In the United States, pedestrian and bicyclist deaths have been increasing with an 83% increase in pedestrian deaths and 76% increase in bicyclist deaths between 2009 and 2022. 

If you care about stopping this tragic trend and creating conditions for a long-term decrease in bicyclist and pedestrian deaths, there’s an action you can take today.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a proposal for the first-ever vehicle safety standard that ensures that vehicle hoods do not pose an excessive risk to people walking in a crash. The proposal brings the United States into harmony with global auto regulations regarding vehicle hoods created in the last twenty years and is estimated to cost four dollars per vehicle or less with estimated net benefits of between $480 and $593 million.

The hood crash standards are a common-sense proposal that will ensure vehicles in the United States meet global standards. Please take action today to submit a comment in support of swift adoption of the proposed standard with an eye toward future improvements that will specifically incorporate the safety of people who bike.

Whether you copy the League’s public comment or write your own, join us in calling for NHTSA to protect pedestrians and cyclists through safer vehicle standards today.

Read the League’s public comment to NHTSA

Action Alert Comment:

Please adopt the proposed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard to ensure that passenger vehicles are designed to mitigate the risk of serious or fatal injuries in crashes with pedestrians. 

The United States has one of the highest rates of traffic deaths per capita among wealthy countries and the proposed standard reflects the Global Technical Regulation on pedestrian safety that other countries have used to successfully reduce traffic deaths. 

As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) notes, the United States was the first signatory to the agreement establishing Global Technical Regulations (GTR) for vehicles in 1998. Due to the lag in US adoption of the GTR for pedestrian protection, nearly a quarter of new vehicles sold in the United States “may not be designed to the GTR requirements” according to NHTSA. NHTSA should adopt this proposal based on the GTR for pedestrian protection as soon as reasonably possible.

NHTSA’s proposal allows vehicles to have hoods that create between an 11 and 36 percent chance of severe or greater brain injury in a head-to-hood impact in the areas subject to the standard during a crash at 25 miles per hour or less. According to NHTSA, “when only model year 2010 or later vehicles are considered, there were only 8 instances out of 155 tests (5.2%)” where current vehicle hoods posed greater injury risk for the areas that NHTSA proposes to test. At a cost of $4 per vehicle or less, and with estimated net benefits of between $480.8 and $593.3 million, NHTSA should move quickly to adopt its proposed safety standard.

While NHTSA should move to adopt its proposal as quickly as possible, that should not be NHTSA’s last action on the issue of crashworthiness for people outside of vehicles. If NHTSA is working towards a goal of zero traffic deaths then this obviously important standard is not sufficient and continued improvement is necessary.

For bicyclist safety, NHTSA should expand the areas of vehicles subject to safety standards, including “the [anticipated] Euro NCAP requirements… referred to as the Cyclist Zone.” Similarly, ensuring the vehicle front ends and windshields are subject to a safety standard would improve safety for people outside of vehicles. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), “SUVs tended to cause injuries with their wheels or their undercarriage or by knocking the bicyclist to the ground. The ground, wheels or undercarriage caused 82 percent of the head injuries in the eight SUV crashes.” As proposed, the standard appears to not address these risks to people outside of vehicles caused by vehicle design features not captured by static testing of a headform launched into a hood. NHTSA should work to quickly address these other sources of head injury risk and publish any relevant research it has developed on the safety of people outside of vehicles, including the bicyclist Automatic Emergency Braking research that it has mentioned in previous comment periods but has not yet published.

Submit your comment supporting safer vehicle standards »

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Introducing Chris Vaughan, the League’s new Bicycle Friendly America Program Coordinator! An educator, poet, and advocate for sustainable transportation, Chris’s journey into bike advocacy began with a grassroots effort to make his Minneapolis neighborhood streets safer for families like his own. From his studies at Stanford to his years as an ESL/multilingual teacher and school administrator, Chris is passionate about making communities more inclusive, human-centered, and livable for everyone. Bringing a wonderful mix of technical skills and storytelling talent to the team, we’re thrilled to have Chris join us in building a Bicycle Friendly America for all. Keep reading to learn more about our newest team member!

What’s your first memory of riding a bike?

I remember learning how to ride a bike with training wheels on my street in Western Massachusetts and wobbling around a lot!

What does your bike journey look like? What got you into biking as an adult?

Bikes have been a deeply important part of my life. I cut my teeth riding a mountain bike all around my town growing up, and loved exploring the local trails.

While I biked a little in college, my adult bike journey began seriously when I moved to Milwaukee to volunteer with AmeriCorps during my first year out of college. I bought a mountain bike from a small shop down the street from my apartment. I had no car, so I got around the city mainly on the bus system and with this bike. I happened to live across the street from the Oak Leaf Trail, so that was my primary “on-ramp” to exploring the city by bike. Later, while living in Boston, I began bike commuting on the, uh, sometimes unfriendly streets of that city. I also got into doing long rides and bought my first road bike. Now living car-free in Minneapolis, where I moved in 2012, I got into year-round commuting (studded tires in the winter!), biking for general transportation, and hauling my kids around on the back of a cargo bike. 

Some recreational riding highlights include completing RAGBRAI 2018 with three friends, competing as the bicycle leg in several half-iron relay triathlons with teacher friends, as well as some multi-day New England journeys with my friends Seth and Nate. 

Tell us a bit about your background. How did you get into transportation advocacy, and what excites you about joining the League?

While I’d had a longtime interest in urbanism and multi-modal transportation, my sustainable transportation advocacy got a kick-start in 2021 when my young twins and I experienced two dire near-misses while crossing Lyndale Avenue, a dangerous county-owned arterial that runs through my neighborhood in Minneapolis. I became (a very small, but committed!) part of an organizing effort that pushed the county to do a 4:3 “road diet” pilot, which substantially lowered crashes for all street users and ultimately became permanent. As I sensed a growing passion for this, I was accepted to the 2023 Walking College Fellowship through America Walks. From that, I have been teaming up with a neighbor and friend to co-lead safe walking and rolling initiatives at our children’s school and through our neighborhood association. 

What are some of your favorite routes and trails to explore?

These days, all the routes around the Twin Cities! In addition to excellent and growing urban bike infrastructure, we have an extensive set of trails in the broader region that enable longer rides.

What bike are you riding now?

I ride three bikes these days:

• A Surly Cross-check which has been much overhauled to make it more upright, comfortable, and commuting-oriented,
• A road bike for longer recreational rides,
• And an e-cargo bike with my 6-year-old twins on the back — it’s my family’s “car”!

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During the campaign, Candidate Trump talked about pulling back funding from President Biden’s signature accomplishments including the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). 

This week marks the third anniversary of IIJA and to celebrate it, the Department of Transportation announced multiple grant awards including $172 million in Safe Streets for All awards. This $172 million means now $3 billion of Safe Streets planning and implementation grants have been awarded. Whether or not Congress will try and pull back this funding, or other funding from other grant programs in the new year is yet to be seen, but there are some things we can do to safeguard the funds that have already been awarded.

USDOT Map of SS4A Awards to Date from SS4A Fact Sheet

First, it’s important to understand that just because a grant has been announced, does not mean the funding is safe. For funding to be safe there needs to be a grant agreement or contract signed. When it comes to federal funding, this can take months. For local governments doing this for the first time, it can take even longer. 

Here’s what you can do in the meantime. Talk to your local government about who helped put the grant together, or who is supportive. If there were business interests, local advocacy organizations, etc., work with them to do the following:

1 — Publicize it as much as possible. Contact reporters at your local newspaper and radio station.  Put it out on social media, and on every organizational newsletter you know. 

2 — Say thank you to your Mayor or Tribal leader who applied for the grant. If there was anyone or any agency that wrote a letter of support or co-sponsored the grant, thank them too.  So if your state DOT signed off on the grant (and they almost definitely at least knew about it), make sure to thank the Governor and the DOT Secretary. Not sure? Ask your city or town’s planning department.

Those thank yous can be public and private. When Congress got rid of the requirement for state DOTs to have Safe Routes To School coordinators, one SRTS coordinator made sure every school sent homemade thank-you cards to the Secretary of Transportation. That coordinator kept her job for years! 

3 — Let your US Representative, or your US Representative-elect, know how important this grant is to your community.  Every member of Congress has a local office in your community, take the time to set up a meeting with community leaders to go in and talk to them about why the grant matters to their constituents. Invite them to visit the area the grant will address. Show them the articles in the paper. 

The more you publicize and thank everyone involved, the more they will feel ownership over the project and feel the need to help protect it. 

The post Will the Trump Administration pull back Transportation Grants? appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

For the 4th year in a row, the League of American Bicyclists is thrilled to announce that we are accepting proposals for Community Spark Grants! Launched in 2022, this mini-grant program awards organizations for projects and initiatives that catalyze a community’s ability to create places where bicycling is safer, easier, and more accessible. 

The League’s Community Spark Grants support the growing number of local grassroots changemakers and organizations nationwide working to improve their communities through better bicycling. This year, the awards have been increased to $2,000 each. Any nonprofit organization or public agency can apply to receive this funding. The goal is for organizations to propose projects that spark change by expanding the capacity for local leaders and creating inclusive coalitions that help build more Bicycle Friendly Communities. Learn more about project eligibility here.

In 2025, 10 Community Spark Grants will be awarded. Generous support for these grants comes from General Motors (GM). Of the 10 organizations to receive awards, five must be in GM Facility communities. The other five can be based anywhere in the United States but must align with our Equity and Accessibility criteria, which can be found below.

Equity and Accessibility Criteria

The League is proud to offer equity and accessibility criteria as a determining factor for at least five of the 10 Community Spark Grants this year. The questions within the application’s equity section are meant to help applying organizations demonstrate need, establish project scope, and describe community characteristics as applicable. We encourage potential applicants to take the League’s definition of equity and accessibility into consideration and use it as the framework for guidance in this section. 

The League firmly believes that Equity & Accessibility are essential lenses through which all other Bicycle Friendly America work must be viewed in order to achieve a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. The League defines “Equity” as the just and fair inclusion into a society in which everyone can participate and prosper. The goals of equity must be to create conditions that allow all to reach their full potential by erasing disparities in race, income, ability, geography, age, gender, and sexual orientation. The principle of equity acknowledges that there are historically underserved and underrepresented populations and that fairness regarding these unbalanced conditions is needed to assist equality in the provision of effective opportunities to all groups.

“Accessibility” refers to improving and increasing access to mobility options for everyone, particularly for people with disabilities. The League recognizes that not every disability is visible to others and that not every person with a mobility or accessibility need identifies as ‘disabled.’ Whether from a cognitive, sensory, or physical disability, age, temporary illness, or injury, there are people in every community who face a range of mobility challenges for whom a bike or cycle may open a world of possibilities to increase accessibility.

Disability Pride Ride, organized by The Street Trust Mobility Justice 101 workshop, organized by Go Gulfport Chain Reactions: Fixing Bikes, Empowering People, Building Community, organized by McClintock High School

We will review the applications holistically and use the specific equity and accessibility questions to help us narrow down the candidates. Selection will be based on those who demonstrate the highest impact of their project for the community with the most demonstrated need.

2025 Community Spark Grant Timeline

• Application Opens: November 12, 2024
• Application Closes: January 17, 2025 at 5pm ET
• Applications Reviewed: January/February 2025
• Applicants Selected and Notified: March 2025
• Project Execution: March-December 2025
• Final Reports Due: End of December 2025

Apply Here

We hope this seed funding can be the spark that puts your next idea into action! Learn more about the Community Spark Grant, how to apply, project eligibility, and deadlines, and read about past winners on the Community Spark Grant webpage: https://bikeleague.org/bfa/about-spark-grants/ 

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As we prepare for the second Trump Department of Transportation we have two things we can look at for direction. First, we have the first term of the Trump Administration, the discussions about an Infrastructure bill, discretionary grant awards, and how the previous administration set policy and implemented existing law. The second thing we can look at is Project 2025, a playbook for the next conservative administration, written by the Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation has been significantly involved in transportation policy, funding, and advocacy work for the last few decades. 

The other thing to consider is what President-Elect Trump has said during the campaign. However, these comments have mostly been limited to electric vehicles, and then contradictory. Until the summer, Trump voiced his plan to undo the Biden Administration’s pro-electric cars stances. Then in August Trump said, “I’m for electric cars. I have to be, because Elon [Musk] endorsed me very strongly.” The market seems to trust this latest pronouncement since Tesla’s share price increased by 13 percent the day after the election.  

On Transportation Bill Reauthorization Role of the Administration 

While Congress writes the laws, the president is often involved in the negotiations, and both the White House and DOT Advisors make the case for priorities. As an example, the Biden Administration weighed in heavily on the Safe Streets for All program and advocated for the $5 billion in funding it received in the past bill.

Trump Administration and Reauthorization of the Transportation Bill

In his first term, the Trump Administration tried often to get a transportation bill moving — the joke in Washington was that every week was infrastructure week. However, the administration and Republican congressional leaders had a hard time coming together on how to pay for a transportation bill without increasing the gas tax. Currently, federal transportation funding raised through the gas tax and other transportation-related taxes generally pays for 80 percent of new projects with state or local governments responsible for the remaining 20 percent. The Trump Administration’s proposal would have raised the state and/or local governments’ share to 50 percent or more for transportation projects. 

Project 2025

At this point, infrastructure investment seems to have fallen off the Trump Administration’s list of priorities, however the Heritage Foundation has several recommendations that we could see come into the discussion as we get closer to the election. 

Project 2025 echoes statements we’ve heard from Heritage for over a decade that bicycling, walking and transit projects are not in the federal interest and should not be eligible for federal funds. Project 2025 also argues that the DOT should discourage ‘Vision Zero’ projects as congestion creation. 

Discretionary Grant Awards Role of the Administration

Discretionary grants are those like Safe Streets for All and RAISE where Congress sets high level criteria and guidelines in the law but the US DOT interprets the criteria and is responsible for awarding the grants. 

Trump Administration

Even though Congress gives the Administration significant discretion in implementing grant programs, congressional leaders often expressed frustration with the Trump DOT under  Secretary Chao on the DOT’s process for discretionary grants. The Trump Administration infamously slow-walked Capital Investment Transit grants and did not meet the spirit of the congressional intent behind other grant programs. 

When it came to BUILD grants (now referred to as RAISE grants), the Chao DOT prioritized projects that improved interstate commerce and were in rural areas. One of the frustrations of congress members is that the administration counted interstate projects that ran through a rural county as benefiting small communities economically even when there were no exits to those communities. The Chao DOT did fund several complete streets in each round of grants as an answer to this criticism. 

Project 2025

Project 2025 calls for the end of discretionary grants, preferring that all federal transportation funds pass to state DOTs as large block grants. 

Setting Policy, Guidance, and Regulation Role of the Administration

One of the major roles of an administration is interpreting the law as written by Congress. This is a powerful role because transportation funds flow to states as reimbursement for projects built. The guidance tells states what they have to do to follow the law, and therefore be reimbursed.

For instance, federal law requires states to provide bicycling access — and in the 2021 IIJA, walking access — on bridge repair projects as long as it can be done for a reasonable cost.  Before the 2021 law, states could just state that providing access couldn’t be done for a reasonable cost. The Buttigieg DOT set “reasonable cost” as up to 20 percent of the price of the project, and required a state DOT to show the math if they wanted to be exempted. A new administration could just allow a state DOT to make the claim the cost is unreasonable and not require any proof or explanation.

Congress also directs the US DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set car safety regulations for automatic emergency braking for pedestrians, technology to stop drunk driving or autonomous vehicles.

The DOT can also use its own resources and expertise to forward the administration’s goals. The Buttigieg DOT also set internal policies and created external tools and guidance, such as the Equitable Transportation Community (ETC) Explorer, to help state DOTs meet the Biden Administration’s goals on climate and equity.

Trump Administration 

One of the first actions of the Trump Administration was to create the ‘one decision’ process in permitting to make it easier to get projects off the ground. It also continued to push for increased streamlining of big projects and was slow to implement performance measures. It was the Trump Administration that started the practice of allowing state DOTs to set regressive safety performance measures, allowing a state to set a goal of increased fatalities over five years. 

President Trump also set an executive order early in his presidency to say there could be no new regulation unless an old one was repealed. The result was we saw few, if any, new safety regulations out of NHTSA; instead the Chao DOT did promote some voluntary data-sharing agreements.

Project 2025

Project 2025 calls for fewer DOT rules and regulations, and admonishes a Republican administration to be clear that guidance is only guidance and not something the DOT can enforce. 

Project 2025 is bullish on autonomous vehicles (AVs), and calls on the US DOT to allow for more AVs to be sold. It also calls for the US DOT to remove the mandatory data sharing among AV companies now required by the Biden Administration. 

How can Congress respond? I’ll address that in my next blog.

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The League certifies hundreds of League Cycling Instructors every year and there are thousands of LCIs across the country leading bike education efforts in their communities. In our LCI spotlight series, we share the stories of League Cycling Instructors doing what they do daily: educating, mentoring, and empowering. You don’t have to be an extraordinary athlete or overachieving student to be a stellar LCI, all you need is the conviction that life is better for everyone when more people ride bikes.

Another month, another spotlight interview! We love passing the microphone to advocates, leaders, and changemakers who are strengthening the bike movement. This month, we played phone tag with Tempe, Arizona-based advocate and educator Patrick Valandra. Patrick has been a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) for years, and he recently doubled up with an LCA certification at our first-ever League Cycling Advocate workshop last March. We asked Patrick if he’s been using his LCI or LCA certification more frequently, and his answer was resounding: “Definitely advocacy. We’re in a good spot in Tempe, with huge opportunities on the horizon that I’ve seen coming for 10 or 15 years.”

Patrick, an avid traveler, showing how his folding bike fits neatly in an airplane’s overhead storage

What, if any, advocacy group, club, or bike organization are you a part of?

For many years, I was the President of Bike Tempe, also known as the Tempe Bicycle Action Group. I’m proud to say there is a new leadership group that has taken up the torch to promote cycling, and the organization is doing really well. They hosted an LCI Seminar here last fall which I volunteered to help with, and it was a great time.

I’ve also been working with Rez (Reservation) Gravel to put on events this summer. I’m Native American and grew up on a reservation here in AZ, we’ve been trying to open up some of those lands to cycling by promoting events. Lots of reservations are rural, with lots of forest roads and good gravel to ride on as well as great scenery and elevation. Rex Gravel will promote more events next year to highlight more reservations, especially ones that aren’t as visible as the ones around Phoenix and Tempe. The reservation I grew up on, White Mountain Apache, is four hours east of here. You can ride 400 miles without ever seeing a paved road. We want to celebrate the landscape and the culture of each reservation and provide economic opportunity by sourcing all event materials and supplies from within the community. 

Is there a moment or experience that solidified your commitment to bike advocacy? 

I grew up in a really rural environment. As kids, we had bikes that we’d ride all over the reservation. We were literally wild Indians, doing whatever we wanted to do and going wherever we wanted to go. When I grew up and joined the military, I got a bike instead of a car and realized biking was still a viable option for getting around. I was stationed all over — North Carolina, Georgia, Houston, even NJ on the east coast — and I got to ride my bike everywhere I went. 

What first motivated you to become an LCI? 

When I became board president of the Tempe Bicycle Action Group, my vision was for every board member to certify in Traffic Skills 101 and become an LCI. We set up a seminar in town and we got four of six board members trained right away. I also advocated for sending people to the National Bike Summit, because this is where ideas get exchanged. This is an opportunity to expand our perceptions and see other ways of succeeding. I’ve been going to the Summit for the past ten years, and I’ve never had a bad one. In fact, it was the bike advocacy workshop following the 2024 National Bike Summit where I got my LCA certification. There’s always something cool to do, people to meet, and, after the day’s activities wrap up, so many options around DC to get into some late-night karaoke! 

What’s one takeaway from the LCA Workshop that you are incorporating into your bike advocacy?

The first takeaway is that we as a movement have needed this type of training for a while. The engagement was phenomenal and I wish I could’ve joined the Philly workshop, too. My second takeaway was a lesson about leadership, and how we as leaders balance responsibility, accountability, and authority. Suppose someone wants to do something in their town, whether it’s down the street or across the country. Your first thought might be, well, what can I do? What is my responsibility to this person? As leaders, we have to think about how to show up for each other and be willing to take responsibility.

Patrick (second from right) at the first League Cycling Advocate workshop in Washington, D.C.

Whether it’s making a donation, offering a piece of advice, or organizing a letter of support — there’s a lot we can do. Technologically speaking, we’re more linked up than ever before. Our capacity will only grow as more trained leaders like League Cycling Advocates are active in our communities. 

What project or campaign are you involved with right now?

From a nonprofit leadership perspective, I’ve been getting involved with a project to help veterans access whitewater rafting. The idea is to connect veterans with nature, teach them how to paddle, learn water safety skills, and build up a sense of community. I just filed that paperwork last week to incorporate the nonprofit. We’ve already put in some permits for the Grand Canyon, and we’ve spent months training on whitewater in Colorado.

What is one of your core memories from being on a bike?

One of the strongest memories I have is from my childhood. I was about eight years old, riding my bike with a bunch of kids, and my friend Keno and I bumped wheels and crashed. Luckily, we weren’t going too fast (although at the time, we thought we were flying) and no one was seriously hurt. We decided to push our bikes back up the hill to Keno’s house. His mom wasn’t home, so we got the hose out and cleaned up the scrapes ourselves. It was a bonding moment for us, and we’re still in touch to this day. 

That was my first big crash, so the memory really stuck with me. It also moved me toward my career path in medicine — all the other kids were grossed out by the scrapes, but I didn’t mind it. So in a way, that experience helped get me into the army as a combat medic and eventually into my past career in Healthcare IT.

What is your favorite thing about being on a bike?

I’ve always equated bicycling with the ability to be free, to expand my horizons around what’s possible. As a kid, you can walk a mile without too much trouble, but then when you get a bike, one mile is nothing! A mile goes by before you know it, quickly turning into five or six miles, and your world just keeps growing. Being on a bike is also great for your wellbeing. It’s a great way to think without distraction, get your pace going and your body moving. Anytime I need to be alone, I just go pedal around. Some days I go to the park, an easy 30-mile ride, and other days I’ll go out into the middle of the desert and just ride as long as I can. No traffic, no worries — as long as you bring enough water! 

Give us an interesting or funny fact about you.

I was recently told, “You see things in the future before others do. You tend to think other people can see the same thing, but they don’t.” But I don’t always want to be that guy — if people can’t see what I see, how do I explain to others my vision for the cycling community? That comment made me step back and consider how this could be a leadership learning point. My funny fact is that I am crazy for cycling gloves! I have at least 10 pairs and some haven’t even been unwrapped!

What advice do you have for emerging leaders in bike advocacy?

You might not always know where a project is going, but just keep trying. Don’t give up. Continue developing your skill sets, keep a great attitude, and you’ll always end up with a great result or a new skill!

Where do you see the future of bike advocacy heading? 

I appreciate how the League focuses on federal legislation and translates what that means for the cycling community, and I have a feeling we’ll see an increase in those strings coming back locally. Especially now that we’re training LCAs, we’re going to see more local leaders reach out to leverage national connections — to ask, how will this legislation impact my city? How can we tactically align for it to work out well for us? A national network also helps small towns and cities better understand and ask questions like, “Are we doing the right thing in terms of Vision Zero? What can we do to improve?” So I love the strategy the League has. We have to play to the tactics on the ground to keep moving forward. 

The post LCI & Advocate Spotlight: Patrick Valandra appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

The bike movement is led by tens of thousands of state and local advocates across the country who make the case for better biking at city council meetings, state legislatures, and local op-ed pages. We’re celebrating these leaders in the movement in our series by spotlighting the individuals at the local level who will hopefully inspire you to take the next step in your advocacy journey.  

In our inaugural advocate spotlight, we’re thrilled to speak to Ken Podziba, CEO of Bike New York, past chair of the League’s Board of Directors, and now a director emeritus of the board. Prior to joining Bike New York, Podziba served as the New York City Sports Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner/Chief Financial Officer of the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Youth & Community Development, and urban planner for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development. He earned an MS at Columbia University’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and a BS at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications and Whitman School of Management.

Ken Podziba (left) networks with fellow leaders on day three of the League’s 2024 National Bike Summit.

Q: Congratulations on your recent appointment as a Director Emeritus of the League of American Bicyclists Board of Directors. After your years of service chairing the League, how are you approaching this new role? A: It’s been a privilege to serve on the League’s board since 2015, and I’m truly honored to be able to continue working with this extraordinary organization with such a rich history and an even brighter future.  I’m grateful to the League’s board of directors for this appointment and look forward to continue working with them in this new capacity and supporting them in their efforts to create safer and more equitable streets, strengthen communities, fundraise, and implement the strategic plan. 

Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the cycling community today?

A: There are far too many communities in our country with significant barriers to bicycling, including a lack of protected bike lanes, poor bike design, and negative perceptions of bicyclists. We need to continue educating stakeholders and advocating for greater investments in bicycling infrastructure, particularly in historically underserved communities.  So much progress has been made, but these success stories are all reminders of how much more still needs to be done, and I know the League will not rest until there’s truly a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. 

Q: How does Bike New York contribute to the League’s mission?

A: Bike New York is a proud member of the League and runs the largest free bike education program in the country based on the League’s Smart cycling program.  We recently co-launched a national Kids Learn to Ride program with the League, and we hope to be able to partner with the League on more initiatives through education and advocacy. We also want to work with the League on bringing some of our successful programs to other bike organizations around the country.  Our Bike Path program for example trains formerly incarcerated individuals to become bike mechanics who then secure good-paying jobs at Citi Bike, NYC’s bike share provider.  We’d also like to promote more programs, like Recycle-A-Bicycle, in which we encourage New Yorkers to donate their old bikes to us rather than having them sent to a landfill.  We, in turn, completely refurbish these bikes and either give them away to people who can’t afford them or sell these born-again bikes in our community bike shop in Brooklyn. 

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring cycling advocates?

A: My advice is for them to get involved with the League and their local bike advocacy group.  They should attend their neighborhood community board and council meetings, as well as the National Bike Summit.  Every bike advocate has a responsibility to fight for the safety of all road users and to help create the next generation of advocates.  One person can make an incredible difference, and the feeling of improving and saving lives, however challenging the process may be, is extremely rewarding and purely exhilarating. 

Know an inspiring bike advocate we should feature next? Submit your nominations here!

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Last week, I joined hundreds of other professionals at the second annual AASHTO Safety Summit. It was a great conference focused on our nation’s traffic safety crisis and the key role that state Departments of Transportation play in addressing that crisis. If you’d like to take a deep dive into the 2024 Safety Summit hosted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), I encourage you to browse live tweets from the Conference by Barb Chamberlain, director of the Active Transportation Division, WA State Dept. of Transportation, and myself. For a much shorter version, here are my five takeaways:

1. The Safety Summit is now an annual event

Last year was the first AASHTO Safety Summit and it was great to see a sequel. Even better,  Jim Tymon, AASHTO’s executive director, repeatedly emphasized that the Safety Summit will be an annual event moving forward. His opening remarks focused on safety as a priority and on the success of the Summit, “I speak for all AASHTO members when I say state DOTs have no higher or urgent priority than safety. And attendance at last year’s and this year’s [safety] summit really does demonstrate that.” As an annual event, the Safety Summit will keep AASHTO members and staff focused on safety and ensure that Summits can build momentum off each other.

2. Content is led by the Safety Committee 

According to AASHTO, “Much of AASHTO’s work is done by forums, councils, committees, and task forces comprised of member department personnel who serve voluntarily.” The Safety Committee is one of seven Enterprise/Cross-discipline Committees, with a further seven subcommittees. Many of the speakers in breakout and plenary sessions came from the membership of the safety committee, with state DOT personnel like John Milton, Vice Chair of the Safety Committee and Director of Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis at Washington State DOT, leading multiple panels. The content and personnel of the Safety Summit reflected the work and interests of the Safety Committee and this provides valuable public insight into the work of AASHTO on safety.

3. Speed is recognized as an important topic

I was at the AASHTO Safety Summit to present on the League’s Slow Roads Save Lives initiative during a poster session. So it was great to see speed addressed in many sessions, including plenaries such as “Comprehensive Approach to Managing Speeds” and “Speed Management Through Non-Infrastructure Strategies.” Speed was also a key theme in the lunch keynote by David Harkey of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, who also took part in a Slow Roads Save Lives webinar last year. While many state DOTs have supported flawed approaches like the 85th percentile method for speed limit setting, it was clear that there is interest and effort in changing that culture and recognizing how slower speeds can save lives.

4. It’s still popular to point at human behavior

Traffic safety in the United States has traditionally been about changing human behavior. Infamously, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said for years that 94% of crashes were due to human error. As one speaker said, this approach is like creating a water system where each person has to ensure that the water coming out of the tap is safe by boiling or filtering it. We don’t design water systems that way, and we shouldn’t design our transportation system so that safety depends on perfect actions by each end user. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy also asked the attendees to extend compassion and think beyond blame to see how DOTs can create safety even when people make bad decisions. Despite these promising messages, it was still popular to point to human behaviors to explain short-term changes in traffic deaths or to point to enforcement as the best way to control speeds rather than engaging with the underlying role of the roads built by DOTs or funding priorities for capacity rather than safety.

5. Funding and legislation is a missing piece

While it is easy to say that safety is the number one priority, the fact is that safety is not the largest budget item of most, if any, state DOTs. At the federal level, the National Highway Performance Program, which supports the capacity of the National Highway System, was funded for over 29 billion dollars in 2023 and the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which supports a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, was funded for slightly over 3 billion dollars in 2023. Almost 10 times the funding goes to capacity over safety, and books could be written about how the culture of capacity over safety has been created by and persists in American transportation agencies. As a Safety Summit for professionals, the focus was on things that people can implement within their current funding environments but at some point saying “safety first” while funding “capacity first” will need to be addressed.

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WASHINGTON, DC — The League of American Bicyclists is proud to celebrate 42 institutes of higher education in this year’s round of Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) awards, with an additional three institutions earning Honorable Mentions. Among the 42 awardees, eleven campuses are renewing their Gold-level BFU designations, and one campus, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, is renewing their Platinum-level designation. The entire cohort of new and renewing awardees brings the total number of Bicycle Friendly Universities to 209 nationwide, each joining a network of peers united by a shared commitment to creating a Bicycle Friendly America for all.

“When universities make biking easier, safer, and more accessible, they’re not just helping students get from point A to point B—they’re leading the charge in creating a more sustainable future,” said Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “By prioritizing better biking, Bicycle Friendly Universities are empowering students and staff to make choices that benefit their health, their environment, and their communities.”

This celebration is particularly salient during Campus Sustainability Month, a time when many members of the higher education community are taking stock of their sustainability initiatives and looking to peer institutions to inspire best practices and future goals. Bicycle Friendly Universities are the standard-bearers among campuses, as their commitment to better biking is an investment in the next generation. By equipping young leaders with the tools to address climate challenges and prioritize sustainable transportation solutions, BFUs are taking steps to empower their students to forge a more livable future. 

Earth Day “Ride to the Turbine” at Central Community College, a Bronze BFU in Grand Island, Nebraska.

One example is the University of Oregon, a renewing Gold-level BFU, whose Comprehensive Environmental Policy “supports alternatives to commuting by single occupancy vehicles and encourages students, employees and guests to use alternatives that minimize environmental impact.” Among other actions, UO has pledged to “reduce drive-alone commute trips to the Corvallis campus by one-third, from 30% today to 20% by 2030.” 

A similar spirit is echoed by Luther College of Decorah, Iowa. “Luther College’s commitment to bicycling is grounded within a deep commitment to sustainability and community. Luther’s Center for Sustainable Communities has been the home for the bicycle share program, and the home base for three iterations of student groups over the past decade, including the most recent group that has bridged beyond student participation to establish a more long-lasting, permanent Bicycle Advisory Committee that includes students, faculty, staff and administrators.” 

Notably, Luther College received a Silver award based on the college’s first-ever application in 2024. Five other campuses received Bronze-level recognition on their first time applications this year, and three campuses received Honorable Mention. The BFU program is not a participation trophy; it’s an intensive tool for colleges and universities to assess their efforts, benchmark progress, and receive actionable feedback. From Bronze to the as-of-yet-unachieved Diamond level, each award designation requires demonstrated, continuous effort to maintain. In this round, one school moved down in award level from Silver to Bronze, while two others—Cornell University and Oklahoma State University—returned to the list after their previous BFU designations expired. Twenty-two schools did not renew their awards this year and were removed from the list of current BFU awardees.

The challenges of recent years, including the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have tested universities’ commitment to biking initiatives. “In honesty, we lost momentum due to COVID,” said a representative of the University of Tulsa, a renewing Bronze BFU. “In submitting this application, I am hoping to get feedback to help improve our campus in regard to being bicycle friendly.” 

This round serves as a reminder that achieving and maintaining a Bicycle Friendly University designation demands continuous effort, but each step—or pedal stroke—toward better biking contributes to a healthier, more sustainable future. From expanding bike infrastructure to fostering a culture of active transportation, campuses nationwide are finding creative ways to keep the wheels of progress turning.

Find the full list of 42 new and renewing BFUs & Honorable Mentions here.

Find the full list of all 209 current BFU awardees here.

If your university would like to join the League’s growing movement to build safe streets for all and a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone, submissions for the 2025 round of the Bicycle Friendly University program are due by August 7, 2025.

About the Bicycle Friendly University℠ Program

Apply for BFU Status

Bicycle Friendly University awards reflect local leaders’ ongoing work to build better places to bike and evaluate those efforts as part of a national movement. Each of the five levels of the Bicycle Friendly University award – diamond, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze, plus an honorable mention category – provide a clear path for businesses to continuously improve. Visit bikeleague.org/university to learn more about the BFU program.

About the League Of American Bicyclists

Since 1880, the League of American Bicyclists has been people-powered, with a goal to make bicycling safer and easier as a means of transportation and recreation. Today, the League continues to improve lives and strengthen communities through bicycling. We are more than 200,000 members and supporters strong with more than 1,000 state and local advocacy groups and bike clubs as well as thousands of businesses, universities, and communities together leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. 

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Last year, the League of American Bicyclists published the Bicycle Friendly Community Ideabook — a resource designed to inspire innovative ideas for making biking better in communities nationwide. In celebration of Indigenous People’s Day, we’re highlighting an excerpt from the BFC Ideabook that showcases Anchorage, Alaska’s unique approach to weaving local Indigenous cultures into its built environment.

At the League, we envision a Bicycle Friendly America where everyone can experience the joy and wellbeing that bicycling brings—celebrating diverse identities and histories in the process. At every stage of planning transportation networks for people biking and walking, there’s an opportunity to prioritize equity and accessibility in our built environment. Whether it’s placemaking through public art installations or using inclusive language on way-finding signage, our communities grow stronger when we celebrate culture and honor our local histories. Keep reading to explore how the Anchorage Park Foundation and local Indigenous leaders are making this vision a reality in Anchorage.

In Silver-level BFC Anchorage, Alaska, the Anchorage Park Foundation has worked with local Indigenous leaders to incorporate Indigenous place names, culture, and history on trails and in parks. According to Anchorage’s 2021 BFC application, The Indigenous Place Names Project  “aims to creatively, accurately, and beautifully highlight the culture and history of Anchorage and our indigenous people.” The effort began when Aaron Leggett, Dena’ina scholar and president of the local Native Village of Eklutna, proposed the project to the Foundation, which then secured funding from the Rasmuson Foundation to begin the work in 2018. The Foundation describes this project as “a movement to bring Dena’ina culture to our built environment and place name signage” to honor the Dena’ina landscape in the Anchorage area. 

The signs installed through this project are designed by local Indigenous artists. Not only do the artistic placemaking signs feature the original Dena’ina-language names of the places where the signs are located, but they also share stories and help tell the history of the places and their significance to the Indigenous communities who have lived in the region for generations. 

Nuch’ishtunt, which is the Dena’ina word for Pt. Woronzof, and means “place protected from wind.” This is a sculpture along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. Chanshtnu, the Dena’ina word for Chester Creek, and means “grassy creek.” The Chester Creek Trail is also a favorite biking trail, and there is another Chanshtnu sign at the other end of the creek at Westchester Lagoon.

“Indigenous place names encompass relationships with the land, water and animals of an environment. To the Dena’ina place names convey a sense of history and oral traditions that inform people about Anchorage’s diverse geography. Dena’ina names stand in stark contrast to the European practice of naming places after people, such as Chester, Potter, and Woronzof.” — Diana Rhoades, Director of Community Engagement at the Anchorage Park Foundation

The Foundation shares these lessons learned for other communities: “From this project, we’ve learned that to change the paradigm and create a city that honors the Indigenous Place, there must be three components: 1. The leadership of a local culture bearer;  2. Advisory oversight from a broad base of stakeholders; and 3. Involvement of an Indigenous artist if it is appropriate to the project. It is the combination of these three elements that allow a project to become part of a Movement and live beyond initial contributors to the next generation of our community.”

Opening ceremony at Hkatidali, the Dena’ina word for Potter Marsh, which means “drift lumber.” Photo: Mike Conti.

Anchorage’s Indigenous Place Names Project serves as a powerful example of how communities can honor Indigenous history and culture within the fabric of their built environment. By weaving Indigenous stories into wayfinding signage and public art installations, Anchorage is not only creating a more Bicycle Friendly Community, but also ensuring the history and voices of the Dena’ina people are recognized and celebrated.

As more and more communities embrace efforts to uplift Indigenous voices and heritage, the lessons from Anchorage remind us that inclusive leadership and meaningful partnerships are key to creating lasting change. We look forward to seeing how more communities will incorporate these elements to build a Bicycle Friendly America for all. For more inspiration, keep exploring the BFC Ideabook and interactive Ideabook map, and watch the video below to learn more about the Indigenous Place Names Project.

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When it comes to fostering a culture of cycling on campus, only a select few universities have achieved the highest award level of Platinum Bicycle Friendly University (BFU). In last year’s round of BFU awards, three institutions— Stanford University, Colorado State University (CSU), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison—have risen to the top of their class as renewing Platinums and leaders in the BFU program. These campuses have gone above and beyond to create safe, accessible, and innovative cycling environments for their students, faculty, and staff. Join us as we dive into what makes these universities stand out and how they’re leading the charge for better biking from campus to the broader community. 

Stanford University in Stanford, CA

• First applied: 2011
• Achieved Platinum in: 2011

As the first university to achieve Platinum Bicycle Friendly University status in 2011, Stanford University has consistently set the standard for improving cycling accessibility and safety in higher education. With extensive on-campus bikeways, over 20,000 bike parking spaces, and twelve bike repair stands across campus, Stanford continually prioritizes improvements to support the 22% of students who commute via bike. Recent initiatives include a separated bike lane pilot on Santa Teresa, improving safety for both bicyclists and motorists, and a campus-wide “Share the Road” training webinar to encourage mutual respect among all roadway users.

Stanford’s Bike to Work Day in 2015

Stanford’s efforts also focus on inclusivity, using Transportation Survey data to identify demographic trends in bike commuting and ensure equitable access to safe cycling. Their efforts extend beyond campus, working in partnership with local nonprofits like Live in Peace Bike Shop by donating bikes and revamping their bike mechanic apprenticeship program. Ariadne Scott, Stanford’s assistant director of active mobility, is looking to increase that support even more: “The Transportation team continues to prioritize understanding and erasing barriers to help unlock a more inclusive bicycle community across Stanford and beyond.”

Keep reading about how Stanford continues to excel as a BFU »

Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO

• First applied: 2011
• Achieved Platinum in: 2015

Colorado State University (CSU) has earned Platinum Bicycle Friendly University status through its ongoing commitment to creating a safe and inclusive cycling culture. CSU integrates cycling into its recruitment efforts through events like campus bike tours for prospective students and a “We Ride” event during move-in weekend, promoting bike culture from day one. We’re particularly excited about their growing list of bike-related courses — from learning the basics of bike riding in “Learn to Ride” to assembling and tuning an entire bicycle in “Bicycling 201: Bike Build,” CSU’s class list offers a variety of on-bike and off-bike options for students.

Colorado State University students ride bicycles on the bike path south of the Student Recreation Center, November 4, 2015.

CSU’s focus on equity and safety is equally impressive. Their student-run bike shop, The Spoke, offers affordable long-term bike rentals to make cycling more accessible, as well as intentionally recruiting mechanics who are women, bilingual and people of color, to create a welcoming environment for all on campus. CSU also connects students with cognitive disabilities with bike buddies to help them learn their bike routes to campus. Additionally, through initiatives like bilingual wayfinding and the Vision Zero Task Force, CSU strives to ensure that all people and all transportation modes are accommodated. 

Learn more about CSU’s innovations by checking out their impressive application materials here »

University of Wisconsin at Madison in Madison, WI

• First applied: 2011
• Achieved Platinum in: 2019

Since earning its Platinum Bicycle Friendly University status in 2019, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has continued to enhance its bike-friendly infrastructure. The campus now boasts 16,540 bike parking spaces, surpassing the number of car parking spots by about 20%. With five miles of off-street bike paths, five miles of on-street bike lanes, and a woonerf that prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists along East Campus Mall, UW Madison has made cycling an integral part of campus life.

UW Madison’s mascot Bucky Badger on a bike ride. Photo: Chuck Strawser.

In fact, 14% of students and 17% of UW faculty and staff use a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation. Even in the face of Wisconsin’s harsh winters, three percent of students and staff still continue to bike throughout winter months, a testament to the university’s strong cycling culture. Recent initiatives include hiring a dedicated bicycle educator, implementing multi-modal traffic counting software, and creating an annual pavement marking plan to improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

Learn more about UW Madison’s approach to better biking »

Conclusion

The path to Platinum is no easy feat, but these three universities have proven that strong leadership and a commitment to cycling can transform campuses. As we celebrate their successes, their stories offer valuable lessons for any institution of higher education looking to promote active transportation. Stay tuned for our next round of 2024 BFU awards announcements in the coming weeks, and mark your calendars for the 2025 Bicycle Friendly University application opening soon as well! Keep an eye out at bikeleague.org/university, and get started with the basics by watching our BFU 101 webinar.

The post The Platinum Standard: How Stanford, CSU, and UW Madison Achieved Top Marks as Bicycle Friendly Universities appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

The League of American Bicyclists is proud to celebrate the Week Without Driving, a challenge launched in 2021 by disability rights advocate and League board member, Anna Zivarts. The Week Without Driving challenge was created “so that those who have the option to drive can learn firsthand about the barriers and challenges that nondrivers face and work with nondrivers to create more accessible communities for all.” We hope the following excerpt from Anna’s book, “When Driving Is Not An Option,” inspires you to join the challenge in solidarity with all the nondrivers out there who bike, walk, and roll every day.

Anna Zivarts, League board member and organizer of Week Without Driving

From When Driving Is Not An Option by Anna Letitia Zivarts. Copyright © 2024 Anna Letitia Zivarts. Reproduced by permission of Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Ivy Take grew up in New Brunswick, Canada, and was born with nystagmus like me. Growing up, she knew that she didn’t have enough vision to drive: “I wouldn’t see things soon enough to make a safe decision, like to stop if something was crossing the road unexpectedly,” she explained. Take met her husband at the University of New Brunswick and started raising a family in Alberta. When her oldest child was in kindergarten, they made the move to Oro Valley, a suburb on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, for her husband’s job. She made sure they found a house within walking distance of an elementary school, but the house wasn’t within walking distance of anything else, and transit service in Oro Valley didn’t exist at that time.

At first, Take was mostly reliant on her husband for rides, but he traveled a lot for work and so she was stuck at home too often. Then she saw her neighbor’s golf cart, and after carefully mapping out routes she could take to avoid major arterials where she wouldn’t be able to safely drive it, Take bought one herself. Next, she got seat belts installed for her elementary school–aged kids and strapped a large Rubbermaid container to the rear-facing seat to carry groceries. The golf cart was a hit. Her kids’ friends always wanted to get a ride with her because the prospect of getting somewhere in a golf cart was far more exciting than the usual ride in a minivan. “Boy, did it ever help me,” Take said. “Just to get the kids to playdates, drive them to piano lessons. I could drive my son to Boy Scouts.”

To cross larger streets, Take would often have to pull up on the sidewalk and push the pedestrian crosswalk button. She would frequently get stopped by the police, and she remembers being pulled over on her very first trip out of the neighborhood when she drove onto the sidewalk to push the walk button. Each time, she was able to explain her situation to the police and she was never ticketed, but in the back of her mind, Take always worried that she would get in trouble because of the legal uncertainty around her driving a golf cart on city streets. Initially, Take even tried to get a license plate for her golf cart, but the department of licensing required proof of insurance, and the insurance company required a driver’s license. The insurance company offered to issue the policy to her husband, but Take figured if she was
driving the golf cart, it wouldn’t cover her. So, she decided to risk driving without plates, which was what most golf cart users in Tucson do anyway.

As e-bikes became more widely available and affordable, Take replaced her golf cart with an e-bike. The e-bike batteries last far longer than the golf cart batteries, and she appreciates being able to ride longer distances. On a bike, she doesn’t have to spend as much time plotting and mapping which roads she can ride on and how to get to a destination. It also helps that the Tucson region has continued to build out an extensive trail network, called “The Loop,” which allows her to get more places using multiuse trails.

Many disabled people who cannot drive rely on bikes, trikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters for transportation. Like Take, I bike for transportation, and I’ve met lots of other low-vision adults who use bikes because they can’t drive. While it is not safe for someone like Take or me, with less than 20/40 vision, to drive a multi-ton vehicle at 75 miles per hour, we can safely pilot a small, light vehicle going less than 20 miles per hour. People who can’t drive because of physical or cognitive disabilities may find biking works for them too, and I’ve gotten to know people with autism as well as those with mental health conditions who find biking is a safe option when driving is not.

Cody Shane Fairweather lives in the small rural community of Chewelah, Washington, in a farm valley near the border with Canada. Because of developmental disabilities, Fairweather can’t drive, but he rides a three-wheeled bike (like an adult-sized trike) to get around town, from his house to the library, to the grocery store. “It gets me where I have to go,” he explained, showing off his trike with a large back cargo basket. “The basket helps me haul groceries and books and stuff.”

As in many rural communities, the main street of Chewelah also serves as Highway 395, connecting the regional center of Spokane to a busy agricultural border crossing with Canada. There are no bike lanes on this road, and the city council passed an ordinance banning people from riding bikes on the sidewalk. “It’s really not a bike-friendly town,” Fairweather commented. “There’s no bike lanes. We’re not allowed to ride on the sidewalks on Main Street—we have to push our bicycles. It’s kind of a pain.”

Crossing this state highway is also a challenge. There’s only one stoplight in town, which Fairweather has to detour out of his way to use to get from his home to his job at the library. Traffic volumes are only expected to get worse as the state invests in a major highway widening project along a section of this highway closer to Spokane.

For people who use trikes, recumbents, handcycles, and cargo e-bikes, where bike infrastructure exists, it often isn’t accessible. Bollards used to keep cars out of bike lanes can be too narrow for wider bike frames; bike parking often can’t accommodate these “nontraditional” bikes, and they can be too heavy to carry up and down stairs and too large to fit in elevators. Trikes, recumbents, and handcycles are also expensive, making them increased targets for theft.

Leroy Moore is a Black disabled cyclist who has competed in the Paralympics. He got around on a three-wheeled bike when he was living in the East Bay near San Francisco. Moore described frequently getting pulled over by police who would tell him either that it’s unsafe to ride in the street or that he should not ride on the sidewalk and should ride on the street. 28 Although bikes are allowed on Bay Area Regional Transit (BART), it is often impossible to bring heavier cargo bikes, trikes, or recumbents on transit. Moore has had two trikes stolen when he locked them at Oakland BART stations.

While the increased availability of e-bikes and e-trikes, including less-expensive models, is creating more opportunities for some disabled people to get where they need to go, wheelchair users have few affordable options because of the expense and difficulty in sourcing powerchairs that are designed to meet their needs.

Ian Mackay is a powerchair user who was a mountain biker before he became paralyzed. Being outdoors has always been important to his mental health, and so after his injury he spent a lot of time getting the equipment he needs to do long powerchair rides outdoors. He started a nonprofit, Ian’s Ride, that supports other disabled people by giving them opportunities to experience the outdoors. Annually, he organizes a three-day “Sea to Sound” supported tour along a rail-to-trail segment on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Mackay also organizes annual challenge rides for which he pushes equipment manufacturers to provide powerchairs, nudging them to advance their technology to support traveling longer distances in more weather conditions over different types of terrain. In 2022, Mackay rode the Great American Rail-Trail from Washington, DC, to Columbus, Ohio, around 450 miles. In previous years, he’s ridden across Washington State, over the Cascade Range.

“Oftentimes, people’s lifestyles are shaped by the equipment that they have,” Mackay explained in frustration. “People could do so much more, and the equipment is determining the direction of their life. A family should be able to go spend the day at Disneyland and not run out of batteries.” Powerchairs usually run on lead-acid batteries that have a very limited range and have to be replaced annually. With the lead-acid batteries that came with his chair, Mackay has a range of about fourteen miles. In contrast, the lithium battery pack he put together to use on his chair gets closer to eighty miles. But lithium batteries are more expensive than the lead-acid batteries, so insurance often won’t cover them. Because most people rely on insurance to cover the cost of their chairs, wheelchair manufacturers are motivated to build what insurance will approve, not necessarily what wheelchair users need or want.

As much as those of us who can bike, e-bike, trike, or roll will benefit from accessible and continuous infrastructure for biking and rolling, it’s important to recognize that this same infrastructure, especially if designed without consideration, can create barriers for other disabled people. If you are a person who has a mobility disability or chronic health condition that makes walking or rolling difficult, and you rely on driving or being driven to get places, having parking access close to where you need to be, parking access with wheelchair loading that is not obstructed by or in conflict with a bike lane, is critical.

“Sometimes there’s an assumption that if a project improves active transportation safety overall, then it’s a win for disabled people. That is not always the case,” explains Maddy Ruvolo, who is a disabled transportation planner for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and a member of the United States Access Board. Ruvolo points out how protected cycling lanes can make it impossible for people with wheelchairs or mobility aids to safely exit a car and get to the sidewalk.

“In my experience, there is often a design solution that maintains or increases access for disabled people while improving safety for cyclists,” she elaborated, explaining that parking-protected cycling lanes can and should be designed with enough space for someone to safely get out of a vehicle with an accessible path of travel from the parking to the curb. “The key thing is that access doesn’t happen automatically: accessibility has to be baked into the design process,” Ruvolo offers as a reminder to planners and cycling infrastructure advocates. For people who are blind or low vision, feeling comfortable navigating often comes from being familiar with a space and knowing what to anticipate, and so encountering unexpected barrierscan be disorienting and dangerous. Too often, “quick-build,” pop-up, or temporary street redesigns, intended to minimize community opposition to change because they are only experiments and not permanent changes, are not designed with accessibility in the forefront. The consequence of this is that blind and low-vision or other disabled community members suddenly find that a street they knew how to navigate safely has become unnavigable because of new bike infrastructure, pedestrian plazas, or floating bus stops.

Because many of these new streetscape designs are being tried in communities for the first time, there is little standardization, so a person who is blind trying to understand if a tactile strip indicates they are ending a road or crossing into a shared bike lane or floating bus stop doesn’t have an answer. Inconsistencies between treatments can be dangerous: a low-vision power wheelchair user I know flipped her chair off a curb when she thought she was rolling down a curb ramp marked by the bright yellow tactile strip. But instead, the yellow strip was demarcating a bus stop in a transit center.

“Accessibility is not a competition but rather a collaboration. It involves problem-solving and focuses on the goal of leaving no one behind,” shared Vancouver, British Columbia–based disabled writer and policy analyst Gabrielle Peters. 29 “Where prioritization must occur, it must be focused on those with the least access currently, those facing the most barriers, and this includes considering the impact of any and all intersecting oppression, such as racism, gender discrimination, income, and classism.” 30

Notes:

28. Rooted In Rights, Disability Rights Washington, “Disabled People Ride Bikes (and Trikes,
    and Tandems and Recumbents)!” March 1, 2021,
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzCPvsPGhbU.
29. In the summer of 2019, Peters collaborated with the BC Bike Coalition to bring mobility
    justice advocates from across the US and Canada to speak at the Bike Coalition’s annual
    conference. Being invited to participate in this conference, where Peters brought disabled
    advocates and people working in public health together with seniors and immigrant and First
    Nation communities, helped me start to imagine the possibility of connecting disability mobility
    advocacy to other conversations about equity in public space.
30. Gabrielle Peters, “Accessibility Is Not a Competitive Sport,” G Peters (MsSineNomine)
    Substack, August 17, 2023, https://mssinenomine.substack.com/p/accessibility-is-not-a-
    competitive.

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The League certifies hundreds of League Cycling Instructors every year and there are thousands of LCIs across the country leading bike education efforts in their communities. In our LCI spotlight series, we share the stories of League Cycling Instructors doing what they do daily: educating, mentoring, and empowering. You don’t have to be an extraordinary athlete or overachieving student to be a stellar LCI, all you need is the conviction that life is better for everyone when more people ride bikes.

This month, we’re excited to introduce you to Lauren Newman, Youth & Schools Organizer for Transportation Alternatives (TA). For 50 years, TA has led the movement for safe, equitable streets in New York City. Lauren joined their ranks last September, bringing her youth organizing experience to help NYC’s young people transform their city’s streets for the better. “Lauren has this incredible ability to connect with young people and inspire them to see the power they have to create change,” shared Nicole Rodriguez, Transportation Alternatives’ Events and Partnerships Manager. “Her passion and dedication make her an amazing role model for the next generation of leaders.” Get ready to be inspired as we take a closer look at Lauren’s journey as a cycling educator and youth organizer.

Know an inspiring LCI we should feature next? Nominate a stellar bike educator here! 

Tell me a little about yourself and your background. 

I grew up in Washington DC and consider it my home base, even though I moved around a lot growing up. My formative years were spent in DC, so I relied a lot on public transit. When I got old enough, biking was my favorite form of transportation. I had a friend who was passionate about biking to school but the four-mile commute made me wonder, do I really want to start my day all sweaty? Not to mention how scary rush hour traffic sounded. Eventually, my friend convinced me to try taking the scenic route. She lived near Capitol Hill so I would bike up Pennsylvania Ave through protected bike lanes. The experience was so liberating. At that point, I was like okay, well now I’m hooked! 

Even then, I didn’t see cycling as part of my identity, more of an activity that I enjoy doing. Fast forward to five years ago, when I was living in rural Tennessee at The University of the South. I joined the Sewanee Outing Program and signed up to participate in the MS 150 even though I’d never ridden more than six miles at a time.To train for that 150 miles, I started riding up and down the mountain the university is perched on. Going down the mountain was a blast, but I had no idea how hard it would be to make that five-mile climb back up. It helped me recognize my limits and see how my capacity could expand. This was the first time I recognized cycling can be such a physically empowering experience.

Recently, I moved to New York City to study urban planning at NYU Wagner. When I moved here, I applied to join Transportation Alternatives for their Youth & Schools Organizer position, having little to no professional transportation experience but lots of youth work experience. I’ve been learning a lot about how we make cities more friendly to active transportation modes and finding ways to dig deeper into this passion.

What first motivated you to become an LCI?

I was invited to be an LCI after joining Transportation Alternatives — TA wanted to get into Learn to Ride and Smart Cycling events as a form of advocacy, and I was the natural person to take this course because of my work with young people. I didn’t even realize that becoming an LCI was a thing before my organization recommended it. I’m still new to bike education but I see it as an important skill set for people of all ages to learn how to navigate their communities and take agency over their transportation. 

In your experience, what role does cycling play in empowering youth? 

I’ll share a firsthand example — I serve on the National Youth Bike Summit Steering Committee and earlier this year, I went to my first Youth Bike Summit. The youth who attended were all ages from elementary school through college, and I was in awe to see them all engage with cycling as a powerful form of expression. In particular, I connected with a group of young people from Georgia, the BRAG Dream Team, who combined cycling with advocacy to honor Ahmaud Arbery’s family. During the pandemic, they organized social rides as a way to uplift the Black Lives Matter movement and raise awareness of the violence we continue to see against Black people. The fact they were able to connect these passions and inspire other people in the community to mobilize in this way was really incredible. Following the conference, they did an East Coast ride from Miami to Maine. When they made it to  NYC, I was able to lead them on their route through the city. Cycling can be such a powerful tool for mobilizing both at a community level and an individual level — thinking of what biking has meant for me and my own body, I see it as a way to uncover our capacity and liberate ourselves.  

If you are part of a community that is underrepresented in cycling (such as adaptive cyclists, BIPOC, or LGBTQ+ communities), feel free to share about your experience and how it shapes your approach to cycling education.

I’m mixed, half-black and half-white. I think there can be a stigma of seeing biking as this elite sport. There’s a perceived difference between “cyclists” vs. “people riding bikes”, and a difference in who we talk about and visualize in these spaces.

Thinking back to when I was convincing my parents to let me bike to school in high school, it was a lot harder to convince my dad. He didn’t see biking as transportation. He had this perspective that cycling, riding bikes, was something you did in the park, off the street, in a “safe” environment. I tried to push back and say, I’m old enough, you can trust me. But because of his lived experience, he was like, “I trust you, but I don’t trust all the people around you.”

To me, it’s about being able to change the narrative around cycling as a form of transportation for everyone. Bikes are an empowering tool to get places and boost an active lifestyle, and it’s an experience everyone should be able to access.

What is your favorite thing about being on a bike? 

I love hopping on my bike and feeling the breeze — at least in the summertime, because that East Coast winter wind can be pretty unbearable. I love going places on my own, and my bike gives me the ability to get up and go whenever I want. Of course, I can do that on foot but a bike makes it a lot faster and more joyful! The freedom of riding my bike and feeling the fresh air is just so invigorating. 

What is your favorite memory from being on a bike?

During the peak of the pandemic, I was going stir-crazy. I lived in DC at the time and they had shut down Beach Drive and Rock Creek Park to car traffic so that people could get some fresh air. On weekends, I would hop on my bike and head to Rock Creek Park, a 50-mile round trip out to Lake Needwood in Rockville. The route was basically all trails the entire way, and it was such a freeing experience. I’ve said freedom a lot, but that’s what I associate most with biking! I loved the chance to get out of my headspace of being stuck in quarantine — to simply hop on my bike and pedal myself to a lake dozens of miles away. It was special having that opportunity come about because the city realized people needed to get outside, and they chose to de-prioritize cars and reclaim these streets for people. 

Give us an interesting or funny fact about you.

I used to manage a youth entrepreneurship program in DC where I helped teens develop relationships with nature, food, and each other through gardening-based education and activities. A lot of the students I worked with were recent immigrants from Latin America, so I learned a lot of garden- and food-based vocabulary in Spanish. So while I’m not fluent, take me to the garden and I can point out pretty much anything in Spanish! 

Do you or Transportation Alternatives have any upcoming events going on or news that you’d like to share about? 

One of my responsibilities when I was hired was to kickstart TA’s first fully-youth-led Activist Committee. I am proud to share that they just launched their first campaign, Bike More! The goal is to advocate for $5 Citi Bike memberships for all public high school and CUNY students above the age of 16. New York City has one of the most expensive bike-share systems in the country because it’s not publicly funded. We are advocating for that to change so more youth can access the freedom of biking.

The post LCI Spotlight: Lauren Newman  appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

New report highlights how bike lanes and parking policies enhance safety, ridership, and planning.

Washington, D.C. — The League of American Bicyclists, in partnership with Lime, is excited to announce the release of the report, “Lessons from Lime Data: How Cities Can Use Shared Micromobility Data for Transportation Planning and Policy.”

This comprehensive report stems from the two organizations’ 2024 Mobility Insights Competition and analyzes critical data from the two selected cities, Washington, DC, and Bloomington, Indiana. The findings emphasize the profound role that bike lanes and dedicated micromobility parking play in improving road safety and increasing ridership.

In collaboration with transportation practitioners from both cities, data analysts from Lime and experts from the League identified three core insights:

1. Micromobility Users Prefer Bike Lanes – Data reveals that streets with bike lanes, especially protected lanes, see a dramatic increase in Lime trips. In Washington, DC, streets with new bike infrastructure saw double the increase in Lime trips compared to streets without bike lanes. A similar trend was observed in Bloomington, where protected bike lanes saw a 100% increase in trip volumes.
2. Safety Outcomes Are Improving – Lime rider-reported safety incidents in Washington, DC, have decreased by 39% between 2021 and 2024, coinciding with a 38% increase in bike lane usage. Bloomington also experienced a 71% reduction in safety incidents in 2024, showcasing the safety benefits of improved infrastructure.
3. Parking Corrals Boost Compliance – In Washington, DC, parking corrals led to a 60% increase in parking concentration. Bloomington followed best practices by providing a dense network of parking locations, which significantly improved rider compliance.

Bill Nesper, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, says, “The insights we’ve gained from Lime’s data for both DC and Bloomington, outlined in this report, help to demonstrate exactly why communities of all shapes and sizes must continue to make these investments — we can see very clearly that building better infrastructure, and establishing policies to support that infrastructure, has had real-world consequences in helping more people to make trips on two wheels, and do so safely.”

Watch the Announcement Webinar
After unveiling the key findings in the “Lessons from Lime Data” report, the League of American Bicyclists and Lime hosted a webinar to dive deeper into the data and discuss how cities can use these insights to enhance their transportation networks. If you missed the live event, you can watch the full recording below.

Download the slides

In the webinar, experts from Lime, the League, and the partner cities of Washington, DC, and Bloomington, Indiana, share their experiences and best practices for leveraging micromobility data to improve safety, increase ridership, and plan for future infrastructure. 

“Both Bloomington and Washington, DC, have been Bicycle Friendly Communities since 2003, and both have worked their way up since then from Bronze to their current Gold-level status,” said Amelia Neptune, the League’s Bicycle Friendly America Program Director. “Lime is a great partner in helping places become more bicycle-friendly, so I want to encourage communities that do have Lime to reach out and partner with them to see what data they have available for your community to learn similar insights.”

Planning for the Future
The findings offer critical insights for cities across the U.S. aiming to create safer, more accessible transportation networks. Cities that want to follow the lead of Washington, DC, and Bloomington can leverage Lime’s global experience in 300 cities to develop parking plans, analyze safety trends, and seek funding opportunities for infrastructure improvements.

Director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), Sharon Kershbaum, states: “The positive outcomes associated with the growth of our bike network and infrastructure decisions are encouraging indicators that increased use of shared micromobility can accompany safer and easier to navigate streets for all residents.”

Lime’s Director of Policy Research, Calvin Thigpen, added: “Lime has extensive data that can lead to powerful insights and help build the green infrastructure of the future. One of the most rewarding aspects of our partnerships with the cities we serve is putting this data at their fingertips in real time, allowing them to make informed decisions about where protected bike lanes and parking corrals can have the most impact. Lime shares standardized data feeds with cities, and Lime’s policy team is happy to work with our city partners to develop parking plans and identify bike lane needs. We are also eager to collaborate with cities on grant applications to help fund those infrastructure needs.”

The League of American Bicyclists and Lime invite transportation leaders, urban planners, and policymakers to review the full report at bikeleague.org/mobility-insights-report and explore how micromobility data can guide future investments in safer, more sustainable infrastructure.

About the League of American Bicyclists
Since 1880, the League of American Bicyclists has been people-powered, with a goal to make bicycling safer and easier as a means of transportation and recreation. Today, the League continues to improve lives and strengthen communities through bicycling. We are more than 200,000 members and supporters strong, with more than 1,000 state and local advocacy groups and bike clubs, as well as thousands of businesses, universities, and communities leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. For more information, visit bikeleague.org.

About Lime

Lime’s mission is to build a future where transportation is shared, electric, and carbon-free. As a leading global provider of shared electric vehicles, Lime partners with cities to deploy electric bikes and scooters to serve any trip under five miles. A Time Magazine 100 Most Influential Companies and Fast Company Brand that Matters, Lime has powered more than 700 million rides in over 280 cities across five continents, spurring a new generation of clean alternatives to car ownership. Learn more at li.me.

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by Shelby Ottengheime

On June 20, 2024, a group of thirteen children made history by reaching a settlement in their climate lawsuit against the Hawai’i Department of Transportation (Hawai’i DOT). Due to the rising output of greenhouse gas emissions, the youth of Hawai’i were frustrated with the empty environmental promises and “aspirational goals [the Hawai’i DOT] c[ould] disregard at their discretion,” and decided to hold the transportation system accountable. The youth plaintiffs sued the Hawai’i DOT, arguing that it was in direct violation of Hawai’i’s public trust doctrine that promised a constitutional right to “live healthful lives in Hawai’i now and into the future.”

After a two-year battle, this historic and first-of-its-kind settlement resulted in the defendants agreeing to take all actions necessary for the state of Hawai’i to achieve zero emissions by 2045 for ground, sea, and inter-island air transportation. This agreement puts Hawai’i at the forefront of addressing the climate crisis and has created a framework to help the state shift away from imported fossil fuels toward a more sustainably-minded transportation system. This includes not only switching to greener alternatives for motorized vehicles but also expanding accessible public transit as well as increasing infrastructure for bike lanes and walkways!

Photo: Our Children’s Trust and Robin Loznak

By giving people access to alternative forms of transportation, especially biking, communities are not only safer, but healthier, happier, and greener. In addition to the environmental benefits cycling provides, it enables people to foster a deeper connection with their natural surroundings and community, a value that is integral to the principle Aloha ‘Āina (love of the land), which is a central idea to Native Hawaiian culture and thought. 

 As Hawai’i begins to implement more sustainable programs, it will now serve as an exemplary model for all other states on how to put our environment and children’s future first by decarbonizing our transportation systems. Navahine + Hawai’i DOT compelled the government to recognize its role in the climate crisis as well as our collective responsibility to make it right. The strength and resilience of the youth plaintiffs are inspiring, and their groundbreaking victory will echo and ensure that Hawai’i’s natural beauty as well as public trust resources are protected for generations to come. 

Join the League on October 1st at 3:00PM ET for “Youth Climate Action in Hawai’i: Navahine + Hawai’i DOT” to explore the case further. We’ll hear from youth plaintiff Charlotte M., attorney Joanna Zeigler, expert witness Michael Replogle, and Hawai’i Bicycling League’s Advocacy Director Eduardo Hernandez discuss how we as advocates can transform our communities and protect our climate through active transportation like biking and walking.

Sign up!

The post Youth Response to Climate Injustice: Navahine + Hawai’i DOT appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

In 2024, the League’s Bicycle Friendly America program awarded Community Spark Grants of $1,500 each to 15 organizations for projects that spark change and catalyze a community’s ability to create places where bicycling is a safe, easy, and more accessible option. This program is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of the CDC’s Active People, Healthy Nation℠ Initiative, which aims to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. Separately, the program is also supported by General Motors.

In Tempe, Arizona, McClintock High School applied for and received a Community Spark Grant to support their project, “Chain Reactions: Fixing Bikes, Empowering People, Building Community.” Sarah Silverman, teacher and McClintock Bike Club co-founder says, “This grant will help us get so many more bikes into the hands of community members excited to ride. We hope we can get bikes that need a little TLC all fixed up and into the hands of people who need them and will ride them! Every bike we fix or build strengthens the bonds within our community and paves the way for a greener, healthier future for all. By hosting bike events, fixing up bikes, and teaching others how to do it, McClintock High School Bike Club is igniting a chain reaction that gets more people empowered and excited to ride their bikes every day.” 

Read on to get inspired by firsthand accounts from Sarah and her students of how and why Bike Club is sparking change in Tempe!

Cycling has always been more than just a mode of transportation. It’s a symbol of freedom, adventure, and a pathway to healthier lifestyles. Nowhere is this more evident than at McClintock High School in Tempe, Arizona, where the McClintock Bike Club teaches students to ride and maintain bikes while promoting a better future through cycling.

Founded in 2023, the McClintock Bike Club has already been named a 2024 Tempe Bike Hero. The club’s mission is to encourage youth cycling. Since its founding, Bike Club has become a beacon of sustainability, community engagement, and healthy living. By focusing on hands-on learning, the club equips students with the skills to maintain bikes, both for themselves and their community. 

“McClintock High School Bike Club’s mission is to help more students and community members ride their bikes every day. Although our hometown is a gold-rated Bicycle Friendly Community, only 3.4% of students bike to school. Many more want to, but they just can’t afford to repair their bikes. So, every Friday, we repair bikes for the McClintock community and the Welcome To America Project (a non-profit that resettles refugees) free of charge. Unfortunately, because we’ve lacked advanced tools and have few consumable parts, we historically have only been able to get one or two bikes per month back out on the road.” – McClintock High School’s Spark Grant application

Over the past year, with support from a Community Spark Grant from the League of American Bicyclists and partnerships with Tempe Bicycle Action Group as well as Bike Saviours Bicycle Collective, the club repaired 11 bikes for McClintock students and staff as well as 19 bikes for the Welcome to America Project (WTAP), a non-profit which resettles and gives bikes to refugees. “Even though bikes are often a refugee family’s main source of transportation, last year WTAP could only meet 26% of their demand for bikes. This funding meant that we can help WTAP move closer to meeting the demand for bikes.” Every bike we fix or build strengthens the bonds within our community and paves the way for a greener, healthier future for all. 

Another piece of the Spark Grant funding went towards sponsoring club members to learn advanced skills through a Build-a-Bike program. More than half of our Bike Club members don’t have a bike, so this program helps us fill that gap for students while helping them develop bike repair skills that can be passed on to other club members. Two Bike Club members have already built up their own bikes from bottom bracket to headset, and two more are working towards completion. Members are excited to use their bikes for everything including daily commutes, recreational gravel rides, and a 100 mile ride to raise money for finding a cure for multiple sclerosis.  Keep reading to hear perspectives from the students themselves on what excites them about bikes and what Bike Club’s impact means to them.

The Joy of Cycling

For many students, cycling can be transformative. Matt Appleton finds a deeper connection between the rider and the bike through repair work. “Working on a bike makes me more excited to ride it because it makes my work seem even more worthwhile,” he explains. For Silas Butler, cycling represents freedom. “You are not limited by gas, battery charge, or factors you cannot control. A bike takes all the energy you give it. It’s one of the most unchained means of transportation,” he says. Connor Clemens highlights the simplicity and satisfaction of cycling. “The wind in your face, the rhythm of pedaling, and the simplicity of it all can make cycling a deeply enjoyable and almost meditative experience,” he notes. For Connor and his fellow club members, cycling is tied to the deep inner joy of liberation and self-reliance.  

Health Benefits

Encouraging cycling among young people is an effective way to promote physical activity and healthier lifestyles. In a time when sedentary activities dominate teenagers’ free time and aerobic physical activity is in decline, the McClintock Bike Club offers a refreshing alternative. Salma Abdelnaby emphasizes the connection between cycling and health. “When our club makes bikes more accessible, I’m happy more people get to understand the joy of riding bikes,” she explains. The freedom of travel on a bike supports healthy bodies and minds. Salma adds that cycling promotes “independence, leadership, and self-achievement” all of which contribute to reducing stress and boosting self-esteem.

Environmental Impact

Central to the McClintock Bike Club’s mission is a commitment to sustainability. Cycling is among the most environmentally friendly forms of transportation, and the club encourages students to embrace it as a solution to climate change and pollution.

Matt Appleton notes, “Improving access to bike repair makes my community more environmentally friendly. If community members have better access to bike repair, they are more likely to use their bike, which helps the environment,” he says. Silas Butler points out that increasing the number of cyclists can lead to safer infrastructure. “It encourages safe infrastructure, as more cyclists increase awareness of the changes needed for bike-safe roads and pathways,” he explains. This ripple effect of increasing accessibility could create lasting change, making Tempe a greener, healthier city.

By empowering students with bike repair skills, the McClintock Bike Club fosters a culture of sustainability. The more bikes in good working order, the more likely people will ride them, reducing air pollution, congestion, and traffic fatalities and injuries.

Community Engagement & Inclusion

One of the club’s most remarkable aspects is its commitment to community service. The club isn’t just about teaching students to ride and repair bikes; it’s about using those skills to make a positive impact. Through community outreach programs, the club provides bikes and repair services to those in need, promoting equity and access to sustainable transportation.

“It feels good to fix up bikes because it’s fun, and I know I’m making a greater impact on the community,” Matt says. This sense of purpose drives students to take their work seriously, knowing that each bike they fix can make a real difference in someone’s life. Whether helping a neighbor get back on the road or providing bikes to newcomers, the McClintock Bike Club is making a tangible impact in the community. Connor Clemens finds fulfillment in this work. “Helping to fix up bikes for others, especially within a community, can be very fulfilling. It feels good to know that you’re enabling someone else to enjoy the benefits of cycling,” he says. Through their efforts, the students are building a sense of connection and community—one bike at a time.

“We create a space for everyone, especially those who have historically been left out of the bike community. Because many of our students are from low-income families, when their bikes need routine servicing, they have to stop riding. Community Spark Grant funding means Bike Club is able to help get more students riding bikes daily, by repairing flats, adjusting derailleurs, and much more, free of charge.” – McClintock High School’s Spark Grant application

The Future: Pedaling Toward Long-Term Change

The future of the McClintock Bike Club looks bright. In just one year, it has become one of the most popular clubs on campus and is widely recognized as a key part of Tempe’s bicycle culture. The students themselves sum up the long-term impact of Bike Club best:  

Silas Butler envisions the McClintock Bike Club as a future hub for cycling education and community action. “In the future, Bike Club will serve as a space for getting your bicycle repaired, learning about cycling, and more,” he says. He imagines the club hosting rides, sponsoring a high school course on bike repair, and promoting safer infrastructure for multiple transportation modes and healthier lifestyles. Silas noted all of the ways Bike Club has added to cycling culture and accessibility in Tempe over the last year, saying, “We were named City of Tempe Bike Heroes for many of these reasons, and we can only grow from here.”

Salma shares, “As Bike Club grows, I have faith that our community will be more independent as well as healthier.  What if Tempe was not just known for the blazing heat but also the wonders of cycling?” Matt adds, “Bike Club has the power to affect the future of Tempe not only through educating youth on bike maintenance and safety but also through helping improve access to bikes for new community members.”

Finally, Connor imagines Bike Club as a critical part of a better future for Tempe: “The long-term impact of our McClintock High School Bike Club, can be profound. It can foster a culture of cycling from a young age, teaching students valuable skills and promoting the idea of sustainability. Over time, this can lead to a community that values and supports cycling, with improved infrastructure, more cyclists on the road, and a greater overall awareness of the benefits of cycling.”

The post Sparking Change in Tempe with McClintock High School’s Bike Club appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Say hello to the newest member of the  League’s team: Shelby Ottengheime! As our new Federal Policy Fellow, Shelby brings insights from her experience as a campus bike shop leader and mechanic as well as her background in environmental conservation. Shelby recently moved from California to the League’s home base in Washington, D.C., and with Capitol Hill right around the corner, we’re so excited to support her journey into federal advocacy and transportation policy. Shelby’s positive energy is sure to bring a smile to your face, so read on for a boost of inspiration!

What’s your first memory of riding a bike?

I remember this feeling of utter weightlessness as I took a sharp corner. I was in elementary school and I was racing my dad across Caltech’s empty summer campus. We each started from the edge of the university and had to create our own route to the “cannon” — a non-functional, but bright red cannon — that sat on the opposite end of campus from our starting mark. My dad would yell “Go!” and my short legs and 24 inch wheels would start spinning as fast as humanly possible. Despite the impossibility of beating my dad, I would race as if it were the Tour De France. There was always this one turn, right by the turtle pond, that I would take incredibly sharp. I would lean and I felt as if I was almost parallel to the cement, but then I would right myself and keep pedaling. I remember being shocked at how far I could lean on such a skinny tire, and was utterly amazed. Since then, I have been infatuated with this incredible vehicle that has made me feel like I was flying weightless.

What does your bike journey look like? What got you into biking as an adult?

I owe most of my cycling enthusiasm to the incredible community at the Green Bike Program (GBP), an entirely student-run bike coalition at Pitzer College, in Claremont, California. There, in a corrugated steel box, I logged work/study hours and made friends as well as memories that will last a lifetime. I have always loved working with my hands, I have made my own skateboard, surfboard, and when I was a competitive archer, my own longbow as well. So working in a bike shop sounded like the perfect job for me. 

I am not going to lie, the first day I walked in, I didn’t even know how to pump my own tires. However, a friendly upperclassman offered to show me how to change a tube, and from there my enthusiasm and knowledge only began to grow. By the end of my first semester, I not only won our shop speed contest, being able to change a bike tube in under 2 minutes, but was able to work on brakes and derailleurs, and true wheels. By my junior year, I was co-president of the entire shop!

While at the GBP, I would also host community campaigns, like fix-it workshops, “Learn 2 Bike” seminars, or women empowerment events. Helping to create a more inclusive environment in the cycling world was one of the most inspiring aspects about leading the bike shop. 

Such enthusiasm for community engagement spurred my interest in bicycle advocacy, which has led me to the League of American Bicyclists! I wanted to help impact the bicycle community on a larger scale; giving back, making space, and amplifying the voices and issues that affect our entire community.  

You’ve worked in a lot of different fields, which we think is pretty neat. How do you see your previous work translating to working on transportation policy on the national level with the League?

Throughout every position and life experience, I have learned an incredible amount, which has further helped structure and guide not only my worldview but how I wish to conduct my life and interact with those around me. 

In August of 2023, I participated in an archaeologically and environmentally focused conservation program situated in Hawai’i. Our work was in close collaboration with local Indigenous groups and relied on implementing techniques and technologies that native Hawaiians have used for centuries — methods that are nature-based and mimic the processes of the environment. To be trusted to restore such a sacred space required immense training, understanding, and respect; one where communication and knowledge collaboration were paramount. Each project focused on physically preserving and restoring these ecosystems as well as their long-standing socio-cultural ties. It was a true privilege to not only live in such a beautiful place, but genuinely give back and help not only the natural landscape, but the communities thrive.

Beyond my work in Hawai’i, I have also conducted restorative work abroad. In early 2023, I traveled to Belize to work as a field technician on the Caracol Archaeological Project. While managing multiple excavation sites and leading my own crews, I became no stranger to getting in the dirt. Deep in the Maya jungle, I worked alongside native excavators and listened to their stories, sharing archaeological and environmental reverence as we excavated their cultural remains, preserving what we found. Part of my job also involved managing the environmental impact of the excavation. This included reviewing LiDAR and GIS data, as well as maintaining collaboration and legal compliance with the Belizean government regarding the management of highly sensitive cultural remains. 

Despite the differences in setting, much of this work required reviewing detailed proposals, as well as referencing and managing governmental policies and laws. So, I am no stranger to the complexities of bureaucratic procedures. Further, I feel both of these experiences have taught me not only the importance of listening and shared reverence but how to combine the strengths of our diverse backgrounds, to help create a positive impact in what we are trying to achieve. 

What do you hope to take away from your year-long fellowship with the League?

I am most excited about getting to engage with the greater cycling population and give back to the community that has given me so much. While at the League, I am hoping to learn from my colleagues and mentors how to be a true advocate and a voice of change. The work of the League is critical, and having only just begun, I can already see the heart and dedication that every staff member brings to work every day. Whether interacting with members of our community, other advocates, or Congress, I am looking forward to following in their footsteps and addressing every issue or concern with the same commitment and enthusiasm. Whether you bike, trike, walk, or roll we all deserve safe streets and access to the outdoors. As a part of the League, I would love to play whatever role I can in helping ensure this brighter future. 

What are some of your favorite routes and trails to explore?

I am originally from Southern California, and some of the best rides place you right on the coast. One of my favorites is through Solana Beach, a beach town in North County San Diego. Interestingly enough, there is this plaque along the bike path thanking the League of American Bicyclists, and emphasizing Solana Beach’s status as a Bicycle Friendly Community. I have many other fond rides, but one day, I hope to do a bikepacking trip from Vancouver to Tijuana. Wish me luck and good weather!

What bike are you riding now and what inspires you about cycling?

Having just moved to DC from Southern California, I had to leave my beloved bike “Maverick” (named after the legendary California surf spot) back home. He is a Black Mountain Cycles, steel gravel bike that my friend discovered for me on Pink Bike. I absolutely love Maverick, and have clocked thousands of miles both on and off road with him. I miss him dearly. 

Since moving to DC, I have acquired a vintage Bianchi for daily commutes and longer road rides. In case you are wondering, he is named “Feniul” (after a dragon from my favorite childhood book). I am still getting used to the skinny tires and city riding, but I always have fun on two wheels! 

What inspires me the most about cycling is its ability to enable people to get outside. Family bike rides and even solo jaunts are core memories for me — as I am sure many of you can relate.

There is something so freeing and wonderful about getting lost in a ride; where you can either be vividly present in the scenery around you, or disappear into your head and explore whatever has been top-of-mind as of late. I strongly believe that everyone should have access to outdoor spaces and experience the wonder of nature, and cycling is an incredible vehicle for that immeasurable connection.  

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WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the League of American Bicyclists proudly recognizes 45 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses (BFBs) for their commitment to encouraging a more welcoming atmosphere for bicycling.

“We’re thrilled to recognize this round of new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses that are not just supporting cycling but are actively weaving it into the fabric of their communities,” said Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “When businesses invest in better biking, they invest in people—employees, customers, and community members alike.” 

These 45 organizations join more than 1,300 BFBs across the country that are contributing to the League’s mission of building a more Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. Each Bicycle Friendly Business represents a step forward, bringing us closer to a future where everyone can experience the joy of bicycling and recognize its many benefits from improving personal well-being to building more connected communities. 

List of all Summer 2024 Awards + Honorable Mentions | List of all Current BFBs

This round saw a wave of renewals, with many organizations moving up in rank to reflect their strengthened commitment to better biking. Among the notable Platinum renewals were New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado, BikeLNK, Memphis Hightailers Bicycle Club, and Seattle Children’s Hospital. Trailblazers, a non-profit based in Bentonville, AR, reached a significant milestone by moving up from Gold to Platinum in a demonstration of their continued leadership in making biking more accessible to both employees and community members across Northwest Arkansas. 

Many factors set Platinum awardees apart from their peers, but one we love to see is the impact on the larger community as demonstrated by Seattle Children’s Hospital: “Children’s has helped create a virtuous cycle with our surrounding community where we help normalize and build bicycle commuting while advocating for the safety improvements needed to help more people ride. This continues to benefit thousands of daily bike commuters who use improvements on surrounding streets and trails that Children’s helped pay for or advocate for. As the city gets safer and more comfortable to bike in, we can help more people try riding. As new routes become available, we see more employees feeling capable of biking to work and partaking in our programs.” 

We’re also seeing government agencies work to create this change on a regional scale, with a growing number of state transportation departments, city halls, and local planning agencies applying for Bicycle Friendly Business recognition. This round saw two state departments of transportation—New Hampshire and California—renew their BFB status, demonstrating their commitment to incorporating cycling into state-level transportation planning. Additionally, two new city halls, College Station, Texas, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, joined the ranks of Bicycle Friendly Businesses, further illustrating the influence of local governments in promoting biking. We find this trend particularly exciting and hope to encourage even more public agencies to achieve Bicycle Friendly Business awards in the future.

This round also stood out for the significant recognition of trails-based organizations dedicated to expanding recreational biking opportunities. Along with Trailblazers in Bentonville, Arkansas, this round of BFB awardees includes Tri-State Trails (Cincinnati, Ohio), Ozark Greenways, Inc. (Springfield, Missouri), and three trails-focused groups in New Hampshire: Bethlehem Trails Association, Franconia Area NEMBA Trails, and Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail. These groups are not only enhancing recreational spaces but also fostering healthier, more active communities and workplaces, as attested by Trailblazers: “By providing resources such as bike parking facilities, showers, and incentives for bike commuting, we’ve significantly increased employee engagement in active transportation, reducing carbon emissions and promoting a healthier lifestyle among our workforce.”

As we celebrate these 45 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses, it’s clear that the commitment to fostering a culture for better biking is not just growing, but thriving. These businesses, organizations, and government agencies are setting an inspiring example for others to follow, demonstrating that investing in biking pays off in countless ways—from improving employee health and well-being to creating stronger, more connected communities. If your business would like to join the movement, submissions for the next round of the Bicycle Friendly Business program are due on October 30th, 2024. 

Apply for BFB Status

About the League Of American Bicyclists

Since 1880, the League of American Bicyclists has been people-powered, with a goal to make bicycling safer and easier as a means of transportation and recreation. Today, the League continues to improve lives and strengthen communities through bicycling. We are more than 200,000 members and supporters strong with more than 1,000 state and local advocacy groups and bike clubs as well as thousands of businesses, universities, and communities together leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. 

About the Bicycle Friendly Business Program

Bicycle Friendly Business awards reflect local leaders’ ongoing work to build better places to bike and evaluate those efforts as part of a national movement. Each of the five levels of the Bicycle Friendly Business award – diamond, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze, plus an honorable mention category – provides a clear path for businesses to continuously improve. Visit bikeleague.org/business to learn more about the BFB program.

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Our team at the League just keeps growing! We are over the moon to celebrate our new Operations Specialist, Monique Hyatte. She joins the League with decades of experience, bringing a deep well of vibrant energy and a can-do attitude.

Though Monique isn’t yet a cyclist herself, she loves being active and is always cheering on the people in her family who ride bikes. We’re so excited to welcome Monique to our team and into the bike movement too. Welcome aboard, Monique! 

Monique, we’re so happy to have you on the team! Tell us a bit about your background and where you come from. 

I have been working with associations for over 30 years in numerous positions: membership, meetings, marketing, and operations. Where I come from personally is rural North Carolina — I grew up on a farm until our family moved to the big city of Washington, DC. I live in Maryland now, not too far of a commute to D.C., and love being able to explore the excitement of the city. 

One great thing about living in the D.C. area is all the opportunities to explore on foot or by bike. What’s your favorite way to get around? 

I love outdoor activities, especially walking. I discovered my passion for walking for fitness with my mom a few years ago after she had a health scare. It started as a way to support her health and wellness journey, and I ended up getting a lot out of it. These days, my husband and I go to the park almost every day to walk!

What are some of your hobbies and passions outside of work?

I have been a professional photographer for over seven years now. I am also a Sisterloc consultant. I decided to teach myself how to do my own Sisterlocs a few years ago and have been taking on clients ever since. Another big part of my life is that I am a part of a blended family, and family is everything to me. I love spending time with my kids and I’m close friends with their stepmom too, so we all have a lot of fun together. 

A few examples of Monique’s professional photography portfolio.

One of the most exciting times of the year is around the corner: preparing for the National Bike Summit! What are you most looking forward to?

I am excited to attend my first National Bike Summit. In previous jobs, I always worked in the membership booth so I’m looking forward to meeting our members and engaging with new ones. I especially enjoy coming up with creative ideas that help attendees get to know each other and break the ice. I’m an open book and love to connect with people, so I am looking forward to putting this energy into the National Bike Summit and being a part of the team making people feel welcome and engaged!

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Written by Rossilynne Skena Culgan

Photograph: Bike New York | Jaycee Ramson, Gloria Kim, and Rossilynne Culgan learning to ride bikes.

For years, a secret has plagued me, an embarrassing admission that I’ve shared only with the closest friends and family. It’s a confession that has made me avoid cycling tours on vacation, one that’s made me feel jealous of 5-year-olds whizzing past me on the river trail sans training wheels. At 36 years old, I don’t know how to ride a bike.

So when I heard my colleague Jaycee Ramson say in the office recently that she didn’t know how to ride a bike, my ears perked up. Another coworker, Gloria Kim, chimed in that she didn’t either. At last, kindred spirits. I finally felt free to share my cycling secret. We all yearned to fill this gap in knowledge, so we agreed to take a learn-to-ride class for adults with Bike New York. Here’s how it went. 

On a humid Tuesday morning two weeks ago, I set off from my apartment to the Bike New York outpost near Pier 76, a concrete patch that would become the equivalent of an Olympic training ground for me. Despite the fact that the class description promises, “whether you are 18 or 80, we’ll get you rolling in no time,” I still felt pretty apprehensive. 

When I arrived and saw my coworkers, I noticed that we all wore long pants despite the heat; we were all scared of ending up with cuts and scrapes. You see, the last time I tried to ride a bike a few years ago, I ended up on the ground along a paved trail with a bruised ego and scraped skin.

Once as a kid, I’d once biked on a wooded trail in a park, but I was probably 12 years old then, and it was the only time I’d successfully ridden a bike. Despite the old adage, “it’s just like riding a bike,” the skill doesn’t naturally return if you’ve only done it once for a few hours two decades ago. Given that history, I was anxious going into the Bike New York class. If I owned elbow and knee pads, I would’ve added those to my Barbie pink exercise ensemble. 

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A post shared by Time Out New York (@timeoutnewyork)

My fears started to subside once I met our teacher, Rich Conroy, the director of education for Bike New York. He was so legitimately excited about cycling, I started to feel excited about the prospect of learning.

First, we found helmets and bikes that were the right size for each of us, then walked our bikes over to the practice area. Keeping the bike upright while walking it was already tough—not an encouraging sign. 

Rich removed the pedals from our bikes and lowered each seat so we could keep our feet on the ground while we learned. He told us to sit on the seat and try to scoot the bike forward, lifting our feet as often as possible. Already this class was going differently than I’d expected. There were no training wheels and nobody holding onto the back of the bike seat who’d eventually let go. 

This unconventional method helped us learn to balance on our own. Eventually, we were encouraged to lift our feet even more frequently. And then Rich put the pedals back on, taught us to “find the pedals” without looking down, and had us scooting along once again. 

Finally, he said, in the most nonchalant way as possible: If you can put your feet on the pedals and start pedaling, go for it. 

Learn to Ride student in power position, Bike New York Adults having fun coasting, Bike New York Adult Learn to Ride class on balance bikes, Bike New York

With less than an hour of instruction and without a single tear, much to my surprise, I was doing it. I was riding a bike. A smile broke out across my face as I made loop after loop across the concrete expanse. 

Eventually, Rich lifted the bike’s seat to a more proper level, taught us about braking, and encouraged us to keep practicing. All three of us—Jaycee, Gloria, and I—successfully got the pedals moving. True to Bike New York’s class description: “Most people learn to ride in one session, but even if they don’t, they’ll leave equipped with an easy, low-stress way to teach themselves—or, they can join us for another free class!”  

After one session, I’m by no means a pro, and I’m certainly not ready to take a Citi Bike onto the bike lane. But I’m feeling a lot more confident on two wheels. I’m also feeling incredible gratitude to Bike New York, which offers free (and judgment-free) Bike Skills 101: Learn to Ride classes for adults and kids. Whether you’re 13 or 36, the incredible teachers at Bike New York are here to help. There are also free practice sessions, so you can keep your skills sharp. 

If you don’t know how to ride a bike, I hope you’ll give these classes a try, no matter your age. If I can do it, you can do it. See you out there on the trail.

This article was re-shared with permission from Time Out. Thank you to author Rossilynne Skena Culgan and Time Out editor Shaye Weaver.

Know someone who might want to try out an Adult Learn to Ride class? League Cycling Instructors are all over the map, offering a variety of Smart Cycling classes. Explore our map to find classes near you!

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