The Bicycle Friendly Communities List Grows to 350

Chicago’s protected bike lanes and Divvy bike share. Photo by Steven Vance

As part of their mission to encourage and enable a bicycle-friendly America, the League of American Bicyclists publishes an annual list of Bicycle Friendly Communities in the US. The list awards Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond status to communities nationwide that encompass the five ‘E’s of bike-friendliness: Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Encouragement, and Evaluation/ Planning.

On June 10, 2015, the League announced awards for 42 new and renewing communities, bringing the total to 350 bike-friendly communities in all 50 US states. To date, 96 million Americans live in a bicycle-friendly community.

Boise, ID; Ellansburg, WA; Memphis, TN; and Zionsville, IN are among the recent inductees to the list, achieving Bronze status due to their commitment to implementing better bike infrastructure and policies.

Chicago, IL moved up to Silver status due to the enormous amount of progress the city has made towards being a top-notch cycling destination under the leadership of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Chicago has installed 90 miles of new protected bike lanes in the past two years and is currently home to North America’s largest public bike share – the Divvy bike share.

The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe in Washington became the first Native American community to receive a Bicycle Friendly Community designation, achieving Bronze-level status because of their regional trail system. Tribal chairman W. Ron Allen said, “Our regional trail system, the Olympic Discovery Trail, is seamlessly incorporated into our Tribal operations and we welcome the public to enjoy the Tribal trail sections. As the first Tribe in the nation to be awarded a League designation, we look forward to continuing a strong affiliation with the cycling community.”

Since its inception, the Bicycle Friendly Communities program received over 800 applications, with many communities applying a multiple times over the years as they make improvements to their cycling infrastructure and policies.

League president Andy Clarke remarked, “The growing number of leaders taking up bicycling as a way of solving many complex community problems is encouraging. We look forward to continuing to work with these communities as we move closer to our mission of creating a bicycle-friendly America for everyone.”

The current list of Bicycle Friendly Communities for 2015 can be accessed here.