By providing meaningful and visionary efforts for leaders to study, and investing in city staff and local partners to increase local knowledge and leadership, we can accelerate the installation of complete mobility networks. We encourage cities and states to move faster in creating these complete networks by funding additional planning, outreach and communications.

An integral part of any network buildout is measuring key outcomes with network connectivity, ridership and safety metrics. We provide measurement activities that offer a baseline evaluation of current and future conditions through our Bicycle Network Analysis and City Ratings tools.

Through proactive ballot initiatives, securing dedicated funds for planning and implementation, supporting coalitions that make bicycling a part of a broader narrative and encouraging communities across city lines to collaboratively pursue federal or state grants for regional infrastructure development, we help fund paths, bike lanes, mountain bike trails, pump tracks, bike parks, bike parking and more.

Building a safe, interconnected network of protected bikeways relies on gaining the support of people who only occasionally bike or never bike at all. We perform research to understand people’s aspirations for mobility and the ways in which bike infrastructure can help achieve those. We use that research to craft messaging and marketing that grows public support for bicycling.

In October, PeopleForBikes hosted a virtual advocacy training for more than 100 National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) coaches and league directors, providing the passionate leaders with the practical tools to help expand safe, connected biking opportunities in their communities. Nationwide, NICA supports more than 25,000 student-athletes in grades 5–12 across 1,000 teams and 32 leagues. Its 15,000 volunteer coaches play a key role in helping young riders build skills, confidence, and lifelong habits through the sport of mountain biking.

In the training, participants explored the core steps of local bike advocacy: pinpointing community needs, understanding decision-making processes, selecting effective tactics, communicating clearly, and building strong local coalitions. These lessons helped the coaches and league directors channel their passion for youth cycling into creating more connected bike networks in their communities, which will in turn help kids and families safely “ride to the ride” and more easily access local trails, practice areas, and race venues.

“The only way that we can truly get more kids on bikes is to have more places to ride bikes safely,” says Mike McGarry, NICA’s director of coaching and education. “NICA coaches are incredibly passionate about helping kids grow through cycling. What they need more of are safe places to ride with their athletes and safe routes to get there. This training helped them understand where to focus their efforts and how to speak the language of advocacy so their time has the greatest impact.”

Improving local bike infrastructure not only supports NICA’s mission, but also broadens participation.

“Families don’t always have the ability to transport bikes to and from practice. This is a real burden for families that are new to cycling,” McGarry says. “Teams that can safely pedal to mountain bike trails see more participation than teams that have to drive to every practice. With better infrastructure, more kids and families can join the fun — not just those who already have the resources to transport bikes or travel long distances.”

By equipping NICA’s national network of coaches and league directors with advocacy tools, PeopleForBikes is helping create safer, stronger, and more connected biking communities — places where youth cycling can continue to thrive for generations to come.

To learn more about advocating for safer streets and creating more great places to ride in your community, explore PeopleForBikes’ Guide to Effective Local Bike Advocacy.

PeopleForBikes Hosts Virtual Advocacy Training for NICA Coaches and League Directors

Slow Streets put people first by creating low-traffic, community-focused routes where biking, walking, and rolling are safe and accessible options for everyone to get around. With support from PeopleForBikes, California's statewide bicycle advocacy coalition CalBike recently developed “Implementing Successful Slow Streets: A Community Toolkit,” a practical, step-by-step guide to help communities plan, launch, and sustain their own Slow Streets programs.

Slow Streets are residential streets designed to reduce cut-through traffic while remaining accessible to all transportation modes. Features like bollards, cones, and street bulbouts help slow traffic down and make streets safer for people biking, walking, and spending time outdoors. 

Slow Streets and Low-Stress Bike Networks

PeopleForBikes’ annual City Ratings evaluates thousands of communities on the quality of their low-stress bike networks. One key factor in the ratings is traffic speed. When streets are slower, people riding bikes and driving cars can safely share the road. However, as speeds and traffic volumes increase, each travel mode requires its own designated space to prevent crashes and injuries.

Communities can boost their City Ratings score by creating more connected networks of protected bike lanes and off-street paths, lowering residential speed limits to 25 mph or less, adding traffic calming features that encourage safe driving, and implementing Slow Streets programs that prioritize people biking, walking, and rolling.

In May, CalBike hosted a webinar to highlight lessons learned from Slow Streets programs in several California communities. 

According to CalBike, San Francisco has seen some of the most significant Slow Streets victories in recent years. Local advocates secured a car-free JFK Drive through Golden Gate Park — then defended it successfully at the ballot box — and helped transform the Great Highway near Ocean Beach into a permanent park and promenade. The city’s Slow Streets program, launched in spring 2020 as a response to the pandemic, quickly evolved into a lasting model for safer, low-traffic corridors. After pilot phases with temporary signs and barriers, the city made four post-pandemic Slow Streets permanent in 2022. By 2023, 14 out of 18 Slow Streets carried fewer than 1,000 vehicles per day and traffic collisions dropped 48%.

Nearby, Oakland and Berkeley have also used Slow Streets to make their neighborhoods safer and more bike friendly. Oakland launched its program in 2020, creating 21 miles of low-stress routes guided by its 2019 bike plan. Though the routes were later removed, continued advocacy led to a 2021 design guide and the passage of Measure U in 2022, ensuring that bike and pedestrian improvements are integrated into every street repaving project. The city now plans to build 50 miles of neighborhood traffic-calming upgrades.  In Berkeley, the “Healthy Streets” initiative expanded the city’s bike boulevard network and helped inspire Measure FF in 2024, which requires the implementation of bike and walk plans. Community input is a key focus, as shown by a one-day Slow Streets pop-up on Ninth Street — supported by PeopleForBikes and Bayer — that collected resident feedback to guide future policies.

With new investments and updated plans underway, both cities are proving how community-driven advocacy and smart policy can deliver safer, more connected streets.

How CalBike’s Toolkit Can Help Your Community

CalBike’s “Slow Streets Toolkit” is designed for advocates, planners, and residents looking to make Slow Streets a reality. It provides practical guidance on:

Gaining support from city officials and community members

Connecting with existing bike infrastructure

Designing safe and effective street layouts

Engaging the community and collecting feedback

Following these principles helps communities build streets that are safer, easier to navigate, and more welcoming for everyone, while also strengthening connected, low-stress bike networks. When your city invests in low-stress bike networks, it not only makes streets better for the people who live there, it also boosts your City Ratings score, signaling real progress in creating great places to ride.

Check out the CalBike Slow Streets Toolkit for practical guidance, case studies, and actionable steps.

How Slow Streets Programs Strengthen Low-Stress Bike Networks

PeopleForBikes is proud to support the Bicycle Instruction, Knowledge, and Education (BIKE) Act, recently introduced by Representatives Seth Magaziner (D-RI) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus. This bipartisan legislation aims to make bike safety education a standard part of youth learning nationwide — helping kids develop safe riding skills, build confidence on a bike, and create safer roads for everyone.

Why the BIKE Act Matters for Youth Bike Safety and Safer Roads

Teaching bike safety early gives young people the skills and habits they need to navigate our streets confidently and responsibly. This bill could not come at a more critical time — since 2010, bicyclist fatalities in the U.S. have risen by 87%, with recent data showing that 1,106 riders were killed in 2024, a record high. In order to combat these staggering figures, we need to use every tool available to improve safety and save lives. 

The BIKE Act will expand certain National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) federal grant funding to include bike safety education in two ways:

National Priority Safety Programs (Section 405)

NHTSA’s National Priority Safety Programs provide grant funding to states for specific road safety measures. Current law allows these funds to be used for occupant protection, impaired driving countermeasures, motorcyclist safety, and other purposes. The BIKE Act would explicitly add “providing on-bicycle education to elementary school and secondary school students” as an eligible use of funds.

State and Community Safety Grants Program (Section 402) 

NHTSA’s State and Community Safety Grants Program provides grant funding to states for broader, multifaceted state highway safety programs designed to reduce traffic crashes and prevent deaths. The BIKE Act directs NHTSA to update its guidance to clarify that bike safety education is an eligible use of funds and encourage states to utilize these funds for this purpose.  

Congress is at the early stages of crafting the next federal surface transportation bill to reauthorize federal funding for roads, bridges, and transit systems. Congress must pass that bill before current funding programs expire September 2026. The broader surface transportation reauthorization package is the best opportunity for the BIKE Act to become public law. 

By passing the BIKE Act, Congress can take a meaningful step toward safer streets, healthier communities, and a lifelong love of bicycling for the next generation. Together, we can make safe riding skills as fundamental as reading and math.

“The BIKE Act protects our kids and empowers them to explore their communities with confidence,” said PeopleForBikes President and CEO Jenn Dice. “By expanding access to bike safety education and resources, we’re helping the next generation build lifelong skills and fall in love with the simple joy of riding. We’re grateful to Representative Magaziner and Representative Buchanan for helping ensure that every child can discover the pure joy, freedom, and confidence that comes from riding a bike.”

“The Youth Cycling Coalition (YCC) strongly supports the BIKE Act, which directly advances our mission to ensure every child can access and experience the lifelong benefits of bicycling,” said Esther Walker, executive director of Outride and co-chair of the YCC. “By making bike education eligible for federal safety funding through NHTSA, this bill empowers communities to embed bicycling into daily life and continue growing youth participation in riding.” 

Contact your members of congress and encourage them to support the BIKE Act. If you would like assistance, please reach out to PeopleForBikes Director of Federal Policy Chris Bell at chris@peopleforbikes.org.

Bipartisan BIKE Act Introduced to Expand Youth Bike Education Nationwide

PeopleForBikes is leading the charge to better understand and grow the base of people who ride bikes in America. In support of this work, our new blog series explores what the latest research tells us about who’s riding, how often, and why it matters for the future of bicycling and the bike industry.

Why Bicycling Participation Matters and What’s Next

Engaging Casual Participants to Grow Bicycling

Supporting Youth Participation to Grow Bicycling

In the second blog of this series, we shared data suggesting that creating more great places to ride, close to home, is one of the most important things we can do to grow participation. It turns out that getting more people on bikes isn’t the only benefit of building great places to ride. In fact, connected bike networks also lead to increased sales at local bike shops.

PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) measures how easily people of all ages and abilities can get to the places they want to go by bike, safely and comfortably. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating that the local bike network functions similar to the road network.

In 2019, Georger Data Services (GDS) provided PeopleForBikes with estimates of total bike shop revenue in more than 500 cities across the country. To test the theory that better bike networks lead to increased bike shop sales, we compared these estimates against the BNA scores for the given cities.

Consider Boulder, Colorado, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, as examples. Both cities are college towns and about the same size. In 2019, Boulder’s BNA score was 62, whereas Ann Arbor’s was 35, and average IBD sales in Boulder were 9 times higher than those in Ann Arbor.

This pattern held true across the 500+ cities we analyzed. Communities with BNA scores of 50 or higher had average IBD sales that were 3 times higher than communities with BNA scores under 50.

The actual experience of bike shops in communities that have invested in great places to ride aligns with our analysis.

Justin Brown, owner of Revolution Bicycles in Arcata, California, called the Humboldt Bay Trail a “game changer” for his shop. When the trail was completed in July of 2025, connecting Arcata to Eureka (12 miles), he saw a boost in families and children riding as well as more people commuting to work. This increase in ridership translated into higher service and e-bike sales.

“I looked at our quarterly Ascend report and though most shops were down in Q3 2025, we were up, and that is directly related to the Humboldt Bay Trail,” says Brown.

Brown has also seen sales growth thanks to a new purpose-built mountain bike trail nearby. “Because of that trail we are seeing younger riders in the shop. Dirt jump bike sales have increased and parents are coming into the shop to buy bikes for their kids to ride at the Community Forest Trails.”

Chad Pickard from Spoke-N-Sport in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, reported a similar pattern.

“I owned Spoke-n-Sport in Sioux Falls for 20 years, and I can say without question that bike infrastructure made a real difference for us,” he says. “Sioux Falls has a 20-mile paved trail that circles the city, with only a couple of traffic crossings. That trail brought countless new riders into our shop. People felt safer and more confident exploring by bike, and that translated into sales and long-term customers.”

There aren’t many investments that deliver as many positive impacts as building better places to ride: more livable communities, healthier people, safer transportation options, and stronger local economies. If that’s not enough, here’s one more reason: connected bike networks lead to a better bottom line for the bike industry.

A special thanks to Justin Brown and Chad Pickard for sharing their experiences. Their stories are powerful reminders that when communities invest in safe, connected places to ride, ridership grows — and so does retail.

Where People Ride Bikes, People Buy Bikes

Part 1: Understanding the Problem Behind the Headlines

Electric bicycle incidents may not involve e-bikes at all.

Headlines about crashes, bans, and reckless riding are becoming more common. But here’s the problem: most of the “e-bikes” making the news aren’t electric bicycles at all.


In this three-part series, PeopleForBikes, the trade association representing the U.S. bicycle industry, sets the record straight on what is and isn’t an electric bicycle, how safety concerns are being misdirected, and what regulators, consumers, and communities can do to protect the future of electric bicycle riding for recreation and mobility.


There are growing concerns in many communities across America about the safety of “e-bikes.”  These concerns are often centered around young people, who are increasingly turning to e-mobility devices for transportation well before they become licensed drivers. Lack of familiarity with the rules of the road, along with youthful enthusiasm, has sometimes led to unsafe behavior like speeding, riding on sidewalks, ignoring stop signs and traffic lights and even stunt riding on public roads and highways. Unruly behavior leads to social media posts, complaints to local officials, media reports and calls for more regulation of “e-bikes” or even outright bans. At its worst, unsafe behavior causes crashes, serious injuries, and even deaths of young riders.   


As the trade association for the U.S. bicycle industry, including many of the companies that make electric bicycles, one of PeopleForBikes’ primary focuses is on safety: product safety, safe places to ride, and safety education for cyclists and e-cyclists. We have advocated for sensible regulation of electric bicycles for over a decade and created the Three Class Model Law to define what is, and is not, an electric bicycle. We support modernization and adoption of electric bicycle safety standards, including battery testing and certification requirements. We see the growing safety issues on our streets and are responding on behalf of our member companies to help craft solutions to reverse these trends. Here’s what we have learned in trying to define, understand and address what is being called the “e-bike problem.”

Just What Is An “E-Bike?” Well, it’s definitely not a legally defined vehicle type. “E-bike” is a generic term that lumps together everything with two wheels and an electric motor and can include a variety of devices including electric bicycles, electric mopeds, scooters, electric dirt bikes and electric motorcycles. These are all different vehicle types and their differences need to be taken into account when developing appropriate laws and regulations to govern their safe use on public roads and trails. Let’s dig into electric bicycles and “e-motos” to understand how they are currently regulated and where the issues are actually arising.

Low-speed electric bicycles are a clearly defined vehicle type under both federal and most state laws: they must have operable pedals, an electric motor of 750 watts or less, and a maximum speed when powered solely by the motor of 20 miles per hour. A vehicle that does not meet all three requirements in that definition is not an electric bicycle. Electric bicycles are not motor vehicles. They are consumer products and their use on public roads and trails is generally regulated the same as bicycles. Almost every state already fully defines what an electric bicycle is, and how and where it may be operated.


What Is An E-Moto? E-motos are electric mopeds, electric motorcycles and electric dirt bikes that are much more powerful and faster than any electric bicycle. E-motos may have motors with thousands of watts of power that far exceed the 750 watts allowed for a legal electric bicycle. They are equipped with throttles and typically can go in excess of 30 miles per hour, faster than any electric bicycle is capable of traveling. Some E-motos can achieve highway speeds of 65 miles per hour.

Unlike low-speed electric bicycles, E-motos intended for use on public streets are considered “motor-driven cycles” (a type of motor vehicle) and are subject to federal motor vehicle safety standards. In terms of use, in most states E-motos must also be registered and insured to be used on public roads, and either a driver’s license or motorcycle operator license is required. E-motos intended for off-road use (electric dirt bikes) may be subject to state off-road vehicle registration requirements, such as those recently passed by the California legislature. While some state laws do not specifically mention electric motor power, the legal status of e-motos as motor vehicles has been settled for many years.


Isn’t Anything With Pedals An Electric Bicycle? No. E-motos are often equipped with pedals from the manufacturer or have pedals added by consumers in an attempt to disguise the e-moto as an electric bicycle and “fly under the radar.” While operable pedals are required for a vehicle to be an electric bicycle, the mere presence of pedals on an overpowered or excessively fast e-moto does not make it a “legal” electric bicycle. Any vehicle with an electric motor in excess of 750 watts or that can travel over 20 miles per hour when powered only by the motor is not an electric bicycle, even if it has pedals and the manufacturer claims it is “street legal.”


What If The E-Moto Claims To Be Legal Because It Has A Class 2 Or 3 Mode? Despite claims by some sellers, it is legally impossible for a vehicle to be both an electric bicycle and an e-moto. A vehicle with motor power over 750 watts or that can exceed 20 miles per hour by use of a throttle is a motor-driven cycle (moped, motorcycle, electric dirt bike), not an electric bicycle. That is true even if the e-moto’s controller has one or more “modes” that can selectively limit or delimit its capabilities to those of an electric bicycle. Based on the legal definitions of an electric bicycle and a motor-driven cycle, if it’s too fast or too powerful in any mode, then it’s not an electric bicycle, period.


Who Is Responsible For The E-Moto Problem? The E-moto problem is caused by E-moto manufacturers and sellers. The companies that make, import and sell e-motos are attempting to skirt legal and safety requirements for motor vehicles in order to sell their products. Their intention is to deceive the public into believing their e-moto is an electric bicycle or “e-bike” that does not require a driver's license to operate and may even be appropriate for children. These manufacturers put pedals on an electric moped, or simply include a mode or setting that limits the top speed to 20 miles per hour and claim it’s a Class 2 electric bicycle. This same device can be easily “unlocked” to go faster than 20 miles per hour and may have a faster unlimited “off-road” mode built into the controller. E-motos are motor vehicles.


Unfortunately, e-motos are also very popular and are being purchased by parents for their kids.  E-moto companies relentlessly market their products to teens and pre-teens on social media as “lifestyle” products. Young people riding e-motos recklessly through their communities has led to calls for more regulation of “e-bikes” when electric bicycles are not the primary issue. And this scenario can have tragic results: a teenager riding an unregistered and illegal e-moto loses control, is in a crash with a motor vehicle or hits a pedestrian or cyclist. These crashes have occurred in California, Massachusetts, Oregon, Virginia, Florida, and elsewhere.

Bringing it full circle, the reckless use of e-motos by young people and others in their communities is prompting calls for stricter regulation. Consumers also are largely unaware of the safety, financial and legal risks they undertake when they buy or use an e-moto on public streets. 

This blog is part one of a three-part series. Part 2: What You Risk When You Ride an E-Moto will address those potential implications of e-moto use for consumers, while Part 3: Policy Solutions That Protect Electric Bicycle Access will offer some regulatory solutions to this growing safety crisis.

The White Line’s AI-powered platform maps two decades of crash data for people walking and biking, helping communities pinpoint the most dangerous streets and intersections and take action for safer, more connected streets.

In many states, detailed crash data for people walking and biking is scattered, hard to access, or hidden deep within complex government databases. That’s changing with The White Line’s first-of-its-kind, AI-powered platform — a powerful tool for making U.S. streets safer. Using artificial intelligence, the platform compiles decades of fragmented crash records, news coverage, and demographic information, then cleans and analyzes it to reveal powerful insights and patterns that were once out of reach.

Search and download detailed bike and pedestrian crash data from 2001 to 2024.

Pinpoint the most dangerous streets and intersections for people biking and walking.

Track what happens after a crash, including local news coverage, charges filed, and accountability outcomes. 

Drawing from more than two decades of national crash data, state records, census information, and news reports, the platform offers an unprecedented, exportable, state-by-state view of road safety across all 50 states.

Reliable, high-quality bike safety data is essential for transforming local advocacy efforts into real improvements. This new platform can help pinpoint where changes are most needed, from protected bike lanes and safer intersections to effective traffic-calming measures. Armed with accurate information, community members can encourage local leaders to take action and make streets safer for everyone.

See how your community stacks up, then take action:

Check your City Ratings score. Start with PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings to see how your community scores for safe, connected, and comfortable places to ride. Use City Ratings to identify gaps in your local bike network and where improvements will have the most significant impact on connectivity and rider safety.

Explore crash data. Use The White Line’s interactive crash data mapper to identify the most dangerous streets and intersections in your community.

Review local planned bike projects. Combine crash insights with PeopleForBikes’ database of planned bike infrastructure projects to build an evidence-based roadmap for change.

Develop strong talking points. Use insights from PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings and The White Line’s crash mapping tool to create clear, actionable messaging for conversations with local elected officials and decision-makers.

Engage local leaders. Talk to city and county officials about the data you’ve collected and push for safer, more connected bike networks in your community.

Stay informed. Sign up for PeopleForBikes’ news and advocacy alerts so you can take action on opportunities to improve bike safety in your area.

Together, we can make the case for better bike infrastructure and save lives.

New Tool Highlights America’s Most Dangerous Streets for People Riding Bikes

In June 2022, Megan Hottman — an attorney and passionate cyclist — had a near-death experience as a pick-up truck collided with her while she was riding her bike. “As it unfolded, I thought it was the end. I had just a few seconds to process what was about to happen prior to impact, and believed it was lights-out for me,” she says. “By some miracle, and maybe a bit of bike handling skill, I avoided a direct head-on impact. Though I was seriously injured, I survived, and that experience shook me to the core.”

While she was healing from the crash, Hottman had a lot of time to think about her life, purpose, and what she wanted to leave behind. “Facing my own mortality pushed me to get my affairs in order — something I’d been putting off. Setting up a trust was hard, both financially and emotionally, but I realized it wasn’t just about me. It was for my loved ones, so that when my time comes, they’re spared from unnecessary complications. It also lets me decide how my life’s work will be used, instead of leaving it to chance.”

As a lawyer for 15 years, Hottman represented injured cyclists who experienced crashes just like her own. She also spent a lot of time doing advocacy work for better laws to protect cyclists and push for harsher penalties on drivers who hit people riding bikes. “I didn’t know it when I went to law school, but it turns out my life’s purpose is to make biking safer,” she says. “Getting more people on bikes is what gets me out of bed. And getting them to do it more safely is my call to action.”

“After the crash, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I want my life’s work to stand for and what I want to leave behind,” says Hottman. “It’s my life mission to make biking safer for everyone while I’m here, and it can continue being my mission long after I’m gone.”

With this dedication to safer bicycling in mind, Hottman decided to name PeopleForBikes as a beneficiary on some of her accounts. “A lot of people want our life’s work and estate and assets to mean something and stand for something. But we're not in a place where we can give them away during our lifetime,” she says. “Designating it makes it so it's not left up to chance. It’s an easy process that can have a powerful impact and allows you to build a legacy without any immediate financial cost.”

Hottman recently took part in a PeopleForBikes webinar to talk about her experience and decision to name our organization in her trust. “When you start thinking about what you have and what you have to give away, you want to trust those dollars are going to the right place,” she says. “I have no qualms with giving the keys to PFB to make the best use of my money in continuing to make biking safer for people nationwide long after I’m gone.”

Are you interested in leaving a legacy of better biking? By including PeopleForBikes in your will or estate plans, you ensure that your values and passion for better biking will continue making a difference long into the future. Legacy gifts often allow you to make a more significant contribution than what might be possible during your lifetime, helping us accelerate the creation of great places to ride that change lives for generations. Legacy gifts may also provide estate tax benefits for your loved ones while supporting the causes you care about most.

Leaving a Legacy of Better Biking Through Planned Giving

A new report from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) — Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2024 Preliminary Data — shows that pedestrian deaths in the U.S. declined for the second straight year, but the findings still deliver a stark reminder: there is still work to be done to make streets safer for everyone in communities nationwide.

Drivers struck and killed 7,148 people in the United States last year, enough to fill 31 Boeing 737s. While fatalities were down 4.3% compared to 2023, they were up 19.2% over 2016 and reached a 40-year high in 2022.

Pedestrian deaths are increasing at a rate far faster than overall traffic fatalities. Between 2009 and 2023, pedestrian deaths rose a staggering 80%, while all other traffic fatalities increased 13%.

More than three-quarters of pedestrian fatalities occur after dark. The share of nighttime deaths has skyrocketed recently. Fatal pedestrian crashes at night rose 84% between 2010 and 2023, compared to a 28% increase in daytime fatalities.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of pedestrian deaths occurred in locations without a sidewalk in 2023. Sidewalks (and other infrastructure like multi-use paths and protected bike lanes) can help protect people walking and biking by providing a physical separation between them and motor vehicle traffic, but they are missing or in poor condition in many parts of the country.

While this recent modest decline in pedestrian fatalities is positive news, deaths are still up nearly 20% over 2016 and urgent action is needed to keep all people safe — no matter how they choose to travel. In order to make our vision for zero pedestrian fatalities a reality, the GHSA suggests doubling down on proven practices: Improved education efforts, effective law enforcement practices, and expanded infrastructure improvements.

PeopleForBikes is working to give everyone safe, fun, and connected places to ride a bike, and improved road safety for people walking and biking goes hand in hand:

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 to streets can reduce crashes by as much as 49%.

Our annual City Ratings program ranks cities on the safety and connectivity of their bike networks and gives local leaders and advocates the tools and resources to identify areas for improvement and make dedicated investments in safer places to ride. New this year, City Ratings also features an interactive map and database of thousands of planned and proposed bike projects across the U.S., growing support for infrastructure projects that will make a big difference in improving safety for all road users, not just people riding bikes. 

PeopleForBikes also works at all levels of government advocating for policies and legislation that increase funding for bike and pedestrian infrastructure, create laws that make biking safer, and allow more people to choose alternative transportation for their daily travel needs.  

Check out your community’s City Ratings score and use our Bicycle Network Analysis map to see where improvements can be made.

Find bike projects to support in your community that will make walking and biking easier and safer.

Sign up for PeopleForBikes’ advocacy alerts to learn how you can take action for safer streets by supporting new funding opportunities, policy changes, and infrastructure investments.

New Study Highlights Recent Decline in Pedestrian Deaths, But More Work to Be Done

Recent participation reports indicate that youth ridership is on a steady incline, a positive sign for the next generation of cyclists. In even better news, that increased participation is being met with more riding opportunities across the country from members of the Youth Cycling Coalition (YCC). The YCC is a diverse group of organizations focused on the nationwide advancement of youth bicycling. 

With the start of another school year around the corner, YCC members are excited to launch a variety of activities designed to welcome new riders and engage experienced ones. From beginner clinics and bike maintenance workshops to group rides and advocacy initiatives, these programs are building skills, confidence, and a lifelong love for cycling. As a founding member and convener of the YCC, PeopleForBikes is proud to support and amplify these efforts.

Here is your back-to-school checklist for bicycling programs near you:

Bike Buses — Rolling to School, Together

Bike Bus World is helping communities reimagine school commutes through safe, joyful group rides known as bike buses. By supporting families and students with the tools, resources, and guidance to organize these rides, the organization is turning the journey to school into a healthier, happier experience — for kids and neighborhoods alike.

Free Bikes — Expanding Access to the Bicycle 

FB4K is ensuring that thousands of students have access to a reliable bike this school year. By collecting and refurbishing gently used bikes, the organization puts capable, high-quality bicycles into the hands of kids who need them most. With more than 200,000 bikes donated so far, FB4K is racing toward an ambitious goal: 1 million donated bikes by 2033. Volunteer, donate, or apply for a bike today. 

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day — October 4, 2025

Hosted by: International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)

Every fall, IMBA invites families and communities to celebrate Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, a national event that introduces youth to the fun of riding trails. Created in 2004 and recognized by Congress, this annual celebration has helped hundreds of thousands of young riders discover the joy of dirt, adventure, and two wheels with their local mountain bike club or trails organization. Whether you're hitting the trail for the first time or riding alongside future mountain bike racers, it’s a day to connect, explore, and get muddy.

Ready to Ride — Biking Education for Every Student

The League’s Ready to Ride campaign is working to bring high-quality bike education into school systems nationwide. With hands-on instruction, a gold-standard curriculum, and strong advocacy efforts, this initiative ensures that every student can learn to ride safely and confidently. Whether you are an educator, parent, or advocate, Ready to Ride offers ways to get involved and help bring bike education to your community.

Trailblazing Girls — Mentoring on Mountain Bikes

Little Bellas is a nationwide mountain bike program with a goal of helping girls of all abilities reach their fullest potential. Now in its 19th year, the program fosters confidence, healthy lifestyles, and strong female mentorship. By reducing barriers and supplying gear when needed, Little Bellas is on a mission to get more girls on bikes, and keep them riding.

Kicking off the school year with a blend of bike advocacy and community action, Major Taylor Kidz is making a big impact. Inspired by the legacy of Major Taylor, programming includes painting crosswalks, delivering helmets, and handing out hundreds of pre-filled backpacks with supplies. Empowering kids to ride safely, feel confident, and lead with pride, this movement is building bold, community-minded riders across the country.

NICA Eastern + Central Regionals — November 8–9, 2025 

Hosted by: National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA)

Celebrating 100,000 student-athletes since 2009, NICA develops mountain biking programs for middle and high school students across the U.S. This fall, they’re turning up the fun with multiple regional events, connecting the NICA community and its 32 leagues with interstate racing, adventure rides, and family-friendly activities.

These weekend-long festivals celebrate the spirit of youth cycling, combining competition with clinics, trail stewardship, GRiT (Girls Riding Together) meetups, and a vibrant community expo. Whether you're a fan, volunteer, or curious newcomer, come out and experience the energy of a NICA event near you.

Bring Cycling to Your School with an Outride Grant  — Opening October 6, 2025

Outride’s Riding for Focus is a rider education program that uses cycling to support students’ social, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Aimed at students in grades 6 through 8, the program provides schools with everything they need to get students riding, including bikes, helmets, curriculum, teacher training, and access to an annual instructor summit.

Public middle schools that serve low-income communities are eligible to apply for a grant when the application opens on October 6. It is a powerful way to bring the joy and benefits of cycling into the classroom and beyond. Reach out to ridingforfocus@outridebike.org for more info.

Building Career Skills — Biking Meets Workforce Readiness 

Project Bike Tech brings bicycle education into high school classrooms, teaching technical skills and connecting students to real-world careers in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) and the bike industry. This fall, the program expands to new classrooms across the country—including Florida—and celebrates a major milestone: becoming an approved career pathway in Colorado with added school funding for certified students.

From hands-on learning to workforce readiness, Project Bike Tech is helping students build confidence, skills, and a path forward, on and off the bike.

Biking to School Toolkit — Ride to School Every Day

Want to get more kids biking to school, but not sure where to start? Safe Routes Partnership has you covered with their Bike + Roll to School Day resources, including ready-to-go social media posts, customizable poster templates, and a step-by-step toolkit to help rally parents, students, and school leaders. You don't have to wait until May for Bike to School Day! Their step-by-step guide helps you make it happen any day, all year long. Use these tools anytime to create fun, community-centered bike-to-school events. And don’t miss their crowdsourced playlists to keep the good vibes rolling! Explore the toolkit.

Learning Math + Science — Via the Bicycle 

As students head back to the classroom this fall, the USA BMX Foundation is excited to offer dynamic, hands-on learning experiences that get kids moving, thinking, and creating. Blending BMX racing with STEAM learning, the USA BMX Foundation offers two innovative programs to inspire the next generation of thinkers, riders, and problem-solvers. These initiatives help 4th through 8th graders explore science, engineering, and math through the thrill of BMX. 

Collegiate Cycling — Rolling into Fall Racing Season

As campuses come back to life, collegiate cycling programs across the country are kicking off a new season of racing and community. From velodromes to mountain trails, fall is the heart of the collegiate cycling calendar.

USA Cycling supports clubs that build leadership, friendship, and high-level racing. New teams receive free club registration, making it easier than ever to get rolling. Whether you're forming a team or cheering one on, collegiate cycling is building community and competition nationwide.

Learn more about collegiate cycling programs and how to get involved here.

Corporate Giving — Rolling Out Opportunities

Wish for Wheels partners with corporate sponsors to provide brand new bikes and helmets to underserved 2nd grade classrooms across the country. Through its Team Build and Give program, businesses come together to build and donate bikes, giving students the chance to explore their communities on two wheels.

Whether you're part of a company looking to give back or a school hoping to bring bikes to your students, Wish for Wheels is rolling into the school year with purpose.

The Youth Cycling Coalition (YCC) is a powerful network dedicated to ensuring millions of kids across the U.S. enjoy the physical, mental, and social benefits of bicycling and keep riding for life. By fostering collaboration, sharing resources, and supporting professional growth among youth cycling leaders nationwide, the YCC is accelerating progress toward a more inclusive and active future for the next generation.

As a leading voice for better bicycling in the U.S., PeopleForBikes is committed to ensuring every child has access to a bike, a safe place to ride, and the support they need to keep pedaling.

If your favorite youth program is not yet a part of this movement, reach out to ryan@peopleforbikes.org today to get involved. Together, we can expand opportunities, inspire young riders, and build stronger communities one pedal stroke at a time.

Back to School: Youth Bicycle Programs Shift Into High Gear 

In our previous blog, we discussed the growth in bicycling participation across the U.S. and the fact that this increase in ridership is primarily driven by those who ride infrequently (a couple of times a month or less). In this installment of our participation blog series, we will talk more about who these casual riders are and how we can further engage them to support industry growth.

Demographically, casual riders are younger, more likely to be female, and less likely to be white than those who ride more often. In other words, casual riders look a lot more like the rest of the U.S. population (more diverse) than the core ridership does. This is great news for an industry that has historically struggled to diversify our participant base. 

Casual riders also differ from their more active counterparts psychologically. Casual riders are less likely than enthusiasts to be familiar and satisfied with places to ride that are close to home and less likely to say that they feel safer riding now than they did five years ago. Perceptions that are clearly related. 

Yet, casual and core riders report very similar attitudes in other aspects of riding. Nearly all riders, core and casual alike, want to ride more often and more than half of both groups worry about their safety around motor vehicles. 

So what does all of this mean for the bike industry? There is a huge opportunity to engage this growing base of casual riders — they are more diverse and want to ride more often. The best part? It is so much easier to get someone who already rides a little bit to ride more than it is to get someone who never rides to ride at all. So how do we engage these casual riders?

The most important thing we can do is build more great places to ride close to home. Having fun, safe, and accessible riding opportunities will encourage all riders to get out on their bikes more often, not just casual riders. This means not only comfortable bike networks that connect people to the places they want to go but also bike parks, pump tracks, and natural surface trails for recreational riding. Nearly all communities have unused public space and it doesn’t have to take a big investment to build quality bike amenities. Imagine how transformative it would be if everyone in the U.S were within a 10-minute ride of a fun bike park or trail. 

But it isn’t enough just to build great places to ride, we also have to support casual riders in having positive ride experiences. Just after the pandemic, PeopleForBikes conducted a study to better understand those who started riding for the first time (or for the first time in a long time) during COVID. Nearly everyone in the study mentioned having someone who encouraged them to get on the bike and helped them find places to ride — not just once, but throughout the pandemic. Local shops, clubs, and teams are uniquely positioned to incentivize enthusiast riders to “adopt” new riders and show them the ropes.

If every enthusiast rider in the U.S. helped a single new or casual participant to ride just once a week over the next 12 months, we would see 45 million new enthusiast riders by this time next year. 

Finally, we can better engage casual riders by meeting and embracing them where they are. Not everyone wants to ride four days a week or compete in races but that doesn’t mean they won’t love riding or that they won’t spend their money on bike gear. Welcoming all types of riders will create a strong, diverse, and healthy community of people who love to ride. 

In the next post of this series, we’ll focus on another exciting finding from the PeopleForBikes Participation Study — more youth are riding. We’ll unpack what we see in the data and the implications for getting, and keeping, more kids on bikes. 

2025 marks the eighth year of PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings, our annual program ranking the quality of bike networks in thousands of cities across the U.S. and around the world. With nearly a decade of data, we’ve used historical results and improvements made to City Ratings scores over time to identify the common threads that great cities for biking share. We unpacked those similarities into six principles known as our SPRINT framework, which any city can leverage to help make biking better in their communities.

In an effort to help cities and towns of all sizes improve biking and their City Ratings scores using SPRINT, we’re highlighting the city of Chicago, which received a City Ratings score of 11 for 2025, to offer lessons on how to become a great place to bike.

Chicago completed more than 30 bike projects in the past three years but its network remains largely fragmented, with only a modest six-point improvement in its overall score in that same time. Many projects remain disconnected from other parts of the bike network, while dangerous intersections pose a significant safety challenge. In addition, the city’s default speed limit remains higher than ideal for safe, low-stress biking. Recent investments demonstrate encouraging momentum and commitment, but more coordinated action is needed to establish a truly connected, low-stress bike network.

Speed is a leading factor in traffic fatalities across the country, and reducing vehicle speeds is one of the simplest yet most effective first steps to improving road safety for all users.

Recently, a proposal to reduce citywide speed limits in Chicago stalled in a close City Council vote of 28-21. While concerns regarding signage costs and enforcement prevented its passage, local advocates, with the help of PeopleForBikes, are regrouping with a new strategy to move the bill forward. Statewide, Illinois Senate Bill 2070 aims to reduce speed limits in urban areas. This bill is especially important because many of Chicago’s most dangerous roads are state-owned and wouldn't be addressed by city-level legislation alone.

Lessons From High-Scoring Cities: In 2020, Minnesota’s Twin Cities — Minneapolis and St. Paul — reduced speed limits on city streets to 20 mph. Both cities ranked in the top 10 large U.S. cities in this year’s City Ratings, with scores of 72 and 62, respectively. In Hoboken, New Jersey, Mayor Ravi Bhalla launched the city's Vision Zero effort in 2019 with the goal of eliminating all traffic deaths and injuries in the city by 2030. As part of these efforts, Hoboken lowered its citywide speed limit to 20 mph in 2022.

Chicago has put in the work in recent years to build more protected bike lanes, with numerous completed and funded projects included in our National Bike Project Tracker. Unfortunately, intersections remain high-stress and many of these new projects are not connected, both issues that we’ll address later on. 

Lessons From High-Scoring Cities: Seattle, which received a 2025 City Ratings score of 66, introduced plans to make many of its protected bike lanes more durable by replacing flexible posts with hardened barrier materials. This work will help improve separation between people biking and driving, reduce ongoing maintenance needs, and strengthen Seattle’s overall bike network.  

For years, cities have attempted to solve traffic congestion by widening roads and dedicating more space to car parking. We now know that wide roads and excessive car parking encourage more people to drive, which worsens congestion and air pollution. Wide roads also facilitate speeding, leading to more crashes and serious injuries and fatalities. By rethinking how streets best serve people, city leaders can free up space for other valuable uses like protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks, bus rapid transit lanes, restaurant seating, or trees and benches.

Lessons From High-Scoring Cities: San Francisco (2025 City Ratings Score: 63) improved safety along California Street by reducing a four-lane roadway down to three, also known as a road diet. California Street is part of the city’s Vision Zero High-Injury Network that consists of the 13% of all San Francisco streets that account for 75% of severe and fatal collisions in the city.

Many crashes that occur between people driving and biking happen at intersections — in 2022, more than 40% of urban bike fatalities in the United States occurred at intersections. Chicago has several examples of places that would greatly benefit from protected intersections.

Lessons From High-Scoring Cities: Completed in fall of 2023, the 30th Street and Colorado Avenue protected intersection in Boulder, Colorado (2025 City Ratings score: 70) provided much needed safety, accessibility, and mobility improvements to one of the city’s busiest intersections. Learn more about the importance of protected intersections and how to build them with this resource from NACTO.

Many of Chicago’s new protected bike lanes don’t connect to other parts of the city’s bike network, creating fragmented segments that don’t safely allow people to travel to everyday destinations by bike. 

A protected bike lane on Clark Street begins and ends on a high-stress road, making it difficult to connect to other parts of Chicago’s bike network.

Lessons From High-Scoring Cities: In Minneapolis (2025 City Ratings score: 72), the city’s bike plan is based around the construction of an all ages and abilities bike network, with specific plans to implement bikeway connections to and between regional destinations and adjacent city networks.

Since no federal or state standards for cataloging and measuring bicycling infrastructure exist in the U.S., City Ratings relies on OpenStreetMap to measure the quality of a city’s bike network. Greater accuracy in OpenStreetMap data leads to a more accurate City Ratings score and can help cities determine benchmarks for success and improvement. Learn how you can help improve the accuracy of OpenStreetMap data for your city here.

Between 2024 and 2025, Baltimore updated OpenStreetMap data for numerous service roads citywide, adding more low-stress routes to its network. This updated data helped Baltimore improve its City Ratings score from 31 in 2024 to a score of 41 in 2025. 

Six Things Any City Can Do to Improve Bicycling

During the 2025 state legislative session, PeopleForBikes’ Government Affairs and Infrastructure team has been hard at work advancing policies that support better biking and the bike industry to advance our mission of transforming the U.S. into the best place in the world to ride a bike. Our policy priorities include clarifying definitions of electric bicycles (e-bikes), enhancing lithium-ion battery safety, increasing funding for bike infrastructure, promoting safer street design, expanding access to outdoor recreation, and more. Read on to learn more about the top policy issues we’re championing in 2025. 

Defining Electric Motorcycles
E-bikes have become increasingly popular in recent years, expanding access to both recreation and transportation for people of all ages and abilities and providing a variety of economic, health, and environmental benefits in communities nationwide.

As the e-mobility market continues to evolve, PeopleForBikes spent this year’s state legislative session advocating for electric motorcycle (e-moto) policies to protect the sale of safe and reliable e-bikes. Some companies’ new products are being sold as “e-bikes,” but do not fall within the definition of an e-bike due to their speed and/or motor power. These products are actually electric mopeds or electric motorcycles, which are subject to the same licensing, registration, and insurance requirements as other motor vehicles, and are contributing to concerns around lithium-ion battery fires and safety, particularly with youth riders. PeopleForBikes advocated in support of introduced legislation in California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Hawaii to clarify the definition of e-motos.


Learn more about the difference between e-bikes and e-motos. 

As e-bike usage continues to grow, PeopleForBikes remains focused on the regulation of e-bike drive systems and lithium-ion batteries to ensure that safe and reliable products are readily available to riders across the U.S. 

In Illinois, PeopleForBikes supported legislation that would establish statewide regulations for e-mobility products, including e-bikes. We specifically helped achieve a consideration for products certified to the international EN standard, a significant win for the U.S. bike industry and e-bike riders!

Increased Electric Mountain Bike Access and Outdoor Recreation Opportunities 

Expanding electric mountain bike (eMTB) access nationwide remains a high priority for PeopleForBikes, with only 15 states currently authorizing Class 1 eMTB use on state lands. We created model legislation to harmonize state land management policies and support the safe operation, consistent regulation, and reasonable use of e-bikes on public lands.This model legislation was introduced in Texas, which provides clear rules for riding e-bikes in state parks and gives officials the tools to exclude unsafe electric devices from public trails and prevent misleading e-bike sales.


Learn more about our model legislation on Class 1 e-bike access here, and sign up for our Recreation and Public Lands Newsletter to stay up to date on PeopleForBikes’ work advancing recreation-focused legislation.

Reimagining Los Angeles’ Transportation System

Looking ahead to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, and following two major wins in 2024 at the city and state levels, PeopleForBikes is working alongside local advocates and bike companies to champion an overhaul of Los Angeles’ transportation system to include more safe and connected bike infrastructure. Leveraging the attention on and injection of funding into Los Angeles ahead of 2028, we are proud to support the Festival Trail, a multimodal network that links and expands on existing projects to connect residents and visitors to LA28 venues and several of Los Angeles’ famous attractions without needing a car. We are also advocating for mobility hubs that feature bike share stations and bike parking at major transit stations. At the state level, we supported legislation that would provide $3.5 billion for active transportation projects in Los Angeles. 

These investments in preparation for the Olympics can benefit Los Angeles far beyond 2028 by supporting mobility opportunities for all Angelenos, particularly in communities that have been historically underserved by public transportation. This is also a chance to show that transformation in one of America’s most car-centric cities is possible and provide a model for other cities to transform their transportation networks to cater the needs of all road users, regardless of whether people walk, ride a bike, take transit, or drive a car.

PeopleForBikes’ Top Policy Priorities for 2025

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. 

People for Bikes

Building and Improving Access to Great Places to Bike

PeopleForBikes at Work on Bike Safety

News

PeopleForBikes Hosts Virtual Advocacy Training for NICA Coaches and League Directors

How Slow Streets Programs Strengthen Low-Stress Bike Networks

Bipartisan BIKE Act Introduced to Expand Youth Bike Education Nationwide

Where People Ride Bikes, People Buy Bikes

The E-Bike Problem is an E-Moto Problem

New Tool Highlights America’s Most Dangerous Streets for People Riding Bikes

Leaving a Legacy of Better Biking Through Planned Giving

New Study Highlights Recent Decline in Pedestrian Deaths, But More Work to Be Done

Back to School: Youth Bicycle Programs Shift Into High Gear

Engaging Casual Participants to Grow Bicycling

Six Things Any City Can Do to Improve Bicycling

PeopleForBikes’ Top Policy Priorities for 2025

The Benefits of Great Places to Ride

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

Better Bike Infrastructure Saves Lives

Supporting Better Biking in Chicago With the Active Transportation Alliance

Advance Safe and Successful E-Bike Policies With PeopleForBikes’ New Toolkit

PeopleForBikes’ 2024 Policy Wins Advance Bicycling Safety and Access Nationwide

Your Bike Advocacy Playbook

A Legislative Playbook to Build More Bikeable Communities

People for Bikes