1. Creating a Bicycle Friendly Community
November 18, 2018

2. The League’s Mission
The League promotes bicycling for fun, fitness, and transportation through advocacy and education to build a bicycle-friendly America.
The League was founded in 1880 and had big wins early to get the first paved roads for bicyclists. Today, the League continues to make biking better. It’s mission is to promote bicycling for fun, fitness, and transportation through advocacy and education to build a bicycle-friendly America.
Photo: Allan Crawford

3. Providing a Roadmap for a Bicycle Friendly America
Advocacy – Coordination, feedback, setting the bar
Education – Benchmarking, feedback, hands-on assistance from staff
Promotion – Award designation and media promotion
The Bicycle Friendly America program is a key component of the League. It provides a roadmap to transform states, communities, businesses and universities. The free online applications, resource libraries and hands-on assistance from program staff offer guidance in building truly bicycle-friendly places.

4. Bicycling is a Good Thing
Economic Development
Quality of Life
Sustainability
Health
Mobility
Access
Environment
Safety
Equity
Fiscal Constraint
This is not a special interest! This is not about the bike! It is about making life easier, more enjoyable, more connected, heallthier and more sustainable. Bicycling is a Simple Solution for many of the challenges that we face as a nation.
Promoting bicycling can be an answer to economic development, sustainability, environmental and personal heath and quality of life

5. Where people want to live, work and visit
BFCs always on best places to live, work, study and retire lists. (6 in US News’ latest Top 10)
Mercer Int’l Quality of Life Ranking: 7 of 8 U.S. cities are BFCs
Businessweek’s Best Places to Ride out the Recession 17 of 20 are BFCs
Bicycle Friendly Communities always top the lists of best places to live, work, visit, retire and study from Forbes and Newsweek to the international rankings of city quality of life. In addition, these cities have been recognized for their economic sustainability through the recession. Businessweek - top 20 cities to ride out a recession, 17 are BFCs.

6. And a big part of their high quality of life comes with making bicycling an easier, more comfortable option for people to get to where they want to go or recreate by bike. It works and the proof is in cities across the country.
(Photo: Baltimore - Bronze BFC where bicycle commuting has doubled in the last 10 years)

7. Bicycling brings us outdoors to see our neighbors to get local to connect. Here SLC mayor Ralph Becker is celebrating the opening of a new bike lane. The city can continue to make a huge difference to the citizens of the city by continuing to connect the larger community through bicycling infrastructure, education and encouragement
–maintaining the high standards to all new projects and cut the ribbon for the entire community bringing the opportunities to ride to the people.

8. What is the BFC Program Started in 1996 with the BFC program
Updated program in 2002
5 Award levels: Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze
Program recognizes communities for bicycle friendliness and provides roadmap and assistance to become better.
The League has run a BFC program for 10 years– at first in the 1990s with relatively easy criteria for communities to meet.
In 2002 the program was overhauled and a new, more rigorous application and review process was initiated. One important change was the creation of a four tiered award system – created with the intent of encouraging communities to continually improve.

9. bikeleague.org/community
Application Criteria
Engineering
Education
Encouragement
Enforcement
Evaluation & Planning
The free, online application form asks a series of about a dozen questions in each of five major areas of bicycle policy and programs. The application provides a menu of options for any community to better welcome and accommodate bicycling. Communities are encouraged to provide the most comprehensive approach to making bicycling a more comfortable and convenient option for citizens. To reach the higher levels of BFC designation, communities must score well across all five areas.
The five E’s are:
1. Engineering: Physical infrastructure and hardware to support cycling
2. Education: Programs that ensure the safety, comfort and convenience of cyclists and fellow road users
3. Encouragement: Incentives, promotions and opportunities that inspire and enable people to ride
4. Enforcement: Equitable laws and programs that ensure motorists and cyclists are held accountable
5. Evaluation: Processes that demonstrate a commitment to measuring results and planning for the future
(Photo: Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter with city’s Bicycle Ambassadors)
Online application
bikeleague.org/community

10. Application Review 600+ applications reviewed by League staff
external reviewers
local cyclists and advocates
242+ BFCs in 47 states
The League has received over 600 applications and designated over 200 BFCs in 47 states.
After a community submits the application and sends any appropriate supporting literature, the application is reviewed three ways:
League staff review the applications internally
An external reviewer is asked to score each application, and
Local cyclists – League members, LCIs, shop owners, advocacy group leaders, club leaders etc., are asked to comment on the application and provide their perspective on the bicycle-friendliness of the community.
This last stage of the review is important to us, and local reviewers have definitely had an impact on many of the awards – or lack of awards.

11. Building for bicycling works
Investing in bicycling works! Between , the average American city has seen a 47% growth in bicycle commuting – Bicycle Friendly Communities have seen a 80% growth.
It’s not just in places like Portland, OR and Boulder, CO where this is happening.

12. Numbers Are On Our Side Lesson Seven
It is also happening in the great white north of Minnesota. The city has seen demand for better biking opportunities, even through harsh winters. Over the last 15 years as Minneapolis climbed to become second only to Portland in bicycle commuters (3.9%) for big cities, its crash rate fell.

13. Reaching the Interested but Concerned
The BFC program aims at empowers communities to better welcome people of all ages and abilities to get on a bike and go comfortably and conveniently for recreation and transportation. So what is it about this great growth in bicycling? The best bicycle-friendly communities are reaching the people who would like to bike but are not comfortable.
Thanks to some very interesting research conducted in Portland, Oregon we can group folks by their level of comfort, with the goal of accommodating as many people as possible. As it turns out over half of the population would like to bike more but are not really being given viable choices for doing so. We want to change that. Now just a bit about these groups.

14. Strong and Fearless
First, the Strong and Fearless. This group represents about 1-3% of the total population. They really don’t need a lot to get to where they want to go on city streets. They need the protection in the law to use the streets, but dedicated bike facilities are not necessary for them. Smooth roads, signals that are actuated by them and a safe bike parking are some of the most important factors for them.

15. Strong and Fearless
The strong and fearless are being served in all BFCs. It should be noted that the strong and fearless are an excellent pool for mentoring and becoming League Cycling Instructors.

16. Enthused and confident
Next, the Enthused and confident. The “Enthused and Confident” are those who have been attracted to bicycling by improvements to the bikeway network and supporting infrastructure. They are comfortable sharing the roadway with automotive traffic, but they prefer to do so operating on their own facilities like bicycle lanes, bicycle boulevards and cycletracks.

17. Enthused and confident
These folks are often staffing your bicycle advisory committees, heading up advocacy efforts and helping with the push to be more bicycle-friendly communities

18. Interested but concerned
The largest portion, the Interested but Concerned, are curious about bicycling. They like the idea of riding more but they are afraid to ride. They don’t like the cars speeding down their streets. They get nervous thinking about what would happen to them on a bicycle when a driver runs a red light, or guns their cars around them, or passes too closely and too fast.
Very few of these people regularly ride bicycles—some will ride recreationally, join a group ride event or ride to a close destination as long as it doesn’t include going on major streets. They want separation from automobiles. They would ride if they felt safer on the roadways—if cars were slower and less frequent, and if there were more quiet streets with few cars and paths without any cars at all. This group is being reached in the best bicycle-friendly places through innovative bikeway implementation – from buffered bike lanes and cycletracks to neighborhood greenway networks that lead to destinations.

19. Interested but concerned
Short easily accessible classes help reach this group

20. Interested but concerned
Along with group rides and community events

21. Engineering Complete Streets approach
Bike parking convenience and safety
Training for staff engineers and planners
Infrastructure
On-road network, Paths and off-road trails
Safe intersections
Facility maintenance
So how can a community serve the most people? The Bicycle Friendly Community application offers a menu of options for any community to get started and build a safer and more comfortable place to get on a bicycle.
Bicycle Friendly Communitiescome in all shapes and sizes each with their own natural benefits and challenges from climate and topography to culture and population density. But there are essential elements across five categories known as the Five E’s that are consistent in making bicycle-friendly places:
This starts with the engineering and what you are building to accommodate bicycling. The most visible, and perhaps most tangible evidence of bicycle-friendliness is the presence of an infrastructure that supports bicycling. Survey after survey shows that the physical environment is a key determinant in whether people will get on their bike and ride. The most advanced Bicycle Friendly Communities have a well-connected bicycling networks consisting of quiet neighborhood streets, conventional and protected bike lanes, shared use trails and policies to ensure connectivity and maintenance of these facilities. Secure, convenient and readily available bike parking is also a key component.

22. Education Motorists/ public outreach Youth education Adults Children
Professional drivers, staff drivers
Commuters
League Cycling Instructors
Offering a lot of ways for people to get the skills and confidence to ride is key to building bicycle-friendly places. At the community level this begins with bicycle-safety education being a routine part of public education as part of a Safe Routes to School program. Communities can offer options for adults looking to improve their biking skills with everything from online tips, to brown bag lunch presentations and in-depth on-bike training opportunities. The league’s Smart Cycling program and more than 2000 League Cycling Instructors around the country are a great resource in delivering high quality education programs. It is also vital to make motorists and cyclists aware of their rights and responsibilities on the road through public education campaigns that promote the Share the Road message.

23. Encouragement National Bike Month & Bike to Work Week
Rides, events, incentives to ride
Commuter programs – National Bike Challenge
Bike sharing
Bike parks, velodromes, other recreational biking
Communities play a critical role in encouraging people to ride by giving them a variety of opportunities and incentives to bicycle. This can be done through the celebration of National Bike Month and Bike to Work Day, producing community bike maps, route finding signage, bicycle-themed celebrations and rides and commuter challenges. Many places are investing in public bike sharing systems and internal fleets, which are a convenient, cost effective, and healthy way of encouraging people to make short trips by bike.

24. Enforcement Equitable laws Police involvement Targeted enforcement
Training for Police Officers
Austin (Silver BFC) Bicycling-specific officer training
Diversion courses
Basic laws and regulations need to govern bicycling and the rules of the road to ensure safety for all road users. With a good set of laws and regulations in place that treat bicyclists equitably within the transportation system, the next key issue is enforcement. Law enforcement officers must understand these laws, know how to enforce them, and apply them equitably to ensure public safety. A good relationship between the cycling community and law enforcement is essential; for example, a police representative can participates on a Bicycle Advisory Committee to increase awareness on both sides. Similarly, having more police officers on bikes helps increase understanding of cyclists’ issues. On college and university campuses theft prevention is a huge undertaking. Having law enforcement partners and great policies in place is essential to promoting bicycling.

25. Evaluation & Planning Current bike plan Monitoring use Targets/Goals
Crashes/Fatalities
Stakeholder involvement
Self-awareness
Setting targets for ridership and safety and measuring the results is crucial in any bicycle-friendly effort. A comprehensive bicycle master plan in combination with dedicated funding and active citizen/organizational support is the foundation of a great bicycling-friendly community– indeed, progress without it is difficult. A successful plan focuses on developing a seamless cycling network that emphasizes short trip distances, multi-modal trips and is complemented by encouragement, education and enforcement programs to increase usage. A dedicated Bicycle Program Coordinator and an effective Bicycle Advisory Committee can play an important role in helping decision makers create, implement, and prioritize those bicycle programs and policies.

26. Benefits of applying
We knew this recognition would be important to our civic and business leaders, and that the metrics set out in the League’s application would be important measures for us.” - Allan Crawford, Bike Long Beach
Again and again, we hear how useful the programs are for coordination, benchmarking and giving the deserved recognition to all of the people – from civic and business leaders to advocates and educators – for building a great bicycle-friendly community, business or campus.
Now, we will hear from Nicole Wynands on the application and review process and how you can partner with us in creating great places for bicycling
Photo: Allan Crawford

27. Get started Go to: bikeleague.org/community
Use BFC Scorecard for self- assessment
Review the application and resources yourself to see how bicycle-friendly you are today
Coordinate with your local bicycle advocacy group and contact staff for assistance
The first step in the process is usually visiting bikeleague.org/community and checking out what BFCs are doing, review the online resource library and application and use the quick BFC Scorecard to do a quick assessment of your community.
Your local advocacy group and bike clubs should be brought into the discussion of applying and of course, working to build a stronger bicycle-friendly community.

28. Online resource library
The League’s online resources include best practices and success stories from communities of all shapes and sizes from every region of the country. The League’s BFA program staff are available to answer your questions and help you through the process.

29. Bring the Biking Joy
Biking is fun, liberating and good for you and your community. Building a bicycle-friendly community is not rocket science. It is being done in small towns and big cities with the same great results – happy people and vibrant communities.

30. Thank you.
Thank you.