Bike advocates in Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Providence share how they’re already using recent recommendations from Charles T. Brown and other researchers.

In early March of this year, we released a new report, “Where Do We Go From Here? Breaking Down Barriers to Bicycling in the U.S.,” based on research conducted in 10 cities across the U.S. from 2018-2019. The research team, led by Charles T. Brown of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers University, was commissioned to identify the factors that prevent and encourage different people from bicycling.

“The report highlights how barriers to bicycling are sometimes physical, but also systemic, institutional, social and cultural,” said PeopleForBikes Director of Local Innovation Sara Studdard. “Our hope is that readers will think beyond bike lanes and apply its five key learnings to any place-based projects — meeting people where they are and making sure changes to communities are resident-led.”

We touched base with mobility advocates in Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Providence to get specific examples of how they’re already beginning to carry out some of these findings. Although no one city is getting everything right, we hope these stories are inspiring and a testament to what a more equitable and holistic approach to planning can accomplish. 

Bike Easy’s work in New Orleans is all about building intentional partnerships in order to engage communities, whether that’s through offering mini-grants to local churches or partnering with GirlTrek for a march. “When the New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition was launching a big campaign to support the rapid buildout of our bike network, we went to the Algiers neighborhood and threw a fun, daylong festival,” said Dan Favre, Bike Easy’s executive director. "Algiers, the first community in New Orleans to have the rapid buildout of the bike network implemented, is primarily Black and has been historically underserved." The event had food, junior high marching bands, popular Black DJs from local radio, walking tours, games and bike giveaways. “The whole day was an opportunity for folks to engage with the city on the specifics of the bike plan,” said Favre.

Healthy Ride, Pittsburgh’s bike share system, has a community ambassador program that similarly works with individuals and nonprofits to authentically engage with new riders, connecting them to bike share and safe riding routes throughout the city. “We’ve also introduced a seasonal Street Team to help create awareness around the infrastructure changes as part of the MoveForwardPGH program to rapidly implement the city’s new Bike (+) Plan,” said Erin Potts, Healthy Ride’s director of marketing and community outreach.

In Denver, the Denver Streets Partnership teamed up with the West Colfax Business Improvement District to launch the Over the Colfax Clover project. “We began community outreach by hosting a series of bilingual meetings and walk audits with community members in this historically Latinx neighborhood,” said Jessica Vargas, the partnership’s program manager. Those meetings were followed by engineers, urban planners, developers and agency officials convening to explore potential re-designs and land re-uses — a rare opportunity to efficiently workshop a critical equity issue. “We then hosted a neighborhood festival to demonstrate some of the design ideas, including a pop-up protected bike lane during the event,” said Vargas. “Car cruising is such an important part of West Denver culture, so we invited the local cruiser club to display their cars as protection for the temporary bike lane.”

“In 2020, the City of Providence and Providence Streets Coalition partnered to organize paid focus groups for people who travel using all modes of transportation as a part of the city’s effort to brand and create comprehensive wayfinding signage for its urban trail network,” said Liza Burkin, lead organizer at the coalition. “We put a special emphasis on recruiting people of color and Spanish speakers. It’s crucial to get feedback and opinions from people coming from a diversity of lived experiences in order to create trail signage that is useful, understandable and reflective of all city residents.”

“Last year in Austin, we developed a GIS map and community stakeholder-driven process to help ensure the equitable and community-driven selection and deployment of Austin's [Healthy Streets] Slow Streets initiative,” said Briana Cohen, Austin lead and community educator at Ghisallo Cycling Initiative. “To gather input, Ghisallo connected with Go Austin/Vamos Austin, a coalition of neighbors and community partners breaking down barriers to healthy living and strengthening neighborhood stability in Austin’s Eastern Crescent.”

Importantly, whenever New Orleans’ Bike Easy sets up focus groups, it invites people from the city government to come and listen. “With messaging, it can’t all be about biking, it has to be about the overall community,” said Favre, noting how pre-pandemic, Bike Easy was canvassing door-to-door in neighborhoods slated for infrastructure improvements. “Sometimes we hear from people that speeding or street flooding are big problems, or they need us to focus on transit rather than bike lanes — it can go a long way when a bike advocate is promoting transit like that.” Favre also noted that Bike Easy worked with a pollster specifically known for having an understanding of getting the perceptions of the Black community.

“Google has a big Pittsburgh presence with shower facilities; large, locked bike storage; tools for people to fix bikes — the company has also pushed to build bike culture by encouraging its employees to take rides together,” said Scott Bricker, executive director at BikePGH. “Additionally, our large universities have recently been prioritizing safe cycling education, bike parking, on-campus bike shops and Bike to Campus events. The University of Pittsburgh also offers free bike share memberships for all students, staff and faculty, as does Google for all interested employees.”

In New Orleans, “Through a partnership with the Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, we’re getting ready to announce a bike rack program where they’ll be able to provide interested members with free bike racks for their businesses,” said Favre. Bike Easy will also do consultations with any businesses that are interested in becoming more welcoming to bikes and facilitates virtual bicycle challenges where different workplace teams can challenge one another to ride more.

In Denver, the Bicycle Colorado education team builds relationships with and compensates community-based organizations that directly serve people who ride and want to ride. Montbello en Bici, a bicycling group made up of Spanish-speaking families in the Montbello neighborhood, is one such organization. The goal is to help give the group the knowledge, skills and resources to lead more programs on their own so the community is less dependent on Bicycle Colorado. This past summer, the City of Denver, Northeast Transportation Connections, Montbello Organizing Committee and Bicycle Colorado collaborated on English and Spanish educational videos for the Montbello Bike Course featuring Montbello en Bici youth riders. 

In Pittsburgh, Eric Boerer, advocacy director at BikePGH said, “With the hope of reaching the parents by engaging with the kids, we developed a MoveForwardPGH coloring book that is a fun way for adults and children to learn about the benefits of slower, safer streets.”

“The Providence Streets Coalition seeks to be a fully bilingual organization in regards to our marketing, outreach and community engagement. So, every element of our creative marketing campaign is translated into Spanish — the social videos, the radio spots, the bus and billboard and print ads,” said Burkin, noting that eventually, the organization would like to be multilingual. “We use the 'Weglot' plug-in that seamlessly translates our website into Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole, and we made it a requirement that our Street Team staffers speak at least one other language besides English.”

Providence is on its way to implementing its Great Streets Plan, which includes a 75-mile urban trail network designed for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, run, scoot, skate and roll. “The two main typologies of the network are two-way protected trails on busy streets and traffic-calmed neighborhood greenways on residential streets,” said Burkin. “Contraflow bike lanes, safer pedestrian crossings and better bus stops are also key parts of the plan.”

In Pittsburgh, the “GAP to the Point” network of bike lanes is the final piece of on-street bike infrastructure that connects the Great Allegheny Passage to Point State Park through the heart of downtown. “The GAP to the Point bike lanes have both concrete and bollard protection, and feature new-to-Pittsburgh innovations to work around several bus stops, making it easier for buses to pull up directly to the curb,” said Bricker.

“The entire New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition and the diverse communities represented there are in full support of connected and protected bike lanes,” said Favre. “We realize that it’s not just about protecting people from traffic, but it’s about lighting and things like that too. When it comes to making people feel safe, the details matter.”

How 5 Cities Are Breaking Down Barriers to Biking

A candid conversation with Charles T. Brown, the lead investigator of a new, groundbreaking report on barriers to biking in the U.S.

Even without the upsurge brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. bicycling is on the rise. As the number of bicyclists and bike trips steadily grows, however, communities still struggle to court diverse ridership and create truly inclusive bike cultures. Plus, for many Americans, bicycling remains completely out of reach due to persistent social and physical barriers.

It’s these barriers that a research team, led by Charles T. Brown of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers University, set out to identify. The 2018-2019 study was commissioned by PeopleForBikes as part of an existing effort, dubbed the Big Jump, to encourage the development and implementation of bike infrastructure across 10 U.S. cities.

“We wanted to understand the reasons why certain populations choose to bicycle and why others do not,” said Brown. “Consistent with that, what infrastructure and incentives, financial or otherwise, would be needed to encourage those who do not bicycle to start, and for those that do bicycle to bicycle more?”

The Big Jump focused on helping communities build strong local partnerships and Brown’s study built on that work by soliciting those partners to convene small focus groups — made up of both community members and businesses — for open-ended discussions. Brown and his colleagues were thus able to gain an in-depth understanding of participants’ perceptions and attitudes towards bicycling.

Where Do We Go From Here? Breaking Down Barriers to Bicycling in the U.S.

Brown, who has devoted his 15-plus-year career to working at the intersection of transportation, health and equity, is widely considered a thought leader in creating safe, equitable and inclusive communities. Keep reading for an honest discussion about barriers to biking in the U.S.

PeopleForBikes: With this study, what void in the research were you trying to fill?

Charles T. Brown: For the most part, prior research had approached the community separate from businesses. We thought it’d be important to hear not only from the residents but also from the businesses to create a clear picture of what the barriers and the possibilities are in regards to cycling in each community.

Why use a qualitative approach in your research?

My preference is a more qualitative approach because it gives you the ability to dig deeper into what the real answers or issues are. With a quantitative survey, you can certainly capture the opinions of more people, but we were more interested in the depth of responses than the number of people surveyed. Focus groups also allow people to network and build relationships and partnerships that may outlast this study and many others. This is imperative in under-resourced communities.

How has your lived experience as a bike rider informed your work?

I've always been into biking recreationally; however, prior to this job, I’d never considered biking for utilitarian purposes. This had a lot to do with the fact that I’d never lived in a community where it was considered safe to bicycle to and from work, given the spatial mismatch between my residence and my job, as well as the unsafe infrastructure. For me, biking has always been an ideal way to spend time with family and friends. Many African Americans also primarily view the bicycle as a recreational device, not necessarily as a utilitarian one — that’s pretty consistent with the research.

How has your lived experience as a Black man informed your work?

It made me keenly aware of issues, such as the lack of infrastructure and maintenance in BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] communities, along with discriminatory enforcement and the importance of representation for racial minorities that lack it. Religious and sexual minorities, too. I came to this work with an understanding that bicycling infrastructure had been perceived, promoted and prioritized predominately in high-income, white communities. As a result, many people of color don’t feel that biking, particularly non-recreational cycling, is for them. My perspective has led me to do research that truly gets to the root causes of these barriers to biking for BIPOC. 

Which of the five recommendations do you think is the most important?

I think the most important one is this need to meaningfully engage with historically marginalized communities and, most importantly, do it on their turf. I would also add: on their terms. There exists a segment of our community who don't get an opportunity to truly enjoy the benefits of bicycling and the freedoms that come with it. A lot of this has to do with the fact that they have been systematically marginalized and thus, have been prevented from enjoying that freedom.

If we are to grow this movement in the way that we really would like to, we have to be humble and empathetic enough to meet people on their terms so that we can create an environment that best serves their needs. For me, that's what it means to be equitable and inclusive. That is the most important recommendation because right now it is by far the biggest hole or gap in our processes and approach to cycling in America. Where America fails, so have we in bicycling.

Here’s what’s surprising: We’ve known the answers. There has been very little progress in terms of removing the barriers that have been identified in study after study. That's surprising because the bicycling community tends to be one that is socially and politically progressive. And yet it still has not moved us. It hasn’t moved us even an iota forward in regards to removing or reducing the systemic barriers around biking in BIPOC and low-income communities.

What do you think it’s going to take for real change on this front?

It is going to take really bold and courageous action by all of us to be the change we’d like to see in this country. We need a reparation-style infrastructure package in BIPOC and low-income communities. That package needs to include bicycle infrastructure and pedestrian infrastructure, plus investments in public transit and public art. We also need to demystify cycling. Right now, it's looked at as a white-only thing or as a thing that only poor people do.

Why are these persistent stereotypes so harmful?

Because these persistent stereotypes are just that: stereotypes. They don’t reflect the reality of cycling in America. For instance, what you see is not a lack of cyclists of color. Your perception is clouded by the reality of your racially segregated community. Few, however, make a connection between that reality and the reality that the same systems that created segregated communities allowed barriers to active transportation infrastructure in BIPOC communities. In some of the cities in which we conducted these focus groups, they're very racially segregated, and those people saw — for the most part — the culture and the people that were dominant there.

Going back to that recommendation you believe is most important — can you outline what “meaningful engagement” looks like?

Meaningful engagement takes into consideration the language in which the meeting will be conducted, the time of day of the meeting, whether or not it's accessible for persons with disabilities and the location. I’m not just talking about physical location, but rather the organization responsible for the meeting and its history, which may or may not be deemed trustworthy by the community that you’re trying to engage.

It also applies to the prioritization of the items that are on the agenda and the flexibility organizers have in accommodating input received from the community. For example, a lot of times we’ll go out to talk about bike lanes and the community wants to talk about crime. If you're not well versed in the various ways in which this work is intersectional, you may not see the importance of addressing a crime question within a bicycle discussion.

Lastly, meaningful engagement has to involve the sharing of power. Sometimes it’s important for the community to have the autonomy to host a meeting to determine its location, its time, its language, and provide valuable input on resource allocation. In short, sometimes you just have to listen. Active listening is a very important component of meaningful engagement.

What’s the low-hanging fruit a city can tackle today?

Metaphorically speaking, low-income and communities of color have been fed low-hanging fruit for far too long. Unfortunately, this has not resulted in equitable and inclusive access for BIPOC communities at the same rate it has in other communities. Therefore, it is time for cities to climb the tree to get the fruit that is higher up so that real systemic change can happen and be sustainable for a longer time. But for the sake of discussion, the low-hanging fruit should be safe and accessible bicycling parking and lockers, lighting, routine maintenance, bike lanes and signage and the establishment of an external equity working group.  

What’s going to take the most work or cost the most?

I think that a shift in the dominant culture is going to take the most work, but equitable and inclusive bicycle infrastructure will cost the most — particularly considering the dire need to fully address the magnitude of historic and contemporary disinvestments in low-income and communities of color. However, it is a cost we should welcome with open arms, given the gross disparities in traffic deaths and injuries, as well as the lack of access to healthy food and nutrition, parks and open spaces, and social connectedness in these communities. These investments will result in the highest return in investment socially, economically, politically, environmentally and in terms of overall health outcomes. We must act swiftly, however, as these outcomes are indicative of our priorities—priorities that have benefited some and burdened others. This must change. Now.

How do you respond to critics who say, “It’s just not going to happen”?

I don’t. I prioritize my time and energy for those who are hopeful and optimistic about the future.

A Q&A With Charles Brown on U.S. Barriers to Biking

“Where America Fails, So Have We in Bicycling.”

We’re proud to announce our Living Lab winners, all of which will create replicable programs for improving shared micromobility in low-income communities.

In 2014, the Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) formed with a mission: identify barriers to bike share and develop strategies to address them. By partnering with Philadelphia and its Indego bike share system—using the city as a “Living Lab,” or a testing ground for innovative solutions—the BBSP was able to identify replicable best practices that would make any micromobility system more equitable. This year, the partnership is expanding its Living Lab work to include four more cities alongside Philadelphia, each with a specific target area and goal for making bike share better.

The BBSP invited proposals from partnerships of cities, bike share operators and community-based organizations looking to pilot, expand, replicate or scale strategies and tactics related to a specific issue and historically-marginalized population. Projects could not include the funding of new bike share stations or related equipment, on-street infrastructure projects, general operating costs or anything related to a micromobility system that didn’t yet exist. Only applications from U.S.-based, nonprofit organizations or city agencies were considered. In the end, the BBSP received 16 applications from cities large and small across the country. 

“Being a Living Lab means taking a deep dive into addressing the obstacles that affect access to and use of shared micromobility systems,” said Tangier Barnes Wright, partnership and program manager at the PeopleForBikes Foundation, a founding partner of the BBSP. “At the end of two and a half years, the Living Labs communities will share unique and replicable approaches to achieving equity in shared micromobility that can be utilized nationwide.”

Over the course of two and a half years, the BBSP has committed to disseminating $200,000 in funding to each Living Lab, which will cover costs associated with proposals as well as technical support, scholarships and travel stipends for relevant conferences. Grantees will also have the opportunity to convene monthly and share learnings as a cohort. Follow along on the BBSP blog in order to track the work of each Living Lab, including deep dives into individual proposals, progress made and any challenges that arise.

“These five organizations crafted creative and thoughtful proposals to look deeply at how and why people use shared micromobility — or don’t,” said Zoe Kircos, director of grants and partnerships at PeopleForBikes. “We look forward to sharing the progress, challenges and lessons learned from these Living Labs in the years ahead.”

The following projects received Living Labs funding:

The Northwest Side Housing Center will work with partners to amplify the voice of youth in Chicago’s micromobility planning and implementation efforts. Teens from the Belmont Cragin neighborhood will help design and roll out a community education campaign that will focus on bikes as a way to connect the neighborhood to other transit options. Additionally, members of the Belmont Cragin Youth Leadership Council will learn bike mechanic and handling skills, which they will use to help educate their community about bike share and the many benefits of bicycling.

Building the Bike-to-Bus Connection
Detroit, MI

MoGo, a Detroit-based nonprofit organization, and its partners will work together to identify and address the technical, behavioral and structural barriers associated with bus and bike share trips in order to create better-connected transportation options in Metro Detroit. Feedback and data collected from local residents will inform strategies that MoGo will pilot and test over the course of the grant.

The City of Philadelphia, along with partners at Bicycle Transit Systems and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, will continue to refine and expand its ambassador programs and deep community engagement work, with a particular focus on the new neighborhoods that will be served by Indego's (Philadelphia’s bike share program) extensive expansion. Additional program offerings, such as the Indego Champions and Changing Gears programs, will also be scaled up based on pilot projects completed in 2020. 

The Portland Bureau of Transportation and its partner, the Multnomah County REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) Program, will help local community health workers provide Biketown (Portland’s bike share program) access, education and support for clients who receive county health assistance, all with the overall goal of improving health outcomes.

Red Bike (Cincinnati’s bike share system) will supercharge its highly successful Red Bike Go program, implementing and assessing a variety of new strategies to increase community involvement as it expands into two new neighborhoods. Its approach will include creative partnerships with schools and community-based organizations, youth ambassadors and youth-focused programming with the integration of art throughout.

Meet 5 Grantees Out to Transform Bike Share

Fort Collins, a recipient of our 2020 COVID-19 Mobility Response Grant, used the funding to beef up its existing bike network, as well as roll out an extensive marketing campaign.

Even in cities that boast substantial bike networks, there’s always more work to be done — especially during the pandemic, with Americans biking at unprecedented levels. Fort Collins, a university town in northern Colorado with a population of roughly 170,000, is an example of how smart spending can improve biking in a city that already invested in the necessary infrastructure.

In June 2020, the PeopleForBikes Foundation offered a cash grant of up to $20,000 to support the local implementation of programs designed to increase biking and walking as part of a community’s response to COVID-19. The hope was that these short-term pandemic efforts would lead to more permanent changes in local transportation networks. Tucson, Arizona and Fort Collins were both chosen to receive grants, proposing vastly different projects.

“We decided pretty early on that closing streets the way we were seeing in Denver and with other Slow Streets concepts was not going to fly in Fort Collins,” said Nick Heimann, an active modes specialist for the City of Fort Collins. “Instead, we looked at the robust system that we were already encouraging people to use for walking, bicycling and scooting on a regular basis, and decided to augment what was already there.”

Fort Collins opted to use grant funds to support the installation of approximately 126 permanent bicycle wayfinding signs along low-stress bikeways, as well as temporary wayfinding in the form of pavement stencils to fill in gaps across the city’s bike network. The bulk of Fort Collins’ efforts, however, focused on their Shift Your Ride campaign, a broader initiative encouraging residents to forgo single occupancy vehicle rides.

Heimann, who has a graduate degree in public health, was uniquely positioned to understand the role transportation could play in a pandemic. “I saw the pandemic as an explicit opportunity to focus on public health and its integration into our programs,” said Heimann. 

Since Fort Collins already had a robust trail system and a pervasive low-stress bike network, building more infrastructure didn’t necessarily make the most sense. According to Heimann, the city’s response to COVID-19 was less about providing the space for bicycling as it was encouraging people to get out and engage in physical activity in a safe way.

Community members used water-based paint to augment Fort Collins’ existing low-stress bike network.

In order to make its existing low-stress network more cohesive, Fort Collins focused on installing 126 permanent bicycle wayfinding signs along five destination-serving, citywide routes, as well as temporary wayfinding in the form of pavement stencils. The former helped build awareness for the city’s most popular routes at a time when more people were out biking, while the latter was a cost-effective way to fill in gaps in the city’s network and help users navigate less obvious connections.

“Before, our signs were definitely spaced too far apart for it to really seem like a truly cohesive network,” said Heimann. “The stencils were a low-cost, innovative solution that allowed us to pilot something with the intention of possibly scaling it up in the future.” 

Not only did the low price tag of water-based paint allow the city to gauge the public response before committing to permanent changes, but the bright neon green color helped generate awareness for the existing network among bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers alike. 

As part of the Shift Your Ride campaign, the city of Fort Collins introduced Bikeway Bingo.

In 2019, Fort Collins launched the Shift campaign, developed out of the Environmental Services Department and a desire to support its Climate Action Plan. The Shift campaign was based on individuals integrating small actions into their daily lives to help the community achieve broad environmental goals. When COVID-19 struck, it made sense to build on the program to encourage people to opt out of single-occupancy vehicle rides.

“We decided to narrow the campaign down to one singular action for 2020. Since we’re a platinum designated bicycle-friendly community, it made sense to encourage a shift in transportation,” said Heimann. “Shift” became “Shift Your Ride,” and a chunk of the PeopleForBikes Foundation grant, including an additional $10,000 for marketing and communications, went toward promoting it. 

September was deemed Shift Your Ride month and Fort Collins coordinated a robust campaign, including an accessible website, pandemic-safe events like “Bikeway Bingo” and the dissemination of regular “Shift Tips” — short, shareable videos recorded by community members.

“We also developed a pledge where community members can commit to going car free one extra trip per week than they were previously doing,” said Heimann. “Our goal is to have 1,500 community members sign the pledge by Earth Day 2021.”

So far, the campaign has been a success. To date, more than 500 people have signed the pledge and in September 2020 alone, more than 80,000 community members were reached through social media. “We have never reached that many people through just our social media channels, so that was really a significant win,” said Heimann.

Left: An example of one of the permanent signs installed by the city of Fort Collins, complete with Spanish translation. Right: One of the city’s temporary wayfinding signs, created using a stencil and water-based paint.

“I will fully admit that so many of us just didn't really understand what equity meant up until 2020 and George Floyd's murder,” said Heimann. “It became clear to us that as city staff, stewards of public resources, program designers and policy influencers, we really needed to put our money and our actions where our words were — if we were going to talk about equity we had to do something about it.”

In the Shift Your Ride campaign, Fort Collins explicitly made it a goal to ensure that of the 1,500 community members who take the pledge by Earth Day 2021, 500 will be from historically marginalized and typically under-resourced community groups. As talks of evolving audience segmentation and tailored messaging became commonplace, Fort Collins decided to pilot its efforts by targeting the Latinx community, which makes up the largest minority group in the city.

Using the grant funding, Fort Collins was also able to provide permanent, dual-language wayfinding signs to improve access for the city’s Spanish speakers. Even the temporary wayfinding stencil had an equity component: The image of a woman riding a cruiser-style bike drove home the point that bike networks are for all types of riders.

Postcards made and disseminated by the City of Fort Collins, in English and Spanish.

Fort Collins’ response to the pandemic was to pivot, leaning into its existing bike network and engaging locals. When it came time to install the temporary wayfinding signs, the city tapped volunteers from their Bicycle Ambassador Program to get out and do stenciling. “We wanted to make sure there were ways we could continue to bring in our regular volunteers,” said Heimann. 

The Shift Your Ride campaign was also undoubtedly a community effort, built around a public platform where folks could exchange ideas, download resources and hold one another accountable for helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Fort Collins was intentional about not singling out motorists, but instead emphasized the importance of making small, incremental changes. 

“We're going to continue to do great things for bicycling in Fort Collins,” said Heimann. “In the very same breath, we're going to be looking at other modes and other ways that we can get people to shift their ride.”

Read about our other 2020 COVID-19 Mobility Response Grant recipient, Tucson, Arizona.

We can all agree, 2020 was tougher than anyone anticipated. As the year began, planning for a pandemic could only be described as a fantastical thought exercise, but by March the realities of COVID-19 reached all corners of America, dramatically changing nearly every aspect of people’s lives.

As our nation grappled with sustained solutions for controlling the spread of the virus, something special happened — Americans returned to bicycling as a safe, healthy method of recreation and transportation. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, 10% of American adults engaged with bicycling in a new way. 4% of the US population (ages 18 and older) rode a bicycle for the first time in one or more years, or for the first time ever. An additional 6% participated in a different type of bicycling during the pandemic, trying indoor riding or riding their bike for transportation.

Local surges in bicycling activity were seen across the U.S., and cities responded. 

By April, more than 200 U.S. cities temporarily changed the layout of their streets — eliminating through traffic, slowing cars and opening roadways for people of all ages and abilities to comfortably enjoy the outdoors while city parks, fitness centers and schools were closed.

While no American city accelerated temporary pop-up bike lane networks at the same scale as those lauded in Berlin, Bogota or Paris, U.S. city leaders did something else amazing — they continued to build permanent bikeways that position bikes as a solution to many of the challenges our communities face, now and in the future.

These projects make biking more useful, more beautiful and more welcoming to all riders. With careful planning and smart construction, cities relied on support from residents to expand access to completely connected, comfortable mobility networks, allowing people on bikes or on foot to travel safely throughout their community. Thankfully, these changes will last well beyond this pandemic.

In celebration of these accomplishments, here are the best new bikeways we found in 2020:

1. Algiers Protected Bike Lane Network (New Orleans, LA)

Our favorite bikeway of 2020 isn’t really a bikeway at all — it’s 11 different corridors that make up New Orleans’ protected bicycle lane network in the Algiers neighborhood. 

Following the conclusion of a city-wide bicycle network planning effort called Moving New Orleans: Bikes, city leaders quickly moved into project development, working alongside a coalition of neighborhood advocates to design and build support for this network. Inspired by the story of Sevilla, Spain, city officials coordinated public input, design and construction as a unified project.

Construction of the network began in November 2019 and faced delays in 2020 as early outbreaks of COVID-19 hit the city hard. However, by summer 2020, construction was back on track and today the network stands a testament to what can be achieved with thoughtful community engagement and dedicated leadership.

“We have reaffirmed our commitment that even as we continue to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, the infrastructure work continues around this city,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “One year ago we began in earnest the plan to expand our bikeway network in order to provide safer, more accessible and equitable transportation options. Now we’re seeing the results of strong community engagement and thoughtful planning on the ground in Algiers with the improvements along Garden Oaks — one of 11 different corridors on the Westbank.”

The bikeways themselves aren’t flashy. Designers will note the use of low-cost materials with plenty of potential for future upgrades that improve the functionality and aesthetic of each corridor. However, the sheer ambition of this work, the speed at which the city has moved and the determination to deliver high-quality projects to one of the city’s most often neglected neighborhoods is worth the top spot in our list.

Take a ride on these new bikeways using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/247844

2. ‘Connect Downtown’ Protected Bike Lane Network (Boston, MA)

Staying with our theme of connected bicycle networks…

Beginning in the fall of 2019, the City of Boston’s ambitious Connect Downtown project sought to center the experiences of people — residents, commuters, and tourists —  in a redesign of iconic streets in the city’s downtown neighborhoods. Planned bike network improvements looked to improve connectivity, access and safety for all riders, regardless of age or ability. 

Rather than allow COVID-19 to derail this comprehensive public engagement process, city leaders embraced the moment and looked for new opportunities to maintain the momentum and strengthen community support for the improvements.

By summer, city leaders had implemented a network of “pop-up” separated bike lanes on seven of the Connect Downtown corridors. They changed traffic signals and used orange traffic barrels to provide space for bicycling on these major roadways. “Safe and reliable transportation, especially for our essential workers and commuters, is one of our top priorities as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

Prompted by the success of these temporary bike lanes and the positive feedback from city residents, Boston’s Department of Transportation began construction in October on 2.5 miles of permanent separated bike lanes on the streets surrounding the Public Garden and the Boston Common areas.

In order to best serve the families who live in these neighborhoods, the new bike lanes are at least 7 feet wide, allowing for side-by-side bicycling and the use of larger cargo bikes and adult tricycles. People riding bikes will also see new bike signals at four major intersections. 

Take a ride on these new bikeways using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/247887

3. ‘Gap to the Point’ Protected Bike Lane Network (Pittsburgh, PA)

Complete bike networks continue to fill our top picks…

For anyone that has ever biked in downtown Pittsburgh, you’re probably aware that this part of the city is the nexus of two of the nation’s most iconic cycling destinations — Point State Park and the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail system that connects long-distance riders to Washington, D.C. What you might not know, however, is that until this year, there was no direct bicycling route connecting these two important landmarks.

Improvements led by the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI), the Downtown Pittsburgh Partnership and other stakeholders have completed the final on-street connections that guide riders through the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh. 

Recently completed projects along Stanwix St. and Liberty Ave. combine with existing protected bike lanes along Smithfield St., 3rd Ave. and Penn Avenue to connect the GAP trail near the Smithfield St. bridge to Point State Park. The Stanwix St. and Liberty Ave. bike lanes have both concrete and bollard protection and feature innovative work around several bus stops, making it easier for buses to pull up directly to the curb. 

The intersections offer dedicated bike signals, complete with radar that detect when a person on a bike is waiting. While there are a few design elements yet to be completed (like replacement of the temporary asphalt ramp with a permanent curb cut entering Point State Park), riders can now rest (and bike) easy knowing that navigating PIttsburgh’s bustling downtown streets just got a lot easier.

Take a ride on these new bikeways using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/247994 

The 5.5-mile protected bikeway on Shoal Creek Boulevard fills a gap in the proposed 30-mile Big Loop trail network around central Austin. To create space for people walking and biking, the Austin Transportation Department led extensive community outreach in 2019 to build support for the removal of on-street automobile parking from one side of the residential corridor and a five-to-three lane conversion on the other half. 

While this street has been a long-time route for recreational cyclists, there was previously no dedicated space for people to bike. Adding delineators, concrete buttons and protected intersections made this street appropriate for riders of all ages and abilities, just in time for the pandemic-related need for social distancing and access to the outdoors.

Take a ride on Shoal Creek Boulevard using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248003 

5. The Hampline – Broad Street and Tillman Street (Memphis, TN)

The Hampline is a two mile long corridor that effectively extends the Shelby Farms Greenline — Memphis’ first and longest greenway — connecting Overton Park and Shelby Farms Park (one of the largest urban parks in the country at 4,500 acres). The project started in 2010 as a grassroots effort by local business owners and residents who used pop-up bike lanes and tactical urbanism to reimagine their streets. Later on, when the project stalled due to a lack of sufficient funding for design, hundreds of individual Memphians crowdsourced $75,000 allowing the work to proceed.

The project features raised medians separating a two-way cycle track from automobiles, enhanced on-street pedestrian crossings, landscaping and Memphis’ first bicycle-specific traffic signals. In addition to seamlessly linking the most popular outdoor spaces in Memphis, the Hampline was supported by community leaders in the Binghampton neighborhood — a predominantly low-income community of color that has experienced decades of disinvestment — to improve access to the local parks and trails at their doorstep.

Take a ride on The Hampline using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248004 

The 1.2-mile Walnut Avenue Bikeway is a new, signature facility in the Bay Area city of Fremont, CA. Extending from Mission Boulevard to Paseo Padre Parkway, this corridor has one of the highest levels of biking in the city and connects to the Fremont BART station, housing and local businesses. 

Designed with community in mind, the Walnut Avenue Bikeway is safe and easy to use for all members of the community and surrounding area.

Raised cycle tracks ensure the safety and comfort of bicyclists by positioning them at the sidewalk level where they are physically separated from vehicles. The corridor also features four protected intersections, shortening crossing distances for pedestrians and bike riders, slowing the speeds that automobiles can turn, improving the positioning and visibility of bikes and pedestrians and eliminating the need for bikes to mix with high-speed traffic in order to make turns.

Take a ride on the Walnut Avenue Bikeway using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248005

The City of Ann Arbor, working alongside the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA), reconfigured several city streets this year to implement the city council’s commitment to vision zero, carbon neutrality and improved equity and access. Among the improvements, a redesign of First Street was a critical addition to Ann Arbor’s network of bicycle paths. 

The First Street Bikeway creates a low-stress corridor on the west side of downtown and connects to the existing protected lane on William Street and the future The Treeline – Allen Creek Urban Trail. Using lessons learned while developing the William Street Bikeway (opened in 2019), the DDA increased protection for bicyclists by implementing physical barriers, raising the cycle track and slowing car traffic. The DDA widened sidewalks and beautified the corridor, adding new greenery, benches and lamp posts.

Five blocks of the protected bicycle highway are now open between William Street and Miller Avenue. Some finishing touches remain for the stretch north of Huron, and construction will continue into 2021 on another section north of Miller Ave..

Take a ride on the First Street Bikeway using Ride Spot:  https://ridespot.org/rides/248006 

The Milwaukee Ave. protected bike lane, between Western and California in Logan Square, is one of Chicago’s busiest biking thoroughfares, connecting to a network of other existing bikeways and public transportation hubs.

Building this protected bike lane was no easy feat — creating the space needed to prioritize safe biking required city leaders to relocate 60% of the on-street automobile parking to nearby locations. Working closely with businesses along the 0.75-mile corridor, project managers were able to maintain critical business operations during and after construction, all while improving accessibility for the entire neighborhood regardless of how people choose to move around.

The new design prioritizes the safety of the most vulnerable users (two-thirds of all injury-producing crashes in the city involve people walking and biking) and better reflects how the community already uses the street (bike riding in Logan Square is growing much faster than the city average). Project features include “qwik kurb” delineators, pedestrian bump-outs, green pavement markings at intersections and bike boxes. To better accommodate the corridor’s transit riders, new boarding islands will be installed in 2021. 

Take a ride on the First Street Bikeway using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248233 

9. West 13th/14th Avenue Couplet Protected Bike Lanes (Denver, CO)

Completing nearly 40 miles of new bikeways in 2020, Denver is already delivering on Mayor Michael Hancock’s commitment to create 125 miles of new bikeways during the next five years.

Among the finished projects in 2020 is a new protected bike lane along West 13th Avenue from N. Lincoln St. to the Platte River Trail. Along with its couplet along West 14th Avenue, this bikeway serves as a crucial connection between downtown Denver, the Cherry Creek Trail and the South Platte River Trail. 

To create space for this bikeway and create the buffer space necessary to reduce potential conflicts between bicycles and cars and increase the appeal for all users, city leaders repurposed and converted a combination of on-street parking and automobile travel lanes.

As with some of our other best bikeways this year, the design is solid without any frills or fuss, but you’d be hard pressed to find a project of this length and scope that increases connectivity or expands the reach of a bikeway network more than West 13th Avenue.

Take a ride on the West 13th/14th Avenue Couplet using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248236

Don’t judge a project by its size. The 0.35-mile San Souci Drive is a great example of how Providence is using green infrastructure to separate space between people on bikes and others driving cars, all while mitigating local flooding and stormwater runoff into the Woonasquatucket River — one of just fourteen American Heritage Rivers in the country. 

Located between a hub of local businesses in Olneyville Square and the banks of the Woonasquatucket River, this project is part of a larger plan to better connect the seven-mile Woonasquatucket River Greenway to the surrounding Olneyville neighborhood where nearly 30% of households do not own a car. 

As part of the project, the city reduced the width of San Souci Drive, reallocating space from 16-foot-wide travel lanes to make room for a landscaped bioswale containing trees, ornamental grasses and other plantings that minimize stormwater runoff and flooding while beautifying the area. Despite the changes, access for loading and parking was maintained for all businesses along San Souci Drive, and the new separation treatments make walking and biking safer for all members of the community. 

The project is also part of Providence’s much larger Urban Trail Network initiative, which will connect the state’s numerous regional trial systems and the city’s urban neighborhoods. 

Take a ride on the San Souci Drive using Ride Spot:  https://ridespot.org/rides/248237

HONORABLE MENTION: South Congress Avenue (Austin, TX)

This past summer, in an effort to improve safety and address COVID-19 risk-based guidelines for mobility and business, the Austin City Council unanimously supported the creation of temporary protected bicycle lanes on South Congress Avenue from Riverside Drive to 11th Street.

South Congress Avenue is considered the “Main Street of Texas,” with leading views toward the Texas State Capitol and direct connections to both the natural and urban spaces of Austin. Many different design options have been presented publicly over the last 10 years, but all faced stiff opposition from business owners and other stakeholders with interests in the corridor.

Following the fatal crash of a bicyclist in 2012, discussions to improve the corridor and make it safe for users of all Austin residents were making significant progress through the multi-year Congress Urban Design Initiative, but were anticipated to face delays. This year, prompted to take action by the pandemic, city leaders expedited the implementation and moved towards permanence in November 2020. 

Orange traffic cones placed last summer to denote the protected bike lanes were replaced with painted striping, white delineator posts, protected intersections and a reduction in the number of automobile travel lanes.  Now, the project that started as a temporary COVID relief has made substantial multimodal and safety improvements that will sustain riders well into the future. 

Take a ride on the South Congress Avenue using Ride Spot: https://ridespot.org/rides/248238

In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced this year’s awards for the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development grants (BUILD, formerly TIGER). Of the $1 billion in grants awarded, nearly $300 million focus on or support bicycle infrastructure and active transportation. Ranging from recreational trails to river walks, large interchanges and shoulder expansions, BUILD grants provide the necessary dollars to complete important transportation projects that would otherwise lack sufficient funding from other sources. 

This year, 21 of the 70 total projects include bicycle infrastructure, a significant increase compared to previous years of BUILD grants. Applicants (generally cities, counties and transportation authorities) recognize that adding and improving bike infrastructure not only makes their applications more competitive, but represents their communities’ needs to serve the growing number of people riding bikes for both transportation and recreation.

Jefferson Avenue and 20th Street Revitalization Corridors — St. Louis, MO

SR 96 Improvement Project: Providing the Critical Link Between I-16 and I-75 — Twiggs County, GA

More Americans than ever are relying on bikes as a means for efficient, socially distanced transportation and close-to-home recreation. Trail counters across the U.S. report a 75% increase in ridership compared to 2019, and governments at the local, state and federal levels face increased pressure to support the growing trends in active transportation by advancing infrastructure projects, enhancing safety and expanding mobility options. 

Nearly $300 Million in Federal Infrastructure Grants Include Bikes

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Nearly $300 Million in Federal Infrastructure Grants Include Bikes