PeopleForBikes New Program to Advance Bicycle Projects and Policies in Communities Nationwide
BOULDER, Colorado. (July 26, 2023) — PeopleForBikes, the U.S. bicycle industry’s trade association and anational bicycle advocacy organization, announced the Great Bike Infrastructure Project, taking a bold step to build more livable communities by advancing thousands of bike and active transportation projects and pro-bike legislation in all 50 states.
Last year, Congress passed $13 billion dollars in federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projectsover the next five years, an impressive 70% increase over previous years. PeopleForBikes is capitalizing on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate the construction of great places to bike and invites members of the bike industry, elected officials, advocates, and everyday riders to get involved to build bike projects in their backyards.
“The Great Bike Infrastructure Project represents a major step forward in realizing our vision of becoming thebest place in the world to ride a bike by focusing on projects close to home,” said PeopleForBikes President and CEO Jenn Dice. “Building safe, fun, and connected places to bike where people live is central to that vision. By activating community support and providing local leaders with the tools to leverage this unprecedented funding and build protected bike lanes, off-street trails, pump tracks, bike parks, and more, we’re ensuring Americans ofall ages and abilities can experience the joy of riding a bike in their community.”
The first-of-its-kind project features an interactive map and comprehensive list of more than 1,000 bicycleinfrastructure projects across the U.S., tracking the project type, status, and local advocacy support behind each project alongside links for more information.
Through the project, PeopleForBikes also offers legislative strategies designed to assist local policymakers and advocates in improving and expanding recreational and transportation-focused bike infrastructure. Strategies include the many different mechanisms for securing funding for bike projects at the state and local levels, mandating Complete Streets policies, and prioritizing bike infrastructure through climate legislation to create more and better places to ride.
“Our legislative guide for safe and connected bike infrastructure is a critical resource to empower and inspire state and local elected officials to prioritize the most effective policies for advancing bike infrastructure,” said Martina Haggerty, senior director of local innovation at PeopleForBikes. “By setting up decision-makers forsuccess, we can ensure communities from coast to coast reap the many benefits of quality bike infrastructure.”
From protected bike lanes on high-traffic urban corridors to recreational trails connecting people to the outdoors, bike projects are a major benefit to communities and the people that live in them nationwide. Building safe and connected bike infrastructure supports more opportunities for recreation, transportation, economic development, and joy.
“We must take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase access to affordable and equitabletransportation, and address the growing mental and physical health crisis taking place across the U.S.,” said Dave Snyder, senior director for infrastructure at PeopleForBikes. “Transforming our communities into great places to ride a bike for everyday transportation and recreation is a key part of solving these problems and the Great Bike Infrastructure Project is helping bring those solutions to life.”
The project will build on PeopleForBikes’ existing work transforming communities through the power of the bike.From 2019 to 2022, PeopleForBikes executed the Final Mile, which engaged community leaders and city staff infive U.S. cities to expedite the planning and development of bikeways. The program resulted in the construction of 335 new miles of quality bicycle infrastructure in just three years.
Other work includes PeopleForBikes’ annual City Ratings program, which ranks nearly 1,500 U.S. cities on the quality of their bike networks and provides a data-based benchmark to measure success and improve. The Great Bike Infrastructure Project hopes to better identify and build support for critical bike projectsthat can help boost communities’ City Ratings scores by getting infrastructure on the ground and improving bicycling locally.
“In 2019, only 35 U.S. cities scored 50 or higher in our City Ratings, a rating we see as the tipping point to becoming a great place to bike. In 2023, that number grew to 97,” said Dice. “Through the Great BikeInfrastructure Project, our goal is to enable even more communities to develop the all ages and abilities networks we know make a place safe for bikes. In five years, we want to see hundreds of great biking cities across the country.”
For more information about PeopleForBikes’ Great Bike Infrastructure Project, visit infrastructure.peopleforbikes.org or email [email protected].
