American Bicyclist - Summer 2023

IN THI S ISS UE

RIMAGE TO FAYE TTEV ILLE TO SAFE R VEHI CLES • A PILG COAL ITION BUIL DING : THE KEY SUM MIT 2023 RECA P BIKE L ONA NATI • ANC E HOU STON BFA PART NERS WITH AIR ALLI "EDG E CASE " AN LE ON BIKE S: MOR E THAN E-BI KES ON THE RISE • PEOP

Need some space?

Cruise self-driving cars are all about space. Yours. With a 360º view they’re designed to see, recognize, and respect cyclists.

They can predict movements and react faster than any human driver, giving everyone on two wheels the space they need to ride safely.

Learn more about how we’re working to make roads safer at getcruise.com

IN THIS ISSUE

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20

Coalition Building:

The Key to Safer Vehicles Our efforts on Capitol Hill can be even more successful when our work aligns with other advocates for safer roads. Learn how partnerships power our policy proposals.

A Pilgrimage to Fayetteville What’s it look like when local businesses, community leaders, and residents work together to build a place anyone would like to visit on a bike? It looks a lot like Fayetteville!

2 Viewpoint: Improving Bicycling Improves Lives—For All Bill Nesper, Executive Director

12 A Sneak Peek at the BFC Ideabook: A Collection of Inspiring Stories from Across America

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36

People on Bikes:

More than an “Edge Case” Autonomous vehicle technology holds a lot of promise for road safety.

To realize a safer future, we’re ensuring AV tech companies are including cyclists in their work.

Electric Assist Bike Ridership is Powering Up It’s not a bird or a plane, it’s a person on an e-bike! Electric assist bicycles are powering people to go farther and faster with more ease.

We’re helping educate riders how to have the best e-ride.

24 The Five Boro Bike Tour Recap 28 National Bike Summit: Enacting Change Nationwide— A Bike Revolution in D.C. 32 Advocacy & Education Awards 40 League SAG Wagon

16 Air Alliance Houston: Making More Trips Bike-Possible Editor: Lauren Jenkins, Communications Director

Creative Direction & Design: Halupka Studio " ha-lup-ka.com

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IMPROVING BICYCLING IMPROVES LIVES—FOR ALL B Y

O

ver the summer, we have multiple opportunities to celebrate our country’s freedom and independence. I can’t help but reflect on how our bicycling movement is powered by the revolutionary idea that everyone should have the opportunity to bike for transportation, good health, and the pure joy and freedom of it. It’s the closest humans can get to flying under our own power and it brings us closer to our community as we experience it with all of our senses. Everyone should have that available to them—that independence. And we are united in our interdependence as we together each do our part to make more of life bike-possible by removing the barriers to bicycling and enabling more people to live healthier, happier lives.

As you turn these pages of the latest issue of American Bicyclist, I hope you feel as proud as I do of what we are accomplishing together. This ride to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone is a long one where we get to meet incredible people and forge important partnerships along the way. This is also the special time of year when we showcase the great leaders of this movement in our annual advocacy and education awards. I know you will be inspired by their stories and will think of the people in your community, in your club, in your workplace, in your town staff, who should be thanked again and then nominated next year.

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B I L L

N E S P E R

Our people-power is amplified through the strong partnerships we develop, bringing the voice of people who bike into new conversations. In this issue you will see how we in the biking movement have moved the wheel forward by leaning into our shared values with public agencies, other national and community-based organizations, and businesses. It is only through this amplification and collective action that we will improve more lives, strengthen more communities and reach our goal of creating a truly Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.

We know that together we can reach this goal. Everyone has a part to play in this, from leading bike rides, teaching Smart Cycling tips or a class, to showing up to a public meeting or sharing an action alert.

This summer we’ve once again launched the “Drive Less, Bike More” Challenge to get us all riding more in everyday life. We hope you will join us in trying to do more trips by bike that might have otherwise been done by car whether that’s errands, visiting friends, or heading to the office.

Let’s celebrate some energy independence together and invite friends, family, and coworkers to join us. Every bit counts towards happier, healthier lives today and a more sustainable future for us all. Every bike ride is a good bike ride—that is a fact.

"It is only through this amplification and collective action that we will improve more lives, strengthen more communities and reach our goal of creating a truly Bicycle Friendly America for everyone."

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FEDERAL ADVOCACY

COALITION BUILDING: THE KEY TO SAFER VEHICLES B Y C A R O N W H I TA K E R , D E P U T Y E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R

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T

he League has been very involved in advocating for federal funding to make biking better. We were successful in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and since it’s passage, the League has been very involved in implementing the bill. We have been working with the US Department of Transportation, as well as communities, to help communities access the new funding and implement the bicycle-friendly policies in the BIL. Some of those bike safety policies include federal funding to build high quality bike lanes, trails, parking and more, plus resources to plan for complete streets and safety action plans.

Starting in the next few years, we’ll start looking for trends and challenges in how the current programs are operating to begin identifying what we want to improve in the next bill circa 2026. In the meantime, the League is working on improvements to the transportation system beyond bike infrastructure to improve safety and access for bicyclists.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES AUTONOMOUS AND CONNECTED VEHICLES

A U T O M AT I C E M E R G E N C Y BRAKING (AEB)

The League is working with a number of industry and safety advocates to ensure that these new technologies can both detect and respond to bicyclists and pedestrians of all races and ethnicities. In support of this, the League is: Building support for our set of principles for how AV technologies should interact with people on bikes.

When we talk about AEB it is important to distinguish between the different types.

When a car has AEB, that assumes vehicle to vehicle AEB, meaning that the system has been tested to sense another vehicle in front of them. Pedestrian-AEB means the system has been tested with people walking. Cyclist-AEB is different from Pedestrian-AEB because bicyclists use the roadway differently.

Working in coalition with other groups to advocate for a ‘vision test’ for autonomous vehicles. We were successful in getting an imperfect version of a vision test in the 2019 draft bill (which has since expired).

The League works in coalition with other safety advocates to promote P-AEB as standard safety equipment in new cars and leads the fight to include cyclist-AEB testing (paving the way for regulations in the future).

Tracking the implementation of the infrastructure bill’s language requiring a study of connected vehicles’ interactions with bicycles.

We’ve seen progress on requiring pedestrian-AEB in cars and light trucks.

Earlier this summer, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a proposed rule requiring pedestrian-AEB in new cars.

The technology would have to work at night—70 percent of pedestrian fatalities happen at night—and would have to bring a car to a full stop from 37.5 mph without impacting the pedestrian.

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The League’s efforts to require cyclist-AEB are focused on including it in the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), the fivestar safety rating NHTSA gives new cars.

The NCAP is the first step to improve the technology and to make it standard. After the League’s major push on the issue in 2015-6, NHTSA first started researching AEB with cyclists.

SAFER TRUCKS We know that bicycling safety also depends on safer trucks. Roughly 500 people biking or walking and other vulnerable road users die in crashes with trucks each year.

Crashes with large trucks account for 11 percent of bicyclist fatalities on our roads. The fatalities aren’t spread equally across the country. In some states, like Massachusetts and New Hampshire, more than one in three bicyclist fatalities are caused by a large truck, while in Nevada, Alaska and Oregon more than one in five bicyclist fatalities are caused by a crash with a truck.

The League is approaching this critical issue a number of ways: Requiring Automatic Emergency Braking for Large Trucks

NHTSA also issued a rule requiring vehicle to vehicle AEB for large trucks. While this doesn’t directly help bicyclists and pedestrians, it is a first step in requiring the trucking industry to implement these new technologies in their vehicles.

Requiring Sideguards for Large Trucks

Research shows that sideguards could reduce bicyclist fatalities by 55-75 percent.

This spring, NHTSA issued an advanced notice of rulemaking stating that the benefits of side underride guards did not justify the costs of putting side underride guards on trucks. However, they did this estimate without considering the fatalities of vulnerable road users or motorcyclists (another 250–300 deaths a year!) The League is working in coalition with other advocates to ask NHTSA to go back to the drawing board and revise their research to include the cost of all fatalities before determining not enough lives would be saved to make this safety adjustment to trucks.

L O O K I N G F O R WA R D Continuing our theme of working with partners to make biking better for more people, the League recently relaunched the Amtrak Bike Task Force. The League is taking a leadership role in an effort to make it easier for people to travel on Amtrak with their bikes. Over the years, the task force has had several wins, including getting more bike racks on more routes across the country.

Congressional Briefing

REDUCING THE DANGERS OF LARG E T RU C K C RASHES FOR BICYCLISTS & PE D ESTRIANS Wednesday, March 29, 2023 • 3:00pm–4:00pm 2043 Rayburn House Office Building

BIKELEAGUE.ORG

The briefing for congressional staff at this year’s Summit focused on truck safety and the value of sideguards.

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Our advocacy in Washington is successful not only in large part because of our work with partners, but also thanks to the support of our members. Thanks to you, we are able to continue being the voice of people who bike on Capitol Hill and with decision makers throughout Washington.

At the 2023 National Bike Summit, we hosted a Congressional Briefing alongside the Truck Safety Coalition and with Dan Langenkamp, whose wife Sarah was killed by a large truck while biking.

TYPES OF AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING (AEB)

When a car has AEB, that assumes vehicle to vehicle AEB, meaning that the system has been tested to sense another vehicle in front of them.

Pedestrian-AEB means the system has been tested with people walking.

Cyclist-AEB is different from pedestrian-AEB because bicyclists use the roadway differently. Other global NCAPs already include cyclist-AEB testing.

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POLICY AND RESEARCH

PEOPLE ON BIKES: MORE THAN AN "EDGE CASE" B Y

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ay back in 2014, when we asked League members, “Will automated cars make bicyclists safer?”, a majority said “no” or “not enough information.” Over the last near-decade, as automated vehicles have perpetually been “two years away”, the League has worked to educate people, both in the automated vehicle industry and among the bicycling public, and create resources to ensure that the answer, when automated vehicles happen, is “yes” bicyclists will be safer.

In automated vehicle development, people biking and walking are often referred to as “edge cases.” Not “edge case,” as in people may be riding on the edge of the road, or pushed onto a sidewalk by poor road design, but “edge case” as in “a problem or situation … that only happens … in extreme situations.”

At the League, we see interactions between people biking and vehicles as everyday occurrences—as normal, expected, and foreseeable and something that undeniably must be addressed. Rather, the extreme in this situation would be to ignore interactions with people biking in automated vehicle

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development. Far from “edge cases,” we believe that safe interactions with people biking must be a core competency for automated vehicles.

Fortunately, automated vehicle developers like Cruise believe this too. That’s why we are proud to partner with Cruise on promoting six guidelines for safe interactions with cyclists developed by the League. Cruise operates automated vehicles that offer paid rides to the public in San Francisco, where nearly 10,000 people bike to work most days and interactions with cyclists are a daily occurrence.

The League has six guidelines that we believe—when the guidelines are adopted by AV developers—will make interactions with automated vehicles safer:

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2

Cyclists Should Be a Distinct Object Class.

This captures that people biking act like people biking, not people walking or scooting or driving.

Automated vehicle developers should seek to understand how people biking are likely to move in order to anticipate their movements and safely interact with them.

Typical Cyclist Behavior Should Be Expected.

This captures that people biking should be treated like people biking. Common movements that can be anticipated—whether legal or not— should be anticipated by the AV to provide for the cyclist’s safety.

3

Cycling Infrastructure and Local Laws Should Be Mapped. This captures that infrastructure and laws both aid the prediction of movements and create substantive behavioral requirements for vehicles, such as obeying the speed limit or providing a safe distance when passing a bicyclist.

4

An AV Should Drive in a Consistent And Understandable Way. This captures that people biking need to understand automated vehicles without learning a complex new array of visual or auditory signals (although always using turn signals may feel new compared to human drivers).

5

Prepare for Uncertain Situations and Proactively Slow Down. This captures that reducing speed and providing space is the safest way to deal with uncertain situations, providing a greater margin of error for movements and a lower risk of injury if a crash occurs.

6

Cyclist Scenarios Should Be Tested Continuously. This captures that the work to ensure safety is never done. There is currently no federal, state, or local standard for “safe enough” and even if there were, the goal should be as safe as possible, which is best accomplished through continuous testing and development.

WILL AUTOMATED CARS MAKE BICYCLISTS SAFER?

NO

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F U N D R A ISING

$49,353

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At 20 miles per hour (mph) there is a 90 percent chance of survival for a person hit by a vehicle, but the survival rate drops to less than half at 45 mph, the most common speed limit on roads where cyclists are killed.

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Cruise is one of two companies that currently offers paid rides in automated vehicles to the public. Cruise’s interest in partnership with the League, and endorsement of the League’s guidelines, plays an important role in leading the automated vehicle industry towards ensuring “yes”, they will make people biking safer. Our guidelines provide a framework for addressing the feeling that there is “not enough information,” but we ultimately need more public information to understand how each developer ensures the safety of cyclists.

The safety of cyclists, whether or not AVs one day displace most human drivers, depends upon more than drivers or AVs alone. Cruise has also advocated for safer streets that support its safe operations.

In 2021, Cruise advocated for AB 43 in California which reformed speed limit setting in the state, enabling local communities to reduce speed limits on high-injury networks.

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Slower speed limits are critical for preventing death or serious injury when crashes from any cause occur. At 20 miles per hour (mph) there is a 90 percent chance of survival for a person hit by a vehicle, but the survival rate drops to less than half at 45 mph, the most common speed limit on roads where cyclists are killed.

To realize a future where zero people biking are killed will take cooperation. Cooperation between traffic engineers and urban planners, cooperation between policymakers and advocates, and cooperation between bicyclists and the still developing AV industry.

With cyclist deaths at their highest level since 1975 in 2021, we have a long way to go and Cruise’s cooperation on the League’s guidelines is one step toward that future. We hope other companies in the AV industry follow the lead set by Cruise towards safer vehicles and safer roads.

1.800.448.7931 www.Madrax.com

WE KNOW BIKE PARKING. Inside and out.®

Download our free bike parking guides at www.dero.com

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his year, the League is releasing a new resource that we hope will inspire new big ideas in communities across the country. The Bicycle Friendly Community Ideabook aims to help local advocates and decision makers learn about projects, policies, programs, and partnerships that have been successfully used by peer communities around the country to better support people riding bikes.

The Ideabook highlights a number of ideas from communities and partner organizations in the Bicycle Friendly America program, representing cities, towns, tribal nations, counties, and regions of a wide range of sizes, geographies, climates, and demographics. Below are just a few excerpts from the Bicycle Friendly Community Ideabook to give League members a sneak preview of this new resource—keep an eye on bikeleague.org/community for the Ideabook to be released soon!

INCLUSIVE ENG AGEMENT Bicycle Friendly Communities across the country have used a variety of tools and methods to reach and engage with residents. In Bronze-level BFC Plano, Texas, the city BRONZE THE LEAGUE developed a Take the Case “meeting in a box” workshop to help other local organizations host internal meetings. The goal of this effort was to solicit input from those who had historically been excluded from the planning process. Over twenty organizations, including the Multicultural Outreach Roundtable and Plano Senior High School, participated.

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TRANSFORM YOUR COMMUN I T Y INTO

THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS PRESENTS THE

BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY IDEABOOK A GREAT PLACE TO R ID E A BIKE

The League of American Bicyclists developed this resource with funding and support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity.

These efforts are part of the Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative that is working to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027.

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E N G A G I N G B I C YC L E F R I E N D LY B U S I N E S S E S

Many communities use the Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) program as a tool to engage the private sector in bicycling improvements to achieve shared goals for the community, be it health and wellness, livability, sustainability, or economic growth.

Scan to learn more about how your business or community can become Bicycle Friendly

Paul Nye, owner, operator and the sole employee of Platinum-level BFB, Back Street Bicycle Service & Repair in Walker, MN.

14

The city of Walker, Minnesota, is a Silverlevel BFC and one of the THE LEAGUE SILVER smallest communities in the BFC program, with a population of just over 900 residents. This small lakeside city boasts an impressive trail network and saw an opportunity to attract more cyclists to visit their community to use the scenic trail system. The Leech Lake Area Chamber of Commerce began recruiting businesses along the trails to become Bicycle Friendly Businesses in 2018, and became a Bicycle Friendly Business themselves as part of the city’s first wave of applications. Over twenty local businesses from Walker have applied to the BFB program since then, and Walker now has over a dozen Bicycle Friendly Businesses ranging from Bronze to Platinum awards, giving it the most BFBs per capita of any community in the nation.

BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS

BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY

BUILDING DEMAND THROUGH PROGRAMMING A N D PA RT N E R S H I P S In Gold-level BFC Ann Arbor, Michigan, the city engages with many local partners across the community and region to expand on its bicycling education and encouragement efforts.

Ann Arbor’s downtown association, getDowntown, provides year-round commuting programs and services for downtown employees, including hosting a “Conquer the Cold” month-long challenge for winter bicycle commuters. The Conquer the Cold challenge encourages non-car trips through commute tracking and educational seminars. Local bike shop Wheels in Motion hosts a Worst Day of the Year community bike ride in January in partnership with getDowntown and other local businesses.

As the Downtown Development Authority has implemented bikeways in downtown Ann Arbor, the community hosts bikeway opening celebrations, which include bike helmet fitting, bike helmet giveaways, rules

GOLD

THE LEAGUE

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of the road discussions, mobile repair stands, turn box training, test ride stations for cargo and adaptive bikes, and bike decorating with reflective stickers and bells.

Other external partners, including Program to Educate All Cyclists (PEAC), Common Cycle, SicTransit Cycles, the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society, the Bicycle Alliance of Washtenaw, and the Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition all promote bicycling through community rides for families, mountain bikers, road bicyclists, city youth, casual bicyclists, new bicyclists, commuters, refugees, women, and people with disabilities.

As these educational and encouragement efforts engage with new riders, Ann Arbor has found that ridership and demand for new bike facilities are only increasing, making it easier for the city to further increase investments in bicycle infrastructure and programming.

15

BFA IN ACTION

MAKING MORE TRIPS BIKE-POSSIBLE B Y

R AV E N

W E L L S

Attendees at Air Alliance Houston’s East End Sampling the City ride, November 20, 2021.

Source: Air Alliance Houston

16

Air Alliance Houston attended Our Afrikan Family’s Juneteenth Bike Ride as a partner and supporter. AAH donated helmets for all attendees and sponsored a police escort, as requested by OAF. Source: Air Alliance Houston

S

ince the Bicycle Friendly America program began, we’ve seen so many amazing applications come our way from communities, businesses, and universities across the country. On the Local Resources map on our website, you can find every current award we’ve bestowed, but what’s hard to capture in a map are the creative and unique efforts that make each business or community or university so inspiring.

One of those creative and inspiring Bicycle Friendly Business is Air Alliance Houston (AAH) in Houston, Texas.

AAH is a nonprofit that supports and strengthens communities of color and lower-income residents disproportionately harmed by transportation emissions and regional transportation policies such as disinvestment in multimodal transportation.

Aligned with their advocacy for environmental justice is AAH’s belief that every employee and every resident of the community should be able to bike to work, for recreation, for exercise, or for simple enjoyment with their families, friends, and coworkers. That belief, and their efforts to make more trips bike-possible,

earned the organization Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Business recognition as a new BFB applicant in our Fall 2022 round of awards.

Making more trips bike-possible is a collaborative effort and AAH embodies that in their work. AAH helps build the capacity of other organizations run by and for communities of color that promote multi-modal transportation in their neighborhoods. The organization partners with and supports Our Afrikan Family (OAF) in Fifth Ward, Houston, which organizes monthly educational community bike rides for a historically Black community facing severe economic isolation due to a proposed freeway expansion.

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AAH staff member testing out a bike before purchase from our local bike shop. Source: Air Alliance Houston

AAH staff members commuting to work via bike and METRORail together.

Source: Air Alliance Houston

W E A S K E D A A H M O R E A B O U T H O W B I C YC L I N G I S C E N T R A L T O E V E RY T H I N G T H E Y D O.

What are the biggest advancements your business has made towards better bicycling?

The most significant investment has been updating our employee transportation policy to provide a $500 one-time stipend to subsidize the cost of buying a bicycle, bicycle maintenance, bike accessories, or gear to support bike commuting. Several of our staff did not own a bicycle or needed substantial repairs to begin riding regularly. Because of this policy, those staff were able to buy a high-quality bicycle or pay for necessary maintenance to begin commuting by bike and/or participate in staff rides.

In February, we organized our second Office Bike Ride. This was a 4-mile fun ride on a Friday in chilly—but sunny—Houston spring weather—a perfect way to close out the week! February also marked our first quarterly “Bike Brag,” a meeting for staff to share their experiences, successes, challenges, and questions about biking for transportation or recreation. Our “Bike Brag” meetings are timed to closely follow the Office Bike Rides.

We have also invested in a full-time position dedicated to achieving equitable and sustainable transportation planning and

policy in the Houston Area. Our firstever Transportation Justice Coordinator, hired in March 2022, has a personal and professional passion for multi-modal transportation, so we further empowered her to be our on-staff cycling champion as part of her assigned duties. In fact, her vision led us to the policies and practices we have today.

Finally, we are glad to report that we have received permission to install an outdoor bike rack on our building owner’s private property. An outdoor bike rack will allow more convenient and spacious bike parking for staff and guests compared to our current indoor bike rack.

What is the most positive outcome of your BFB’s support for bicycling?

We have seen a notable increase in staff riding their bikes to the office, including those who did not often commute by bike in the past. More conversations and encouragement around biking, the ability to safely park your bike at the office, and supportive policies have all certainly played a role in that increase. In fact, buddy bike rides have naturally formed through some staff who live near each other and have commuted to work by bike and public transit together.

“We have seen a notable increase in staff riding their bikes to the office, including those who did not often commute by bike in the past.”

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—Air Alliance Houston

D I D YO U K N O W ?

HOUSTON IS A BRONZE-LEVEL B I C YC L E F R I E N D LY COMMUNITY

BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY BRONZE

AAH No-Car Earth Day

THE LEAGUE

OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS

In our Fall 2022 round of Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) awards, the city of Houston, Texas, renewed its Bronze-level BFC award and was recognized, along with 31 other cities and towns, for its efforts. Houston’s participation in the Bicycle Friendly Community program shows how even the largest, car-centric communities are committing to building environments more welcoming to people who bike. Over the years, we’ve seen how Houston is raising its efforts to meet our increasing standards.

“We take our renewal at the Bronze level as both an indication of the increasing expectations of BFCs and a challenge to redouble our efforts on all fronts in order to achieve our bike plan’s goal of becoming a Gold-level BFC by 2027,” said David Fields, chief transportation planner for the City of Houston’s Planning & Development Department. “With over 500 miles of planned and existing high comfort bikeways, regionwide educational and encouragement programs, and growing partnerships between the city, county, state, non-profit, and advocacy organizations, Houston has made significant progress and, overall, we are proud of the paradigm shift taking place to make it a city more welcoming to people who ride bikes.”

Advocates and city leaders in Houston have built thoughtful programs centered around improving community biking and cultivating a thriving bike culture, despite Houston’s reputation as a car-centric city. In fact, the BFC program review

team strongly considered promoting Houston to a Silver-level designation in this round to recognize the city’s progress and momentum to date, but ultimately decided to keep the city at Bronze while it works to tackle big barriers to biking like sprawling land use and high-speed roads.

With a land footprint of almost 670 square miles, the City of Houston is home to more than 22,000 miles of roadway.

Just over 65% of these roads are highspeed (over 35 mph), and none are low-speed (at or below 20 mph), due in part to statewide laws in Texas that set a statewide minimum speed limit, even for local roads. While the city’s ambitious bike plan has helped bring new bike infrastructure to Houston’s roadways, the total bikeway network reported on Houston’s 2022 BFC application is still only 2% of the city’s total roadway network— a metric the BFC review committee would like to see improve before Houston earns Silver.

19

PEDAL ON!

A PILGRIMAGE TO FAYETTEVILLE D I R E C T O R

O F

B Y K E V I N D E K K I N G A , M E M B E R S H I P A N D D E V E L O P M E N T

In May, Kevin Dekkinga had the pleasure of visiting the mountain bike mecca of Northwest Arkansas, speaking as part of the National Bicycle Dealers Association Retailer Summit and visiting with BFBs as well as Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community, Fayetteville.

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Riding the streets, trails and bikeways of Fayetteville with Dane Eifling, the City’s Mobility Coordinator as well as Brannon Pack, Experience Fayetteville’s, Director of Cycling Tourism, the amount of collaboration between the City of Fayetteville, its Destination Marketing Organization, its Convention Center, and the University of Arkansas (a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly University) is unmistakable.

The wayfinding and transitions from trail to on-street bikeway are seamless and easy, heightened by the city’s well-utilized dockless bike and scooter share.

A city of just under 100,000 residents, Fayetteville boasts 100+ miles of urban offstreet paved and natural trails, connecting to all parts of town and beyond, including the famed Razorback Greenway, linking Fayetteville with Bentonville, a world-class bicycling destination in its own right. Of particular note is the University’s new on-campus mountain bike trail system, the Fayetteville Traverse, which links the campus to Fayetteville’s vibrant Downtown, its entertainment district, and multiple mountain bike trail systems all within the city limits. Just beyond the city limits, visitors enjoy virtually limitless opportunities for road, gravel and singletrack adventures, thoughtfully curated examples can be found on Experience Fayetteville’s website, created using Ride with GPS’s tourism account feature.

Riding the streets of Fayetteville, it seems you can’t pass more than a few blocks without running into a Bicycle Friendly Business. In fact, during the Spring 2023 BFB round, 13 businesses in Fayetteville won awards, bringing the city’s total to 50 awardwinning businesses, including the Bronzelevel Destination Marketing Organization, Experience Fayetteville, and the Silverlevel Convention Center, the Fayetteville Town Center, which helps to bolster the business community around the power of bicycling with their Bicycle Friendly Business Bootcamps, offering local businesses direct guidance on accommodating and building a workplace and community culture around cycling via the League’s Bicycle Friendly Business program.

Big thanks to Dane and Brannon for showing us around and inspiring us with just how much progress can be made with hard work, cooperation and collaboration.

Pedal On, Fayetteville!

Brannon Pack leads the way to the trailhead of the natural surface Fayetteville Traverse trail at the University of Arkansas.

21

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Bike New Yor Twin Lights Rk’s ide

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23 Named after th e iconic Navesin k Twin Lights up the hill from Hud dy Park in Highl ands, New Jers this ride has be ey, en a favorite of local cyclists, N Yorkers, and vis ew itors from arou nd the country more than a de for cade. >> bike.nyc/eve nts/twin-lights -ride

23

RIDE REPORT

THE FIVE BORO BIKE TOUR RECAP B Y

A LY S S A P R O U D F O O T S I E G E L , M E M B E R S H I P C O O R D I N AT O R

When you get together 32,000 people on bikes to shut down the streets of New York City, one thing is for certain: it’s going to be a party.

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The TD Five Boro Bike Tour (TDFBBT) is an annual, 40-mile ride through all five boroughs of NYC. Put on by League member organization Bike New York, the TDFBBT is the largest charity ride in the world and the organizers go all-out to encourage cyclists from all walks of life to celebrate bike joy on car-free streets.

“For 45 years, the annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour has provided cyclists from New York City and beyond with the opportunity to ride car-free through the five boroughs of the most vibrant and diverse city in the world,” said Ken Podziba, CEO and President of Bike New York (and the League’s Board Chair).

“But the Tour is much more than that,” Ken said. “Each year the event provides our organization with the funding and visibility needed to bring the transformative aspects of biking to even more people and communities, including this important new partnership with the City of New York to provide free bicycles to asylum seekers and other immigrants recently arriving in our city.”

Because of its renown and on the invitation of Bike New York, the League eagerly participates in the TDFBBT festivities annually. This year, the energy at the starting line in lower Manhattan

was palpable. Our group of mighty League members met up and hit it off as we rolled out together. The weather was perfect, spirits were high, and before we knew it, we were off in a group of first-wave (read: way-too-early-bird) riders.

After biking north across most of the island, including through Central Park, we took the Madison Avenue bridge.

We quickly blew a kiss to the Bronx before heading back to the Queensboro Bridge, to—you guessed it—Queens. We got cheers and waves from passersby all through Astoria before making our way down to Brooklyn directly on the expressway. I wouldn’t normally condone biking on a highway, but if you get the chance, I would highly recommend it.

Our final climb and most of our elevation was gained going over the Verrazano Bridge onto Staten Island, but so many people were cheering each other on, jamming to music, and celebrating, that it felt like a breeze. From there, all that was left was to bask in the glory while enjoying the finish festival at Fort Wadsworth.

Between the weather, the car-free route, and my amazing fellow riders, TDFBBT was certainly a ride I won’t soon forget. I’ll definitely be back next year (and the year after that, and the year after that…)

“Each year the event provides our organization with the funding and visibility needed to bring the transformative aspects of biking to even more people and communities...”

—Ken Podziba, CEO and President of Bike New York

25

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N! IO UT OL KEEV BI R

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N AT I O N A L B I K E S U M M I T

ENACTING CHANGE NATIONWIDE: A BIKE REVOLUTION IN D.C. B Y

R AV E N

W E L L S

Our annual National Bike Summit is where the League showcases the partnerships from the national level to the grassroots that make biking better across the country. When people and organizations come together to advance the bike movement, we can ensure investments in building better, safer streets are truly for everyone! The Summit is also the place where advocates are inspired to form new partnerships and expand our movement’s reach and impact.

More than 750 bike advocates attended the 2023 National Bike Summit earlier this year. Among those who showed up to be inspired and inspire others were state and local advocacy organizations, bike clubs, Bicycle Friendly Businesses, Communities and Universities, League Cycling Instructors and the individuals who work with and in these groups to further bicycling efforts in their communities. Maybe even you were there! Advocates on every level—some who look forward to reconnecting with each other at each Summit and some crossing paths for the first time—all gathered to discuss issues facing our movement for a Bicycle Friendly America.

All told, the Summit featured over 30 virtual sessions, including four virtual plenaries with keynote addresses, hosted online and screened in-person for attendees. Many of the topics, which were centered around this year’s theme of a Bike

Revolution, explored ways we can work together more effectively now and in the future to enact change in our communities, whether it’s campaigning for slower streets in your neighborhood or partnering on statewide campaigns with national experts.

Sessions like “Everything You Wanted to Know About Denver’s E-Bike Rebate Program but Were Afraid to Ask”, where attendees heard from the city leaders, advocates, and bike shop owners behind Denver’s wildly popular e-bike voucher program, delved into how best to build on the successes of communities already building better places to bike, walk and roll. The Summit even has sessions for and by the next generation, with the National Youth Bike Council leading a conversation on how adult-serving organizations can support and team up with youth to get more of their peers on bikes.

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S T C A F 750 bike advocates over 30 virtual sessions over 250 meetings with our members in congress

Ensuring a voice for those who can help us better understand how to get everyone on bikes and feeling like an integral part of the bike movement is why engaging in diverse and inclusive partnerships is crucial, especially at the Summit. We were thrilled to have Marley Blonsky and Maggie Lowe of All Bodies on Bikes, a movement to create and foster a size-inclusive bike community, not only lead a ride for us but host a live recording of the “All Bodies on Bikes” podcast at the Summit.

Those who joined us in Washington, DC, engaged in mobile workshops and bike rides, experiencing everything from touring local Traffic Gardens to learning how to conduct an accessibility audit.

Organizational leaders like Mike Sule, executive director of Asheville on Bikes, or Brantley Tyndall, president of the board for the Virginia Bicycling Federation, exchanged strategies for winning advocacy campaigns at the Active Transportation Leadership Institute, and several other in-person workshops centered on topics like showcasing the legacy of Black wheel

women and how they can inspire future generations of diverse riders and also working with survivors of traffic violence on our shared goal of safe streets and more.

As usual, we capped off the Summit with Lobby Day on Capitol Hill, attending over 250 meetings with our representatives in Congress. This year the League’s main asks were around truck side guards to improve the safety of bicyclists in collisions with large trucks, the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act which enables states better to utilize funding for bike and pedestrian safety projects, and the E-BIKE Act which would create rebates that make buying an e-bike more affordable.

The League is proud to partner with state and local advocates to advance the movement to build a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone, and a critical component of that is enacting strong policies at the federal level that support our collective efforts by ensuring we have the resources needed to help more people ride their bikes whenever, wherever.

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at i c u d e and y c a c a dvo w i n n e rs a wa r d

on

T H E N ATIO N AL BIKE S U M M I T is an amazing opportunity to bring people together and learn from one another every year. It’s also the perfect time and place to honor the people who have made a huge impact in the bike movement through our annual Advocacy and Education Awards. The awards celebrate the volunteers and advocates who have committed their time and resources to advancing the work of the bike movement, and it’s a chance for us to be inspired by and learn from them.

We applaud the people and organizations who in 2022 expanded and grew the bicycling movement through education, encouragement, and advocacy.

Thanks to their tireless efforts, we are building a more Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.

CLUB OF THE YEAR

Blue Ridge Bicycle Club

This award is for a bicycle club that has done an excellent job at providing a great experience for its members and people who are new to bicycling.

B LU E R I D G E B I C YC L E C LU B

Blue Ridge Bicycle Club promotes healthy and fun lifestyles through cycling in Western North Carolina, but they are more than just a group of people who love to bike together, they are active advocates.

EMERGING LEADER OF THE YEAR Dasha Yurkevich

This award is a special accolade for a young person who is new to the bicycling movement and has demonstrated exceptional and inspiring bicycle advocacy.

DASHA YURKEVICH

Dasha plans and leads epic rides for youth as a way to show her peers the power of bicycling as a key element of climate justice and youth leadership. In the future, Dasha hopes to empower other youth to be leaders in the movement and to plan their own trips and lead their own adventures.

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Dorian Grilley

Dorian Grilley and Rep. Elkins at the Minnesota House Education Policy Committee meeting.

A D V O C AT E O F T H E Y E A R This award goes to a leader of a bicycling and/or walking advocacy organization who has shown tireless commitment to promoting bicycling and walking in their state or community.

DORIAN GRILLEY

S U S I E S T E P H E N S J OY F U L E N T H U S I A S M AWA R D This award commemorates Susie Stephens, one of the Alliance for Biking & Walking founders and an enduring inspiration for many members of the bicycle and pedestrian movement.

As the head of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota and its founder, Dorian led an organization that rallied its state and local communities to lead the nation in being better for bicycling. Dorian’s award reflects his steadfast commitment and belief in the power of the bicycling movement to foster real changes that improve the lives of our neighbors and friends.

L E TA M A R I E H I G H S M I T H

Letamarie Highsmith with newly certified LCI’s.

Letamarie Highsmith with her husband, Carlton.

Leta is an experienced bike educator and recently joined our team of League Cycling Coaches, the experts who train new League Cycling Instructors, which allows her to share her passion and the joy of bicycling with more people.

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N U C AT I O D E D N CY A T’D) ADVOCA WINNERS (CON A WA R D

Laura Davidson Brienza

E D U C AT O R O F T H E Y E A R

This award recognizes a person who has worked to elevate bike education in their state or community.

L A U R A D AV I D S O N B R I E N Z A

Laura became an LCI in 2022, after which she launched Cycology by LDB to instruct and mentor new cyclists. She loves spending her days as a bike educator doing things like leading a 5th grade PE class on a ride around a park to enjoy the sun and bike joy.

K AT H E R I N E “ K I T T I E ” T. K N O X AWA R D

This award recognizes champions of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the bicycling movement.

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RADICAL ADVENTURE RIDERS

Radical Adventure Riders (RAR) was founded in 2017 to support, celebrate, and connect communities who identify as women, transgender, femme, and/or nonbinary who use their bicycles to explore (be it the outdoors, themselves, each other, etc.)

Bike Walk Knoxville Ride with Elected Officials.

Bike Walk Knoxville Tour de Lights event.

A D V O C A C Y O R G A N I Z AT I O N OF THE YEAR

D R . PA U L D U D L E Y W H I T E AWA R D

This award goes to a bicycling and/or walking advocacy organization or club who, in the past year, made significant progress.

This award is the highest honor the League bestows. The recipient should be an inspiration to others for their commitment to the future of bicycling and someone that has made significant progress in education, safety, rights, or benefits of bicycling.

B I K E WA L K K N O X V I L L E

The organization’s mission is to make the Knoxville region a better place to bike and walk for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds through efforts like their Open Streets Knoxville, their work with Safe Routes to School, and the Tour de Lights where you’ll see “bicycle enthusiasts wearing their latest spandex to four-year olds on tiny bicycles to families towing pets.”

RA N DY N E U F E L D

Randy has been a force for change in the bike movement for over 30 years. First in Chicago as the founding executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, now known as the Active Transportation Alliance, which he continued on with as Chief Strategy Officer as the organization grew into a multi-modal focus, and served on the Board of Directors from 2005 until last year.

Randy was the founding chair of the Thunderhead Alliance, a coalition of state and local cycling groups, which became the Alliance for Biking and Walking and eventually its activities were folded into the Leadership Institute within the League. Randy was president of America Bikes, strategy manager for the National Complete Streets Campaign, and since 2009 has been the director of the SRAM Cycling Fund, where he leads SRAM’s involvement in bicycle advocacy, corporate grants, and policy from international coalitions to local engagement near SRAM offices. Randy guides SRAM’s collaboration with the rest of the bike industry, working to optimize their associations and coalitions to grow cycling.

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SMART CYCLING

ELECTRIC ASSIST BIKE RIDERSHIP IS POWERING UP B Y

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A L I S O N

D E W E Y ,

E D U C AT I O N

D I R E C T O R

W

e at the League are excited about launching an e-bike safety video series to help this growing population become safer and more confident riders! Electric bikes or e-bikes are opening new doors for existing riders and putting a pedal under the foot of new riders. There are a variety of reasons to give the new technology a try. E-bikes allow a rider the ability to haul more stuff, go longer distances, take on more hills, leave the minivan at home by biking kids to a destination, and overall reduce the effort it takes to go by bike. E-bikes can be a game changer for people of all ages, which is a big reason why they are gaining popularity so quickly.

Even if you are an experienced “traditional” bike rider, there still can be a lot to learn about e-bikes: what they are, how they work, the three class system, and how to ride them more safely and confidently. It’s a lot of important information to deliver to new and existing riders, which is why we are partnering with People for Bikes and Bicycle Colorado to create an online interactive video course on e-bike safety. In the course, we present some of the critical information to know before even getting on an e-bike. All e-bikes are not equal and it is important for the rider to know the speed potential of their bike, how the electric motor is activated, battery safety, the various modes of the e-assist, how the bike shifts, and other operational aspects.

It is also essential to check that your e-bike is in good working order and safe to ride before putting the tires on the road—we’ll show you how!

Our video series also presents the basics of biking such as lane positioning when riding on the roadway, key ways to stay visible, the importance of being predictable, common collision scenarios of which to always be aware, and more. While we know that safe, well-designed bike infrastructure is an incredibly effective way to reduce collisions between bikes and cars, we also know that

it is the combination of education and safe places to ride that make people safer when going by all types of bikes.

For e-bikers traveling on multi-use paths and trails, we’ve got content for you too! Adhering to trail speed limits, communication with other users, and following proper etiquette are just a few of the topics we address. Knowing the laws and how to properly share space with other trail users will help keep you and other pathway users safe.

The e-bike safety video series will be released later this summer and will be available for free. Check our website frequently for updates. It is a must see for any new or experienced e-bike rider and we guarantee you will learn something new. Of course, there is no better cycling education than being on a bike and working with a League Cycling Instructor. On-bike education gives the student the real life experience of bike handling, developing a sense of the weight of an e-bike, getting used to the thrust of the electric assist and the overall feel of steering and controlling your bike. To find an LCI in your area to offer you an on-bike class, go to bikeleague.org and explore the Bicycle Friendly America resources in your area.

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E-BIKE EDUCATION ON THE RISE Many bike advocacy organizations across the country are seeing a growing number of electric bikes in their bike safety education classes. With the growing popularity of e-bikes, some League member groups such as Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) and Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) are hosting classes specifically for e-bike riders. The classes run the gamut from being hosted virtually to being on-bike. SVBC hosted two virtual classes this summer to teach people more about choosing an e-bike, maintenance, safety, and maximizing comfort and fun on an e-bike.

MCBC conducts regular two-hour classes on e-bike safety for teens. The course focuses on experiential drills and includes an on-road skills component, plus it teaches the rules of the road and other basics.

MCBC also taught an e-bike specific class to White Hill Middle School students who are riding e-bikes to school and it offers its course as part of a law enforcement diversion program for teens in Mill Valley, California. All of this is in addition to the dozens of on-bike classes taught in physical education classes as part of the school district’s Safe Routes to School program.

With our new e-bike curriculum launching, we hope to see more organizations and educators ensuring everyone has the skills and know-how necessary to enjoy life by e-bike.

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LEAGUE SAG WAGON

LEAGUE STAFF HIGHLIGHTS FROM BIKE MONTH 2023 Our staff highlights their favorite Bike Month 2023 moments, from their communities—and beyond!

A LY S S A

R I D I N G I N N YC F O R T H E TD FIVE BORO BIKE TOUR My favorite part of Bike Month 2023 was cycling the streets of New York City with 32,000 #bikefriends in the annual Five Boro Bike Tour! The League hosted a small member meetup as part of the event; congrats to Bike New York for an excellent ride.

KEVIN

E X P LO R I N G OZ T RA I LS My favorite moment of Bike Month 2023 was without question exploring OZ Trails around Bentonville, Arkansas. Big thanks to Women of OZ for leading me on my very first mountain bike ride!

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LAUREN

VISIBLE CHANGES IN T H E B I K E WO R L D Riding one of my usual weekend long ride routes on National Ride a Bike Day and seeing so many more people on bikes in the neighborhoods I ride through all the time.

ANNA

B E YO N D B I K E M O N T H Watching the WycO Bike Group (which formed out of the Kansas City BFC Workshop last year) plan their month of activities and see it virtually roll out! They ended up giving away over 70 bikes, 60 helmets, and bike lights and had a plethora of events that are turning into sustaining events for the rest of the year! Bike Month doesn’t have to end when May is over!

AMELIA

CONGRESSIONAL ACTION Presenting on the Bicycle Friendly Community program during a Congressional Briefing that the League hosted with Representative Earl Blumenauer’s office, and getting to see Caron Whitaker in action on the Hill!

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JAMIL

G ROW I N G T H E B I P O C BIKE MOVEMENT

Philly Ghost Bike Play-Staged Reading—agilerascaltheatre.com

Joining the 3rd annual Minority Mountain Bikers Bentonville Bike Week. Since participating in my first MMB Bike Week last year, this has become my favorite biking event. I love riding with other BIPOC mountain bikers in a safe environment where we can grow our skills and be in community.

KEN

UPGRADES OF ALL KINDS Bike Month 2023 was packed with events with my local advocacy group, PedalSafe Roanoke, including an event with Professor Ralph Buehler attended by a city councilmember and city staff.

But, my favorite part of Bike Month was getting a new splurge bike, my first e-bike and first full suspension mountain bike.

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RILEY

B I K E T H E AT R E !

Biking to and participating in auditions for Philly Bike Play, a production in development by Agile Rascal Bike Theatre company. I met their Artistic Director, Dara Silverman, at this year’s National Bike Summit and am excited to be an on-bike usher for staged readings of this immersive performance in August!

ALISON

E M P I R E S TAT E O F B I K E Pedaling over the Hudson River on the new Empire State Trail in upstate New York was breathtaking and inspiring. Making that trip with my family was a memory of a lifetime.

Our dog Roxy was along for the ride too!

BILL

This Bike Month started off with two great visits to opposite sides of the country. First, I wrapped up April in Portland with a member meetup and some excellent riding with former League board member AJ Zelada. Then I kicked off Bike Month at Pedal Hilton Head Island with our friends at BikeWalk Hilton Head Island and advocate extraordinaire, Frank Babel.

Credit: AJ Zelada

COAST TO COAST

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LOCAL HERO

PELOTON

CLIMBER

SPRINTER

BREAKAWAY

ELITE

THANKS TO OUR 2023 CORPORATE SPONSORS

City Thread

OUR MISSION is to lead the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.

We envision a nation where everyone, whether they bike or not, recognizes and enjoys the many benefits and opportunities of bicycling and where everyone can experience the joy of bicycling.

STAFF Kevin Dekkinga

Jamil Modaffari

Alison Dewey

Bicycle Friendly America Director

Director of Membership & Development Education Director

Lorna Green

Policy Specialist

Amelia Neptune Bill Nesper

Operations Director

Executive Director

Lauren Jenkins

Alyssa Proudfoot Siegel

Communications Director

Ken McLeod

Membership and Program Coordinator

Anna Tang

Bicycle Friendly America Program Specialist

Riley P. Titlebaum Education and Outreach Assistant

Caron Whitaker Deputy Executive Director

Policy Director

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ken Podziba Chair

Danielle Arigoni Vice Chair

Kecia McCullough Secretary

Maria Boustead Treasurer

Jim Baross Max Hepp-Buchanan At Large

Melissa Lee Ralph Monti Vivian Ortiz Cadesha Prawl

Mike Sewell At Large

Chuck Smith Torrance Strong At Large

Karin Weisburgh At Large

Anna Zivarts

American Bicyclist magazine (ISSN 0747-0371) is published by the League of American Bicyclists, Inc. to help the organization achieve its mission to educate the public and promote awareness of bicycling issues. ©2023 League of American Bicyclists. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Article queries should be addressed to communications@bikeleague.org. Your submission of manuscripts, photographs or artwork is your warranty that the material in no way infringes on the rights of others and that the material may be published without additional approval.

Opinions expressed by writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the League.

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