings scores.

“Lowering speed limits is a tool but we're also using street design to compliment those lower posted speed limits,” says Hanson. “Traffic calming measures such as raised crossings, speed humps, speed cushions, medians, and narrowing roadways are equally important. Even if they’re not explicitly a bike project per se, they make it safer and more comfortable for people to bike.”

Other things Minneapolis is doing well include leveraging federal grants to fund projects, taking advantage of street resurfacing projects to upgrade infrastructure, and creating a brand new Street Design Guide. According to Hanson, in addition to providing guidance on what an all ages and abilities bikeway should look like, the guide also includes guidance on when to install them (the short answer: on any major throughway undergoing reconstruction). Notably, the city also eliminated parking minimums and made the choice to transition away from single-family housing, choices that contribute to better cities for cycling (it also helps that Minnesota is progressive when it comes to its state transportation policy).

“It's not as simple as the silo of transportation infrastructure — these things build upon one another to make a functional, practical system for people to rely on and use,” says Hanson. “It’s important to acknowledge that there are a lot of additional projects that aren’t bike-specific that work to make biking safer and more comfortable.”

Having worked on bike projects for more than a decade, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Hanson himself is a regular cyclist, relying on his bike for most trips. He credits the local bike culture as a major contributing factor to what makes Minneapolis such a great place to bike. On any given week, there are dozens of social rides throughout the city, including non-drop rides, family-friendly outings, and meet-ups for identity-specific groups. There are organizations that empower people to be comfortable on their bikes through all four seasons, as well as Grease Rag and other groups that provide inclusive environments for bicycle education.

Hanson also credits local advocacy groups and community-based organizations with helping create a safer, more comfortable, and more equitable environment for bicycling. 

“We've found a lot of value in partnering with established community groups and organizations to perform better, more meaningful project engagement,” says Hanson. “Doing so allows us as city staff to better build relationships with residents through trusted community members. Meaningful relationships are a really, really important resource for us.”

In recent years, Minneapolis has also been the site of racial unrest and the need to connect with and prioritize the needs of historically underserved communities has been pushed to the forefront. The city recently created a Racial Equity Framework for Transportation, which acknowledges that certain populations and geographies in the city have borne the brunt of displacement, pollution, and a slew of other outcomes directly tied to an inequitable transportation system. Importantly, this framework can help city planners be strategic and prioritize transportation investments in those same communities.

Hand in hand with those investments is a tangible plan for lowering barriers to bicycling through youth education. Currently, Minneapolis Public Schools are rolling out universal bike education for fourth and fifth graders in two-thirds of the city’s public schools, with plans for it to eventually be district-wide. After all, an all ages and abilities bike network only benefits youth that know how to ride.

“In the last few years, I think we’ve made some really meaningful progress,” says Hanson. “And I also appreciate that there’s always ongoing work to do.”

How Minneapolis Became a Top U.S. Bike City

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.

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