We make sure that bikes are considered in new projects, encourage communities across city lines to pursue funding together, support ballot initiatives dedicated to outdoor recreation, andlobby for federal funding for path and trail development.

We support local groups focused on increasing outdoor participation, help cities rethink how to provide more opportunities for close-to-home bike riding, foster the development of pocket bike parks and force the prioritization of bike trails and parks in underserved communities.

We work with state departments of transportation to add or improve shoulders on major county and state arterial roads, work to require that funding for highway projects is contingent on adding/improving shoulders, and ask state departments of transportation to prioritize road improvements that improve bicyclists safety and benefit bike riders.

We help prioritize projects that serve historically underserved and disinvested communities, advance bills that provide financial incentives to recreate by bike, connect bike riding with health and wellness outcomes, force equity considerations in planning and value electric bicycle access on the same level as traditional bikes.

Bike riding opportunities in rural, non-urban areas are revenue raisers for local communities through tourism. We support funding and policy measures that help build out trail systems, connected bike networks and the infrastructure needed to cater to visitors and residents alike.

The $547 billion INVEST in America Act offers promising funding for connecting our nation.

On Friday, June 4, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released the INVEST in America Act, a five-year, $547 billion transportation reauthorization bill. This is the House counterpart to the Senate Environment and Public Works’ Committee’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act (which we wrote about here). There are some differences between the two on what federal investments and commitments they propose for bike infrastructure, so here’s a finer look at some of the details.

A massive win in this bill is the inclusion of $1 billion for a brand new program that will build connections between bike lanes, sidewalks and trails to create complete active transportation networks. This is similar to the proposed investment in the Senate’s bill and will be a critical tool to meet the rising demand for safe, connected places to bike nationwide. You can read more in an op-ed we co-wrote in The Hill alongside our partners at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and America Walks. This $1 billion in new funding for bike networks is an increase from the $250 million offered in the House last year (which we wrote about here), thanks to the growing voice of active transportation advocates across the United States. 

This bill also matches the Senate’s when it comes to increasing funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program, the largest source of federal funding for bike infrastructure. A main difference with the House bill is that it’s not bipartisan like the Senate’s. Questions on how the two committees, parties and chambers eventually negotiate the differences in their bills, and how to pay for these policies and programs, certainly remain.

Beyond funding, the INVEST in America Act updates classifications for electric bicycles within two important programs for bike infrastructure. PeopleForBikes has been working at the state level to update electric bicycle definitions for more than six years, and more than 30 states have adopted model, three-class electric bicycle language in their transportation codes.

Bringing that advocacy to the federal level, we are pleased to see the three-class electric bicycle definition included in the INVEST in America Act under the Transportation Alternatives Program and in a critical classification update in the Recreation Trails Program. 

As the use of electric bicycles grows for both transportation and recreation across the nation, our policies need to adapt and evolve to make it easier to build trails and define access. We’re glad to see the INVEST in America Act meet the increased demand with updated definitions and classifications of electric bicycles. 

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a markup for this bill on June 9, and we’ll be watching to see what amendments are offered and what the committee’s vote will look like. We will be sharing our analysis live on Twitter, @pfbpolicy, for anything related to bike infrastructure and electric bicycles, and we’re optimistic that the bill will advance out of committee. 

House Committee Transportation Bill Makes Big Strides for Bikes

From world-class mountain biking to wine tasting tours on two wheels, don’t forget to bring your helmet the next time you pack your bags.

For most Americans, the pandemic forced leisure travel to the back burner throughout 2020. Instead, people began to explore the outdoors closer to home: A survey of American adults conducted by PeopleForBikes found that, in 2020, 10% of American adults engaged in bicycling in a new way and that 87% of those new riders plan to keep riding in a post-pandemic world.

As vaccination rates rise and COVID-19 rates fall across the U.S., leaving home for a little rest and relaxation is back on people’s minds. For those looking to combine their newfound hobby with their next getaway, here are five vacation cities to experience by bike. And for cities that was to improve tourism locally

In a region known for great mountain biking, Fayetteville stands out, although that hasn’t always been the case. “Trying to ride a bike across town as a kid and even into my teenage years, we didn’t have any bike lanes and there wasn’t even a sharrow until the early 2000s,” said Fayetteville Mobility Coordinator Dane Eifling. “Then, our mayor got support to fund a trails program. No one knew quite what it was at the time, but it led to the creation of the backbone of our trail system today.”

Since the installation of its first trails, Fayetteville’s bike network has grown exponentially. Eifling nods to smart planning by the city being a major factor behind the network’s success. “We built trails that would get the most use — not ones that would be the cheapest or most convenient to build,” said Eifling. “Focusing on trails that would get the most activity first helped us get funding and support to build more.”

Today, Fayetteville is one of the best cities to visit for hardcore bike enthusiasts and general outdoor recreationalists alike, reflected in its top Community Score among all medium-sized cities in our 2021 City Ratings. For mountain bikers, 50 miles of paved multi-use paths throughout town mean you never have to load up the car to access a great ride. Dozens of trails, including brand new Centennial Park, are within a short pedal from town, offering up enticing terrain for riders of all abilities. And if you’re looking for an epic road ride, Fayetteville’s unique topography allows for some all-time rides. 

“We host a lot of world-renowned stage races,” Eifling said. “The rolling hills of the Ozarks are the perfect terrain for those looking for something advanced.” 

Trying to spend more time around town? Eifling says there’s a laundry list of hotels that cater to bicyclists throughout Fayetteville’s downtown area. “You can stay at a bike-friendly hotel and easily ride to a coffee shop or take a leisurely ride on the paved trails,” said Eifling. “Our recreational trails follow along the creeks to avoid major hills and the trees lining the water keep things shaded and cool during the summer months. You can truly see all of Fayetteville from a bicycle.”

Going forward, Fayetteville is working to build a shared-use paved trail within a 10-minute walk of every resident, a goal that’s 80% complete. Once it’s done, it’ll benefit visitors too.

Looking to add a little pedal power to your next relaxing tropical vacation? Look no further than Key West, Florida, one of the top 10 small cities in our 2021 City Ratings. Perched at the southernmost tip of the U.S., just 90 miles north of Cuba, the island is known for its bright, pastel-colored architecture, lively nightlife, beaches and historic sites. It’s also best experienced on two wheels. 

Sizing up at just under five square miles, Key West is incredibly bikeable — it takes less than half an hour to bike from one end of the island to the other. Car-Free Key West, a program developed by the city’s planning department dedicated to promoting a smart and attainable future for the island, champions a “Park It and Forget It” approach to visiting by car. Once you arrive, everything you’ll need is an easy walk or bike ride away.

Key West’s tourist destinations include everything from the Southernmost Point, an Instagram-worthy spot marking the lowest latitudinal point in the continental U.S., to the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, which offers daily tours of the famous writer’s estate. Pedaling around southern Florida all day is sure to work up an appetite, and the island’s main drag — Duval Street — is flush with restaurants and bars serving up local specialties like fried conch.

Round out your trip with a truly unique bicycling experience: the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail. Paralleling U.S. Highway 1, a designated National Scenic Highway, this paved, multi-use trail stretches nearly 100 miles between Key Largo and Key West. Crossing 23 historic Flagler Railroad bridges built at the turn of the 20th century, the trail passes through some of the most scenic nature southern Florida has to offer. It also offers access to two national parks, four wildlife refuges and 10 Florida State Parks, making it a must-pedal for nature and bicycling lovers alike.

Solvang, California, nestled in a lush valley about 125 miles north of Los Angeles, is easily one of the most unique destinations on this list. Part wine country, part Danish, this southern California treasure is truly one of a kind. 

Solvang prides itself on being “a little slice of Denmark in Southern California,” and when you walk through the quaint downtown, it’s easy to see why. Old-world Danish architecture lines the streets and Solvang’s rich cultural heritage is evident around every corner. Like many of the customs borrowed from its lineage, Solvang is also an amazing place for bicycling, ranking fifth out of 307 small U.S. cities in our 2021 City Ratings.

The surrounding rolling hills are home to some of the best road riding in the United States. Solvang is the spring basecamp for many pro cycling teams training in the U.S. and there’s an abundance of wine country cycling tours available to riders of all abilities. Upwards of 125 wineries speckle the Santa Ynez Valley, serving as pit stops for private tastings. Whether you come for the biking and stay for the wine, or vice versa, Solvang is the perfect destination for folks looking for the very best of both. 

Back in town, more than 35 restaurants within an easy biking distance of 18 hotels offer up international cuisine (and more wine) for the appetite you surely worked up while out in the saddle. Plus, it’s California — even in the coldest winter months, daytime highs average around 66 degrees.

Park City is primarily known for its skiing, but Trails and Open Space Manager Heinrich Deters says the rise of mountain biking during the early ‘90s helped transform it into a year-round destination. “It used to just be people that would come to ski during the winter and leave during the summer,” said Deter. “Mountain biking was something that caught on with 10 or 20 of us who would build trails on the old mining company property. In my opinion, that was the first shift from winter-only resort to full-year resort.”

Today, those ski-bums-turned-trail builders who stuck around are the reason Park City has a family-friendly bike culture and earned one of the highest Community Scores among small U.S. cities in the 2021 City Ratings. “Everyone that lives here now are the ones that stayed for the summers, and now they’re raising kids,” said Deters. “The core group of locals have been here 25 to 30 years, and that's a lot of who you’ll see out on trails — a mom, a dad and some kids.”

Deters also notes that Park City’s immediate access to trails makes the town perfect for bike enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. “In Park City, we like to say that your garage is your trailhead: You can ride out of any neighborhood around town and be at a trail in two to three minutes,” said Deters, adding that there’s plenty of options to keep even the most avid riders busy. “You can visit Park City every summer and not ride the same trail for at least five years.”

Less than an hour drive from downtown Salt Lake City, Park City’s high mountain locale blesses it with favorable weather during the summer months. “The elevation change is a couple of thousand feet between the valley and here, and with that, we get great weather,” said Deters. “It’s not too hot, there are no bugs and it’s fairly temperate during the biking season.” 

While Park City’s bike culture definitely leans more off-road, Deters says there’s still plenty to do around town on two wheels. “Our public bike share system in town is a cheap, economical way to experience everything Park City has to offer — whether it’s stopping by a free concert happening every other block or just pedaling out to one of our many parks and open spaces,” said Deters. “You can come up and have a great, entry-level cycling experience with little investment.”

A small college town bordering Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Marquette is an ideal off-the-radar vacation spot. The city of 21,000 sits adjacent to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Isle Royale National Park along with scores of lakes, rivers and forests, and hosts a vibrant, easily bikeable downtown — full of restaurants, art shops and breweries. 

Marquette’s been investing in active transportation since the 1970s, building routes along former railway corridors and other scenic spaces. According to David Stensaas, planner and zoning administrator for Marquette, the city has a winning combination of easily accessible singletrack combined with paved trails along the Lake Superior shoreline and through the downtown corridor. 

While lake-effect weather systems blanket Marquette in snow from October to May, the long winter season has fostered a diehard community of fat bikers. The fat-tire trails are maintained by the Noquemanon Trail Network (NTN) organization, who grooms dozens of miles of trails within biking distance of downtown for use throughout the winter. 

“For those who believe in ‘cyclotherapy,’ biking through the dark days of winter is a much better option than Prozac,” joked Stensaas, noting the colder months of the year not only see a lot of snow, but also little sunlight for the northern latitude city.

In the milder summer months, NTN has hundreds of local members who help maintain 40-plus miles of singletrack mountain biking trails surrounding Marquette. In the fall, those same trails boast some of the best leaf-peeping in the Upper Peninsula, with the entire forested region covered in stunning hues of yellow, orange and red.

Marquette prides itself on an extensive history of mining in the region, highlighted through the Iron Ore Heritage Trail. The 47-mile, multi-use paved trail follows corridors that brought lumber and iron ore to the Lake Superior Harbor. Equal parts recreation and education, the heritage trail connects communities across Marquette County and allows visitors to experience historical sites while winding through a stunning natural landscape. Marquette’s diverse biking amenities, which earned the city ninth place among small U.S. cities in our 2021 City Ratings, make it an easy choice for repeat visits.

Every summer, Provincetown, a coastal town with 3,000 year-round residents on the tip of Cape Cod, floods with tourists drawn to the scenic beaches, small-town charm and abundance of LGBTQ+ festivities. Provincetown has long been a queer vacation destination, with gay culture in the town dating back to as early as the start of the 20th century. Celebrations like Carnival, a weeklong celebration of LGBTQ+ life, see upwards of 90,000 visitors every August, and Provincetown’s gay and lesbian events stretch all summer long.

Ranking number one overall for U.S. cities in our 2021 City Ratings, Provincetown’s open, accepting culture combined with its ease of bikeability make it the perfect destination for anyone looking for a relaxing summer vacation. Whether it’s whale watching along Race Point Beach, letting the pup off the leash at the Pilgrim Bark Park or catching one of the countless parties and parades that stretch down Provincetown’s main drag — Commercial Street — every destination is no more than a 15-minute bike ride away from the heart of town.

No matter your reason for visiting, everyone is welcome in Provincetown. While it may be small in size, the town is filled to the brim with places to see and things to do — so much so that many visitors have been returning every summer, year after year, for decades.

How does your city rank? Check out our 2021 City Ratings and learn how to improve your score.

These four U.S. cities, all with populations under 50,000 people, scored well in the 2021 City Ratings. Here’s what they’re doing right.

Small cities have an inherent advantage when it comes to bicycling — since they tend to have smaller road networks, changes to a few key streets can really make a difference when it comes to bicycling. On average, the top small cities (those with populations of 50,000 or fewer) score higher in the 2021 City Ratings than the top medium and large cities. Independent of a city's efforts to build great bike infrastructure, there are a few possible explanations for this scoring trend.

First, many of the smaller cities and towns in the 2021 City Ratings tend to have smaller boundaries than we might think. We often envision a small city as extending into the land surrounding it, while in reality, its borders might not encompass much beyond a few main streets. Our 2021 City Ratings are based on our Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA), which only evaluates trips that start within the city boundary. Thus, if your home falls outside the city limits and it’s difficult to bike downtown, that wouldn’t impact your city's score. Inaccurate or missing data in OpenStreetMap will also have a larger impact on a small city's network score, with poor data sometimes improving a city's score. 

Moreover, small cities, especially more rural ones, often consist of a traditional downtown street grid, a few main connecting streets and one or two roads that lead out of town. If speed limits are low, the downtown grid becomes largely low stress, offering multiple routes to reach the same destination. The flip side is that if there’s only one high-stress road to your destination, it can be impossible to bike there using only low-stress routes.

Although the four small cities below definitely benefit from their size, we’ve chosen to highlight them for reasons that go beyond breadth. While completely different in terms of geography, culture and approach, they're all doing something right when it comes to bicycling.

“You hear a lot of people talking about the 15-minute city,” said Rik Ahlberg, chair of the Provincetown Bicycle Committee and owner of Pedal Ptown Bike Tours. “Well, this is the five-minute town. I can get from one end to the other in seven minutes on my bicycle.”

Located on the northern tip of Cape Cod, Provincetown has a year-round population of 3,000 people and five bike shops. Bicycles were introduced to Provincetown in the late 1800s — the first bike path was proposed in 1899 — and they’ve been a primary mode of transportation ever since. Today, residents are able to access all essential services, from the grocery store to the dentist, within a two-mile bike ride. 

“There’s virtually no corner you can stand on in Provincetown and not see a bike rack somewhere,” said Ahlberg, noting that there’s even waterfront bike parking at the beach. “Our bike racks were old and not attractive, so we invested in upgrading them all to the APBP [Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professional] standards.” 

Commercial Street, Provincetown’s main drag, is one way for cars but two way for bicycles. Almost every other street is small, forcing drivers to go slow, creating naturally low-stress bikeways. It also helps that development is dense in Provincetown and no highways bisect it. In the summer months, Provincetown’s population balloons to nearly 60,000 people, and although many people arrive by car, they also bring their bikes.

“Bikes also aren’t tied to economic status here,” said Ahlberg, noting that Provincetown has one of the best year-round commuter rates, as high as 20% by some counts. “Across the board, people ride bikes just because it’s convenient.”

This year, we featured Provincetown in our Advocacy Academy series, “Lessons from the Best Biking Cities.” Watch to learn more about how the town has embraced and encouraged bicycling, engaged its community and invested in low-stress, complete streets.

Traverse City, located in the northwest part of Michigan’s mitten and bordering Lake Michigan, has a population of roughly 15,000 people. With a total area of 8.66 square miles, the small city is flat and laid out on a grid, making it easy to navigate by bike for folks of all ages and abilities. There’s also a strong history of recreational mountain biking, which helped lay the foundation for in-town bike culture.

“Most of the biking in Traverse City really started off as recreation and we have a lot of very large areas of mountain bike trails right around downtown,” said Shawn Winter, planning director for the city. “Within five minutes you can be in the woods — everything is just compact and accessible.”

Although recreational riding helped jumpstart the bike culture in Traverse City, Winter attributes the larger shift to different organizations that have come together and advocated for change over the years. Nonprofit TART Trails, for example, maintains a network of multi-use trails, 5.4 miles of which are in Traverse City proper, and has been hosting a bike commuter event for 27 years. Likewise, Norte, a bike-centric, youth-focused advocacy organization, has been instrumental in achieving a 473% increase in participation in kids actively transporting themselves in the Grand Traverse region. There are also three bike shops in town and regular workshops where residents can learn about things like winter biking.

“Winter is very real in Michigan — it’s a legitimate season that dominates most of the calendar,” said Winter, noting that people sometimes use it as an excuse for not investing in non-motorized infrastructure. “Traverse City does a great job of plowing the sidewalks and people have the gear to bike year-round. Winter really doesn't have the impact on bicycling that I think people assume it would.”

In the summer, tourists flock to Traverse City, taking part in Kayak, Bike & Brew tours and using the bike racks on BATA, the local transit system, to pedal trails further outside of town. According to Winter, Traverse City’s downtown, as well as most parks and beaches, are so popular that they’re actually more accessible by bike due to limited parking. The city’s main east-west corridor, 8th Street, was also redesigned to be more walkable and safe, with lowered speed limits and new bicycle tracks.

“When they redid the street, they added three mid-block crossings in that stretch and did a lot of streetscape improvements with landscaping design, lighting and benches,” said Winter, noting that there are now brand new multi-story buildings under construction in a once bleak stretch. “It's a great example of how public investment can be a catalyst for additional private investment.”

Pella is a small midwestern town of around 10,300 people, home to Central College and famous for its Dutch roots. The tourist town, which covers just 8.73 square miles, celebrates that history with a fully functional 1850s-style windmill, an annual tulip festival and a downtown canal. Like the Netherlands, Pella is also a great place to bike — although it could do more to embrace that aspect of its heritage.

“It’s a small, grid town that’s just easy to get around in,” said Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. “Pella also has a pretty substantial trail system leading out of town.”

That trail, the Volksweg Trail, is a 17-mile asphalt path that extends from town to Lake Red Rock, Iowa’s largest lake. Aside from the miles connecting the trail to town though, Pella hasn’t invested in the infrastructure that might set it apart as a bicycling destination. Chris Van Gent, who owns the sole bike shop in town — Iowa Bike Co. — believes relatively inexpensive investments like wayfinding signs, sharrows and crucially, more much-needed bike parking, would help boost ridership.

“Protected bike lanes don’t really make sense here,” said Van Gent, adding that the bike “advertising” that comes with some of the low-cost fixes does. “People would bike more and shop more if there was bike parking.”

In 2018, Pella launched a bike share system in partnership with VeoRide, which despite being profitable and working well, was pulled by the national micromobility company in 2020. In large part, Pella scores well because the town has grown around its downtown core and is evenly dispersed with clusters of essential services, retail shops and residences. Unlike many other small towns in rural America, Pella’s main street is also distinct from the highway, leaving a series of connected, low-stress streets intact. 

Iowa is also home to RAGBRAI, Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, an epic seven-day bicycling adventure that changes routes every year. The longest, largest and oldest bicycle touring event in the world, it’s an Iowa institution that has a real effect on the whole state. For many, the race is the reason people start biking in the first place.

“It can be a real financial generator, with 20,000-plus bicyclists rolling through,” said Wyatt. “It’s created this opportunity for rural Iowa to see bicycling as an economic generator.”

Pella is blessed with a setup that naturally makes it a great place for riding bikes. With some smart investments and political willpower, it could easily become a true bike town, thriving economically and benefitting from safer streets in the process.

With a population of 47,302, San Luis Obispo, or SLO, is the largest city on this list. Located in California’s Central Coast region, the city is just under 13 square miles. Its relatively small size coupled with the temperate climate makes SLO a great place to bicycle, whether you're going to work, recreating or running errands. Around town, you’re as likely to see a mountain biker as you are two kids on the back of their parent’s cargo bike.

“It’s a dynamic community and we have a major university in California Polytechnic State,” said Rick Ellison, executive director of Bike SLO County. “College towns bring a certain energy that’s good for the whole bicycling community.”

The city is also phenomenally progressive when it comes to roadway safety, consistently improving bike lanes, planning for a safe, complete network and promoting bikes as a way to address climate change. 

“The city recognizes that the key to getting more people on bikes is to have effective and safe infrastructure,” said Ellison, noting that greenways, neighborhood networks, bike lanes and traffic calming efforts all play into that vision. “Our leadership believes that San Luis Obispo can be the leader when it comes to climate action by making bikes part of the solution.”

Last year, SLO was featured in our Advocacy Academy series, “Lessons from the Best Biking Cities.” In the episode, we learn from SLO Active Transportation Manager Adam Fukushima about the city’s 75-mile-plus bike network and how climate action funds are allocated for bike improvements.

Answers to the most common questions around our newly revamped ranking system for bicycling cities, now simpler and international.

Ahead of the release of our annual City Ratings this June, we wanted to answer some commonly asked questions about the program, show you what’s new for 2021 and set cities up for success when it comes to improving bicycling locally.

The PeopleForBikes City Ratings is a data-driven approach to evaluate and compare bicycling in U.S. cities and towns. From there, we help city leaders pinpoint improvements to make biking better for everyone.

This year, we expanded to feature more than 600 U.S. cities, including 150 brand new to the program. We’ve also gone international! Although the City Ratings aren’t completely global (we don’t rate cities in Africa or Asia, for example), we rated more than 100 international cities in 11 countries worldwide, including Canada and Australia. 

Whereas last year’s scores were rated out of five, we’ve switched to a 100 point scoring system. While a score of 52 might seem low, cities with scores of 50 or more demonstrate higher ridership, improved safety and greater access than their peers. That being said, most U.S. cities will fall short of world-class examples of integrated bicycling in places like Copenhagen and Amsterdam. By offering a comparison to some of the world’s great bike cities, we hope to inspire and motivate others to accelerate their bike infrastructure and programs that get people on bikes.

The 2021 City Ratings showcases a new way of calculating scores that emphasizes the importance of building safe, comfortable and connected bicycle networks. We also tweaked our formula to make things simpler and more consistent.

The revised City Ratings incorporates only two inputs: the quality of a city’s bicycle network through its Network Score, and community perceptions of bicycling via the Community Score. The Network Score comes from the PeopleForBikes Bicycle Network Analysis and the Community Score comes from the PeopleForBikes Community Survey.

The Bicycle Network Analysis, or BNA, is a data analysis tool that measures the quality and connectivity of a city’s bicycle lanes — in other words, its bike network. A bicycle network is defined as the system of paths, trails and streets that someone riding a bike can use to access everyday destinations, like:

Neighborhoods — access to parts of the city where residents live.

Opportunity — access to jobs and schools.

Essential Services — access to places that serve basic needs, like hospitals and grocery stores.

Recreation — access to recreational amenities like parks and trails.

Retail — access to major shopping centers.

Transit— access to major transit stations.

Interested in improving your city’s bike network? Here’s how:

Every year, PeopleForBikes conducts an online survey to capture perceptions of biking from people that live, work and play in the cities we’re rating.

The Community Score is based on a 100-point scale derived from four equally weighted scoring categories: Ridership, Safety, Network and Awareness. Answers to questions in these four categories provide valuable insight into how often people ride bikes for transportation and recreational purposes, how safe they feel riding a bike in their community, whether the local bike network helps them reach useful destinations and if they are aware of nearby bicycling resources.

I don’t think my city is included. How can I get involved?

We evaluated a record number of cities across the U.S. for this year’s City Ratings, but there’s always room for more. No matter how you’re involved with bicycling in your city, you can request to have it included in our next round of data collection and analysis.

Are you a city leader? Sign up to be notified when our City Snapshot opens to tell us about your city’s existing bike network and planned improvements.

We’re glad you asked! We created an entire video series through our Advocacy Academy outlining the necessary steps to improving bicycling in your city. From city leaders to bike enthusiasts, we all have a role to play in making biking better for everyone.

How can I benchmark my city’s progress?

We will post a printable scorecard customized for each city on our City Ratings website. While your city’s overall score determines its place in our annual ranking, the scorecard dives into the details of the data to reveal actionable steps local leaders can take to benchmark progress and make improvements.

What can I learn from highly rated cities?

We have an entire Advocacy Academy series dedicated to sharing lessons from some of the best bike cities around the world. In the coming months, we’ll profile even more top-ranked cities based on this year’s scores.

How does your city rank? Check out our 2021 City Ratings and learn how to improve your score.

Everything You Need to Know About 2021 City Ratings

Every day, agencies and businesses across the U.S. are looking to establish electric bicycle incentive programs due to the immense social, environmental and economic benefits they can provide for both individuals and communities as a whole. Electric bicycles are cheaper to own and maintain than a car, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing trips that would be taken in a vehicle and support local utility providers through increased electricity usage.

When paired with a purchase incentive program, PeopleForBikes believes that electric bicycles can play a critical role in the development of sustainable transportation systems that are equitable to all members of a community. 

To achieve this vision, we’re prioritizing our work into two complementary efforts — the first being our continued work to modernize outdated rules that make it difficult to ride an electric bicycle. Over the past six years, we improved electric bicycle access in 28 states (and counting) by helping pass legislation that clearly defines them as bicycles and gives electric bicycle riders the same rights as traditional bike riders.

As we continue to improve access in all 50 states, establishing a range of electric bicycle purchase incentive programs is our next priority. We are working alongside a broad coalition of stakeholders at the local, state and federal levels to establish incentive programs that will benefit current and future riders nationwide. 

As we proactively work to get incentive programs off the ground, PeopleForBikes will also act to support agencies and businesses looking to learn more about electric bicycle incentive programs. We will be providing educational resources including webinars, program tracking and one-on-one meetings to supply the necessary information to make purchase incentive programs easy to understand and replicate in communities throughout the U.S. 

Our new beginner’s guide to electric bicycle purchase incentive programs is a great place to start learning about commonly found programs in the U.S. and what you’ll need to create a purchase incentive program in your community. Want to learn more about PeopleForBikes' strategies to support the development of electric bicycle purchase incentive programs? Click here. 

Any additional questions? Contact PeopleForBikes’ Regulatory and Policy Analyst Ashley Seaward at ashley@peopleforbikes.org for more information.

Making Electric Bicycle Purchase Incentive Programs a Top Priority 

There’s an opportunity to increase funding for cities and states to build new bike projects across the U.S. thanks to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The federal government fully and permanently funded the LWCF at $900 million annually when the Great American Outdoors Act became law in August 2020. This is one of the government’s primary investments to ensure that Americans nationwide have close-to-home recreation. 

Every year, federal funding will flow into states to protect important lands and waters for all Americans through conservation and recreation projects. Launched by Congress in 1964, the LWCF was designed to direct revenue from federal off-shore oil and gas leases (not taxpayer dollars) to acquire land and conservation easements to protect our national parks, wildlife refuges, forests and trails. The LWCF also grants funds to states for local and state park needs, protects critical wildlife habitat, watersheds and recreational access and conserves working farms, ranches and forestlands that enhance local economies.

What does that mean for bikes? More and improved bike lanes, trails and bike parks.

The National Park Service administers the State and Local Grants Program within the LWCF, which provides funding for state and local planning and facility development in cities, counties and rural towns. We want to encourage our local partners nationwide to think about bike projects in the pipeline that could be eligible for LWCF funding. One item of note is that LWCF state and local grants only cover 50% of project costs, and state and local grants generally receive 26% of LWCF funding (subject to appropriations). 

PeopleForBikes is a member of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), the leading coalition of trade associations supporting the outdoor recreation industry. ORR recently put together a survey to create a list of LWCF-eligible recreation projects for FY22-FY25 from businesses and partners around the U.S. 

The survey will help ORR showcase the outstanding potential for new projects. From our point of view, that means new bike lanes, new bike parks, trails that connect communities, bike projects that support rural development and better access to recreation in diverse communities nationwide. This list will also be used to inform future priorities for the outdoor recreation economy and to educate Congress and the new administration. 

We encourage bike businesses, city and state resource agencies and stakeholders involved in bike advocacy to fill out the survey. Any information provided will help inform future efforts beyond 2022. 

For more information, visit the Outdoor Alliance’s interactive guide to the LWCF, which provides information and historical context about the program, as well as interactive maps that highlight how the LWCF has secured access and conserved lands for outdoor recreation opportunities.

Using the Land and Water Conservation Fund for Local Bike Projects

Policy

Improving Recreational Access for Bikes

Securing Funding for New Parks and Trails

Helping Cities Build Great Places to Bike That Are Close to Home

Improving Road Cyclist Safety

Increasing Access for Kids, Veterans, Electric Bicycle Riders and Underserved Communities

Promoting Recreation-Based Economic Development in Rural Areas