2022’s Best Places to Bike features cities nationwide that offer actionable lessons on improving bicycling locally. Focusing on youth engagement, connecting biking networks and building trails for all skill levels are just a few ways any city can become a best place to bike.
Even the best cities for bicycling didn’t start that way. Through decades of progress, these cities discovered how to tap into broad community support and gain the commitment of local leadership to build completely connected, comfortable networks of protected bikeways, trails and quiet neighborhood streets that allow people to travel safely on two wheels.
In 2018, New Orleans didn't even have a bike plan. Today, the city has committed to building 75 new bike miles by the end of 2021. What New Orleans has been able to accomplish in the last three years is impressive, tripling the pace of its network buildout with an emphasis on network and transit connectivity. Particularly noteworthy is the work that's been done in the west bank neighborhood of Algiers, where 11 new bike miles were implemented along with the repaving of roadways, new transit stops, and pedestrian crosswalks.
Known as one of the birthplaces of mountain biking in the U.S., a community of townies is helping cut off the need for cars.
Twenty years ago, the small, Northwest Arkansas city was relatively unknown. Today, it’s the mountain biking capital of the world.
While the West Virginia city doesn’t currently have the most impressive City Ratings score, it’s well-positioned to grow into a top spot for bicycling.
Wanting to bring more people to bicycling, nonprofit Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is advocating to close gaps in Seattle’s bicycle network.
For the sixth consecutive year, PeopleForBikes is proud to release our annual City Ratings, a data-driven program to evaluate, identify and compare the best cities and towns for bicycling.
Time and again, we’ve seen that when speed limits fall, safety rises — as do cities’ Bicycle Network Analysis scores.
PeopleForBikes’ new SPRINT methodology lays the groundwork for cities looking to improve bicycling locally.
Tools like BikeMaps.org and PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis help planners make investment decisions that prioritize safety.