Last week the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) removed bike lanes, road diets, and speed management from their Proven Safety Countermeasures website. Proven Safety Countermeasures are highly effective, data-driven strategies or physical modification implemented on roads and highways that keep us safe, and which the USDOT highly recommends states and local governments implement. 

Take Action Now!

For instance, if you were able to read the now-removed bike lanes one pager you would find that bicycle lane additions can reduce all crashes—not just bicyclist crashes—up to 49% for total crashes on urban 4-lane undivided collectors and local roads, and 30% for total crashes on urban 2-lane undivided collectors and local roads. That FHWA document from 2023 also notes studies and experience in cities has found that adding bike lanes to roads did not cause congestion.  

The same is true for speed management proven safety countermeasures. Research (and common sense) shows that high speed increases crashes, injuries, and fatalities. 

Proven safety countermeasures are lighthouses to guide officials towards safer roadway designs. They rest on a mountain of evidence. They are prominent and illuminating, suggesting the most effective infrastructure for solving our nation’s traffic death crisis. 

By taking down these strategies, the Federal Highway Administration is effectively telling states and local governments that they no longer encourage states and local governments to invest in safety! No extent of erasure will change the physics that make speed management critical to safer streets. Removing countermeasures is like turning the light off. Communities unaware of the guidance will see crashes—ones we know can be prevented through proven countermeasures—and lives will be lost as a result.

USDOT needs to explain why it is putting politics ahead of safety. 

On Friday, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee released a statement asking for a briefing from the USDOT about why these safety measures are no longer encouraged, adding that “It’s not political to say bike lanes and speed cameras improve safety; it’s a statement of fact.”

We need your help in amplifying Rep. Larsen’s message. Please ask your member of Congress to join Rep. Larsen in asking for a briefing. We deserve an explanation on why the administration is erasing protections for vulnerable road users. 

Take Action Now!

The post The evidence is (still) clear: bike lanes save lives appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Four years ago, the League relaunched its updated Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) application with revised questions, report cards, and a robust new “Equity & Accessibility” section. Over 300 communities have now applied using this updated application, representing communities as small as 900 residents and as large as 3 million. 

This week, with the opening of the 2027 BFC round, the Bicycle Friendly America (BFA) team enters our fifth year of the updated BFC application, and there are some new features and opportunities for applicants that we’re excited to announce. 

Simplified Renewal Application for Current Awardees

The biggest change in 2027 is that renewing applicants whose goal is to renew and maintain their existing Bronze or higher award level are now eligible to submit an abbreviated version of the BFC application. 

This Simplified Renewal Application is submitted using the same online form as the full BFC Application, but when a community indicates they are a “Current Renewal” at the beginning of the online form, nearly half of the BFC application questions become hidden.

To help hold these “Simplified Renewal” communities accountable to the standards that earned them their current award designation in the first place, the League has two additional requirements as part of their application and review process: 

1. The applicant and their local partners are committed to distributing the BFC public survey. (See Simplified preview document for minimum survey response rates expected.)
    
2. The community must demonstrate support from the mayor, or other high-ranking elected official or relevant government role, via a required Letter of Support upload field. (See Simplified preview document for the Letter of Support upload field questions.)

To begin a Simplified Renewal Application, we strongly recommend that returning applicants start by duplicating their most recent application into a new 2027 submission form using these instructions, which will make their renewal application process even simpler, by carrying over all their answers from their most recent submission form to be reviewed and updated. 

Preview the BFC ApplicationYou can read more about eligibility requirements, and preview which questions still appear on the 2027 Simplified Renewal BFC Application, here: https://bit.ly/BFC_2027_SimplifiedPreview. 

To preview the Full BFC Application questions for all other applicants, visit https://bit.ly/BFCapp2027.  Letter of Support 

While the Letter of Support is required for Simplified Renewal Applications, the option to upload a letter from the mayor or other high-ranking elected official or other government role (such as DOT Director) is available to all BFC applicants. Including a letter can be a great way for any community to show off the level of commitment and investment from their community’s leadership, to support their new or returning BFC application. 

The Letter of Support upload field is visible as an optional field in the “Supplementary Materials” section of the Full Application for all other new and renewal categories. 

AI Transparency Policy 

In recent years, BFA reviewers have noticed a steep increase in the number of applications using Artificial Intelligence (AI)- or Large Language Model (LLM)-written responses to open-ended questions. While we understand that these tools can be important time-savers for applicants, we also recognize that AI-generated text can include errors, exaggerations, and “hallucinations” created by the AI or LLM tool.  

Rather than asking applicants not to use these tools, the League has developed the BFA AI Transparency Policy, which asks applicants to acknowledge whether or not any AI or LLM tools or programs were used to complete their application, and if so, to report which tools, programs, or websites were used, and to confirm that all AI-/LLM-written text has been verified and corrected by a human. 

If the League or our BFA reviewers have any concerns about the validity or accuracy of information on a BFA application based on potential use of AI or LLM tools, the policy states that applicants may be asked to review, revise, and resubmit their application. See the full policy and timeline for implementation for the other BFA programs here. 

Other (Minor) BFC Application Updates

Other than the three updates listed above, the 2027 BFC application questions had only minor changes or revisions, including a few new answer options to existing questions, such as e-motos referenced in question E22, and adding the League’s Active Mobility Leadership Lab to question E29. The 2027 update of the B14 Bicycle Network Worksheet (available for download here) now includes updated guidance from NACTO’s 2025 Design Controls for Bicycle Facilities.

Both the simplified and full BFC application preview documents include a tab that lists ALL minor changes to the BFC application since the previous (2026) round.

2027 Application Now Open for Submissions!

The 2027 BFC application opened on Monday, July 13, 2026 and will close on Wednesday, June 16, 2027 at 11:59pm PT.  Communities that are looking to renew, move up, or apply to the BFC program for the first time, are now welcome to begin working on their 2027 submissions. 

Find the online BFA Application Portal at apply.bikeleague.org.

The post 2027 BFC Application Updates appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tweeted: 

“Remember when Biden and Boot-edge-edge used YOUR MONEY for DEI bike lanes and climate change? THAT’S OVER
I just redirected $1.73 billion in USDOT grants away from Biden-era DEI pet projects. 
Now this funding is officially locked in to fix America’s actual backbone: ROADS, BRIDGES, AND SHIPPING PORTS.” 

That sounds ominous… and some of it is true!

The $1.73 billion of funds likely refers to the $1.73 billion in BUILD grant awards the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced last week. There were 127 grants awarded to entities in 52 states, territories and DC. Let’s look at what really happened. 

• In 2025, the DOT cancelled several BUILD grants that were intended for biking, walking, and trails projects. They also required changes to other grants to remove bicycling elements. 
• When the grant applications for this round were opened, the notice of funding announced $1.5 billion was available. 
• We don’t know for sure, but it is possible that funds from the cancelled grants were repurposed for some of these grants. 
• Almost a third of the BUILD grants announced this week include facilities for vulnerable road users. 

I am not trying to make light of the fact that the administration is belittling bike lanes as pet projects and not core transportation. The damage is real. I am trying to clarify what we know is happening. 

A Few Takeaways State and local governments still see a need for bicycle and pedestrian facilities 

The BUILD grant program—formerly known as RAISE under the Biden administration—is meant to be a multimodal program covering ports, airports, rail, transit and highways, including bicycling and walking roadway projects. In the past, bicycling and walking have done reasonably well under this program (see graphic to the right). We do not expect that success to continue.

This year, I identified 42 of the 127 projects which include some bicycling, walking or complete streets element (highlighted in yellow in this file). There are a few other projects, particularly planning projects that may include or result in some bicycling and walking element, but the description wasn’t clear enough to tell (highlighted in grey). 

Recipients definitely have heard from the administration that bicycling facilities and projects that reduce road capacity are not favored. In the short descriptions made public by the USDOT, we see most references to biking and walking as related to safety improvements, or as incidental to the main projects. Some of the language used, such as “designated space for a shared-use path,” may be a way of indicating the project is out of the roadway and not reducing road capacity for cars. 

While the demand for funding is there, we also know that state and local governments are not applying for active transportation projects they want, or are downplaying the need for multimodal facilities in the projects for which they apply. 

Just because an awarded project includes multimodal facilities doesn’t mean the administration will fund it as written

As mentioned above, when the Trump administration froze awarded grants in early 2025, they required that the project be redesigned in order for the funding to move forward. In many cases that meant removing bicycle facilities. In some cases, grant recipients may be able to go back later and use their own funds to reinstate active transportation facilities, but in others it can compromise the project. 

The $1.7 billion designated for bike facilities was not rescinded this week, BUT formerly awarded grants remain in limbo. 

Even if the additional $200 million dollars added to this round of BUILD grants came from rescinded grants for bike projects, as far as we can tell it is not from newly rescinded projects. It may have come from the grants for bike/ped that were cancelled last year or from other grant awards that were downsized. 

There are still a number of grants, awarded under the Biden administration, that are in limbo.  

After freezing almost 3,300 grants in early 2025, in September the Trump administration said it would allow 2,998 to pursue grant agreements or contracts. After cancelling a handful, another 270 or more were left in limbo. 

Last month, Federal Highways Administrator McMaster stated at a congressional hearing that 1,500 were now under contract. The USDOT is moving on some (although in some cases requiring a reduction of funding and/or changes to the design). Others are still just in limbo. 

How Do We Respond? 

The problem with affecting grant awards is that these grants are considered “discretionary” grants. That discretion, legally, is in the hands of the administration. 

While cancelling grants awarded under a former administration is rare, it has happened before (Biden cancelled the Keystone Pipeline grant, Trump cancelled high-speed rail grants). However, the number of grants frozen, manipulated and cancelled by this administration is unprecedented. The most effective way to influence the current USDOT is to have elected officials push for specific projects to move forward. We have also seen grant recipients sue and win in court, but even those wins have not resulted in projects moving forward. 

Beyond that, our best option at the federal level is to look for legislative options. How can we influence Congress to make it harder for this to happen again? How can we ensure that there are limits on administrative ‘discretion’ while still offering opportunities for local governments to fund multimodal projects that don’t fall neatly under state-run transportation programs? 

The League will continue to look for opportunities within the next transportation reauthorization bill, the budget process, and other opportunities to safeguard funding opportunities that make bicycling and walking safe and accessible. 

The post What the Heck is a DEI Bike Lane? appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Today, we’re excited to introduce the newest member of the League’s team: Brianne Waldoch, our new Membership Manager. Brianne brings a deep well of bike joy and years of nonprofit experience to the role, where she’ll support our wide base of members and help invite new ones into the fold. She’s also a certified League Cycling Instructor and a longtime champion of the Bicycle Friendly Business program, so needless to say, she already knows her way around the League. We couldn’t be happier to have her officially on the team—welcome aboard, Brianne!

What’s your first memory of riding a bike?

I barely remember learning to ride a bike, but I’ll never forget watching the older neighborhood kids glide by, pedaling backward with ease while I sat on my coaster-brake bike dumbfounded and aching to do the same. 

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

Growing up, I rode my Jazz Voltage bike mostly on camping trips, since we lived in the country along a 50-mph road.

It wasn’t until college that I, a nonathlete with an adventurous spirit, saw a write-up in an email newsletter about a cross–United States tour and thought, “That’d be a perfect way to see the country!”, despite having never ridden on a bicycle more than 35 miles in a day. 

I can’t say that I recommend conquering the Appalachian Mountains with very little training—those first 10 or so days were rough—but by the time we reached Seattle, it felt like my momentum was just getting started.

Brianne on the Le Tour de Shore in 2016, rocking a League jersey!

Since then, bicycling has woven its way through my adulthood. I completed a promotional cross–United States tour two years later, led a group through the hills of the mid-Atlantic states two years after that, participated in several multi-day regional rides, and completed a sometimes-solo tour down the Atlantic coast of Florida. I’ve become a League Cycling Instructor and accomplished a variety of independent projects that helped a previous employer earn a Bicycle Friendly Business designation.

I’ve learned so much about myself while pedaling on two wheels. By struggling up a monster of a hill literally alongside a caterpillar, I proved to myself that I can do hard things and persevere. In the saddle, I feel powerful and capable. Riding has also changed how I see my body—when I’m in spandex, I don’t think about imperfections. 

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

My undergraduate major at the University of Washington was an interdisciplinary program called Comparative History of Ideas. I started out with philosophy, humanities, and religious studies courses and homed in on social and urban justice while riding through communities with such different economic realities. I began to think about equity and access to transportation infrastructure in a more holistic way. My bachelor’s degree culminated in a thesis evaluating Chicago’s Divvy Bike Share system through Susan Fainstein’s Just City framework.

Brianne riding in Florida in 2017 on her trusty Kona Sutra.

Besides getting to center my working life on expanding support for bicycling, I’m so happy to know that I’m working for an organization that values transparency, equity, inclusion, and access. I love that the League has publicly owned up to its complicated history of exclusion and has worked to reverse course.

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

Right now, it’s more who I’m with than where I’m headed. Now that my kids are getting faster on two wheels, I love any ride they join me on. There’s nothing quite like hearing their little voices yell “On your left!” as they vie to pull into the lead.

What bike are you riding now?

I ride a blue 2013 Kona Sutra. As a touring bike, it’s built to be fully loaded, so I can pack my panniers full of snacks and other parent gear and still feel comfortable and in control of the steering.

The post New League Staff: Meet Brianne Waldoch appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Every year, the League puts out a call for applications to run for our Board of Directors. We ask our members, who are the lifeblood of our organization, to take the next step in their support of the League and volunteer to help lead it. And it’s those same members who then vote on which of their peers will take a seat on the Board.

Ahead of the 2026 Board election—more on that below—we’re pleased to introduce you to the people who raised their hand to be a Board candidate.

Their statements, supplied by the candidates and unedited, offer firsthand insights into their vision and commitment.

All League members are eligible to vote in our Board election. The deadline to become a member or renew a membership in time to vote is August 9, 2026. Voting will take place August 10–25, 2026. Learn more about our Board elections.

Join or Renew here!

Questions about your membership email? Contact us at membership@bikeleague.org.

John Bailey

Advancing safer, more accessible bicycling has been a central focus throughout my career in transportation advocacy. I have pursued this work nationally with organizations including Smart Growth America and my current employer, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), as well as at the state level as policy director for 1000 Friends of Minnesota.

I have also stayed engaged locally. For example, I moved to San Antonio to serve as the Transportation Climate Advisor for the American Cities Climate Challenge, a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative managed by NRDC, where a key part of my role was advocating internally for policies and investments that support active transportation.

I co-founded ActivateSA, San Antonio’s first professionally staffed active transportation advocacy organization, and have served on its board since 2021. As a mayoral appointee, I also co-chaired the Streets, Sidewalks and Bridges Bond Committee for San Antonio’s 2022 municipal infrastructure bond. The committee approved more than $400 million in infrastructure investments for the successful May 2022 bond vote, many of which included bicycle accommodations. I also served on the Smart Growth America Board of Directors from 2007 to 2012.

Dan Bassett

Dan has been passionate about bikes for as long as he could remember. From biking with his family in the Netherlands and discovering mountain biking while still in elementary school, to riding all over the world, self-propelled travel has been a constant in his life. After college, he joined Americorps and spent 2 years leading trail crews across the Northern Rockies, inspiring his love for service, education, and being part of something bigger than oneself. This led him to obtaining a MS in Environmental Education from Antioch New England.

After running his own business, teaching after art classes, and working in bike shops, Dan joined the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance in Seattle, WA. There he led a statewide mountain bike education program, training over 100 instructors and redeveloping an certification program. He then worked for a small bicycle education and travel company where he helped launch an online mountain bike school, one of the first of its kind.

After nearly a decade living in the Pacific Northwest, Dan and his family came back home to New England where he joined the Bicycle Coalition of Maine as the Education Manager. During his time in that role, he created a bicycle safety instructor certification program, which reaches over 4,000 participants annually. Now as the Deputy Director, he helps lead the programming, operations, and advocacy efforts of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine. He also co-hosts a bi-weekly radio show on active transportation, “On The Go”. When not at work, Dan can be found scheming his next bikepacking adventure, discovering new trails, rooting for the Red Sox and Sea Dogs, and spending as much time as possible outside with his family.

Darren Buck

Darren Buck believes that the world can be a better place — in so many different ways — if more people were able to ride bikes more often. He has devoted his career to developing and promoting networks of bike facilities suitable for all ages and abilities, and for communities of all types and sizes. In his seven years as a program manager for walking and bicycling at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Darren led a variety of national-scale research and technical assistance projects, and helped implement policies that led to record spending on bicycling facilities. As a planner with the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, Darren planned and delivered a variety of all-ages bicycling facilities for residents and visitors to Washington, DC.

As a board member of the League of American Bicyclists, Darren will help to ensure that the League is best positioned to fight for bicycling, at a time when it is under unprecedented attack at the Federal level. A solo dad who calls Cambridge, MA home, Darren leads the Bike Bus for his daughter’s elementary school, volunteers with the local ebike lending library, and advocates for continued development of the City’s all-ages bicycling network.

Erick Cedeño

Erick Cedeño is a cyclist, storyteller, community engagement professional, and advocate who has spent more than two decades using the bicycle to connect people with history, culture, and community. Known as “Bicycle Nomad,” he has bicycled across 49 U.S. states, giving him a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing people who ride across America. Based in Santa Monica, California, Erick works in community engagement within the transportation industry, building partnerships between riders, communities, and transportation organizations.

Erick is perhaps best known for retracing the historic 1,900-mile route of the 1897 Buffalo Soldiers Bicycle Corps, bringing national attention to one of the most significant yet often overlooked stories in American cycling history. A member of The Explorers Club, he has dedicated his career to using storytelling to inspire more people to ride and to demonstrate how bicycling can strengthen communities, improve lives, and connect people across differences. 

If elected, Erick would bring the perspective of someone who has experienced America’s cycling landscape firsthand—from major cities to rural communities—a collaborative approach, and a deep commitment to advancing the League’s mission of creating a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. 

Travis Counsell

Travis Counsell is the Executive Director of Hawai’i Bicycling League. Originally from Vermont, he has served as the Executive Director of the New England Mountain Bike Association, as well as owned Bikeadelic Bike Rentals in Waikiki. He has an Environmental Studies degree from Elon University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Hawai’i. He has ridden across the country as part of Johns Hopkin’s 4k for Cancer program. He can now be found riding his cargo bike with his daughter to the beach or nearby errands, or commuting to work via abandoned highway! His passion for bicycles is both personal and professional.

Jarrett Stoltzfus

Jarret Stoltzfus works as the Director of Transportation at Arnold Ventures, a philanthropy focused on evidence based research and policy, where he leads the transportation portfolio. 

He has spent two decades in the transportation sector, including seven years in the research at the Federal Transit Administration (USDOT), three years on the executive team of Foothill Transit, a transit agency in Los Angeles County, and seven years in clean transportation, both at a vehicle and battery manufacturer and also electric charging companies.   

He currently lives in the City of Mount Rainier in Prince George’s County, where he served as the Councilmember for Ward 2 from 2021 to 2025 and served as the City’s Vice Mayor from 2022-2023.  During that time he led the city’s Vision Zero efforts, which included the lowering of the city’s speed limits to 20mph citywide, and the establishment of the city’s Vision Zero Plan, which led to the securing of a $9.7 million grant from the Safe Streets and Roads for All program from the US Department of Transportation.

Triny Willerton

It has been an incredible honor to serve on the Board of Directors of the League of American Bicyclists, and I would be deeply honored to earn the opportunity to serve another term.

My commitment to safer, more connected communities is rooted in both lived experience and public service. As the founder and president of It Could Be Me, I work alongside crash survivors, advocates, and community leaders to advance policies and education that make our roads safer for everyone.

I currently serve on the City of Boulder’s Transportation Advisory Board, the Board of Directors for Ride for Your Life 501c3, and previously served on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC) under Secretary Pete Buttigieg. These roles have given me the opportunity to collaborate with local, state, and national leaders on transportation safety, active mobility, and equitable access.

If reelected to the League’s Board of Directors, I will continue to bring energy, collaboration, and a strong voice for people who bike. I remain committed to helping the League expand its impact, strengthen partnerships, and build a future where bicycling is safe, accessible, and welcoming for everyone.

I would be so grateful for your support and your vote.

The post Meet our 2026 Board of Directors candidates appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing many changes to how federal funding is administered. Analysis of the OMB’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which is accepting comments through July 13, points to several possible changes as potentially problematic:

1. All grants would be subject to approval by a political appointee.
2. All grants would be permitted to be terminated, suspended, or modified at any time by a political appointee.
3. A grant could be cancelled based on an organization’s membership or affiliation with another organization that a political appointee sees as causing reputational damage.
4. All grant funding would come with new strings, restrictions, and federal processing requirements that could make payments less certain, slower, and burdensome.

The NPRM impacts many grants and other types of federal funding across many federal agencies. This has created a large number of comments: over 70,000 as of July 1. If you want to add your voice, here is some guidance on making an effective comment amongst the many already submitted:

• Make a unique comment, with a specific concern identified (rather than copy and paste a pre-written template); and
• Quantify the burden(s) imposed by a proposed change, although precision is not required.

For an example of the potential impact of this NPRM on federal funding for bike projects, we can look to the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP). The ATIIP was created by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021 and grants were awarded under ATIIP in January 2025 before the transition to the Trump administration. Demand for ATIIP grants was incredible, and only 14 grants worth $44.5 million were awarded out of 352 applications requesting more than $1.8 billion in funding. 

One of those ATIIP grants was for the “East Nashville Spokes” project which was then “ghosted” by the Trump administration before the city of Nashville joined with other grantees to sue the Trump administration. In May 2025, a judge found that the Trump administration “failed to produce a single document showing any individualized review of the Plaintiffs’ grants or discussion of any basis for freezing or terminating the grants other than disapproval of the purposes of the funding.” As of June 29, 2026, despite a court order in favor of plaintiffs, such as the city of Nashville, the ATIIP grant and other grants frozen by the Trump administration have not been provided to the grantees. Under existing rules, grantees have enforceable rights to grants that they can pursue through legal processes.

If the NPRM becomes a final regulation, the freezing and termination of grants without any reason beyond disapproval of the purposes of funding provided by Congress could become routine and impossible to challenge. Rather than communities being able to rely upon federal grants awarded to make bicycling safer, each grant would be contingent on the whims of political appointees and subject to freezing or termination regardless of the project’s benefits or compliance with congressional intent. Infrastructure projects often take years or decades, and the NPRM would interject uncertainty into much needed funding awarded under an already incredibly competitive process.

To write an effective comment, the East Nashville Spokes project provides a specific example of a potentially affected federal grant. By noting a specific project, a commenter can quantify the types of benefits that are delayed or foregone due to the discretion given to political appointees to freeze or terminate grants for many vague or undefined reasons. Those foregone benefits may include reduced injuries and fatalities, economic benefits, health benefits, and air quality improvements. If your community has ever received a federal grant, then you should be able to identify a bike facility that could have been affected by a political decision if the proposal rules had existed when it was funded.

While infrastructure grants as discussed above are among the most important types of projects funded by the federal government to improve bicycling, this NPRM reaches many other types of funding. If you have experience with any federal funding subject to Title 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, your comment should discuss that specific experience. Examples may include:

• Research-related funding through the Transportation Research Board (TRB), University Transportation Centers (UTCs), or the Volpe Center;
• Traffic safety-related funding through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as distributed by state Highway Safety Offices; or
• Other infrastructure grant programs such as BUILD, RAISE, or Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A).

Comments are due by July 13, 2026. Submit your comments on Regulations.gov.

The post Protect Federal Grants from Political Interference appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

The League of American Bicyclists and Content With Purpose (CWP) have announced a new partnership to create Freedom to Ride, an ambitious digital series exploring how bicycling is transforming communities across the U.S. – improving lives, strengthening local economies, and creating places where people of all ages and abilities can safely ride.

Across the country, cities, towns, and regions are reimagining how people move and how public space is used. Bicycling is playing an increasingly important role in creating a more balanced, connected transportation system – one that expands choice, promotes healthier lifestyles, and strengthens communities. Whether it’s building protected bike lanes and connected trail networks, installing new bikeshare stations and systems, promoting cycling tourism, or encouraging campus mobility initiatives, organizations across the country are investing in infrastructure and programs that support safer, more accessible transportation.

Throughout, Freedom to Ride will highlight the wide-ranging benefits of bicycling, from healthier lifestyles and cleaner air to stronger local economies and enhanced quality of life. The series will also explore the people and organizations enabling this progress, like local leaders and community advocates who are utilizing the funding and policy frameworks in place to support more investments in better bicycling.

Freedom to Ride will feature cinematic storytelling, expert insight, and real-world case studies to spotlight the leaders, advocates, planners, businesses, educators, manufacturers, bike clubs, and everyday riders helping expand access to bicycling across the U.S. The series will showcase the projects and partnerships driving transformations and innovations in downtowns and in suburban and rural communities.

The importance of education and encouragement will also form part of the narrative. Highlighting initiatives like the League’s Smart Cycling program will show how instructors are teaching biking skills that help more people feel comfortable getting on a bike more often.

Inspired by the League’s nationally recognized Bicycle Friendly America program, Freedom to Ride will connect policy with people and infrastructure with lived experience, presenting a compelling vision of what is possible when communities invest in safer, more accessible places to ride.

Bill Nesper, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, said: “Bicycling has the power to improve communities in countless ways. Through Freedom to Ride, we’re excited to showcase the people, projects, and partnerships making that possible – and inspire more communities to see what can be achieved when bicycling is safe, accessible, and part of everyday life.”

Max Smith, Founder & Managing Director of CWP, said: “Across the U.S., people are using bicycling to strengthen communities, improve lives, and create new opportunities. Through Freedom to Ride, we’re excited to meet the people and organizations behind those stories and give them a platform to share their experiences, ideas, and achievements. We’re delighted to be partnering with the League of American Bicyclists on what promises to be an inspiring and important series.”

Freedom to Ride will preview at the National Bike Summit in March 2027, followed by an extensive digital campaign designed to engage the League’s members and network, as well as policymakers, transportation leaders, urban planners, universities, businesses, advocacy groups, and the wider public.

Through this collaboration, the League and CWP will elevate the voices of the people building a Bicycle Friendly America – inspiring more communities, organizations, and individuals to be part of the movement to shape safer streets, stronger communities, and a more connected future.

CWP is a B Corp certified strategic content creator that works in partnership with leading member bodies and associations, engaging professionals in their industries’ role in building a better tomorrow.

Organizations interested in contributing to the series are encouraged to contact Isobel John, Series Researcher at CWP, to learn more: isobel@contentwithpurpose.co.uk.

The post The League of American Bicyclists and Content With Purpose partner to explore America’s Freedom to Ride appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

When people think of Fairbanks, Alaska, they tend to picture snow, darkness, and inhospitably cold temperatures. Those things are certainly part of life in Interior Alaska, but those aren’t the only reasons people don’t bike there more often. In fact, quite a few Fairbanks residents already bike year-round. According to the most recent American Community Survey (ACS), 2.7% of Fairbanks commuters bike to work, more than five times the national average of 0.5%. 

Students at Golden Heart Performing Arts help install one highly anticipated bicycle rack from the Girls Who Weld + FAST Planning collaboration that occurred in Summer 2025.

Students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are often spotted using the campus’s bike rental program to get around. International workers arriving through the J-1 visa program to support the local tourism economy regularly rely on bikes provided through local partnerships. More and more families are choosing to explore Fairbanks’s connected bikeways, and the area’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, Fairbanks Area Surface Transportation (FAST) Planning, recently distributed more than 600 high-visibility safety vests to local children.  

Olivia Lunsford, a transportation planner at FAST Planning, has experienced how much biking can offer firsthand. “So many people don’t even realize how convenient and fun biking is,” said Lunsford. “I’ve used our active transportation network for years, mostly on rollerblades. In 2019, I got my first bike, a hot pink Cannondale, and realized this is a way more fun way to get around Fairbanks.”  

After realizing the joys of biking herself, Lunsford hoped to make the option more readily available through her work at FAST Planning.  

“We have so many dark winter days, and bikes are excellent for mental health,” Lunsford explained. Fairbanks residents could benefit deeply from being able to bike more places, more often.  

Despite her best efforts (and a dedicated core of passionate local bike commuters), it’s been challenging for Lunsford to get the wider community on board with biking. Many residents worry about traffic safety.  

That’s the challenge Lunsford brought when she applied to join the League’s Active Mobility Leadership Lab. 

ABOUT THE PROGRAM 
Active Mobility Leadership Lab 
The Active Mobility Leadership Lab is a 16-week training program, generously funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in support of their Active People, Healthy Nation℠ Initiative. Participants (local government agency staff in emerging and aspiring Bicycle Friendly Communities) form a working group, develop an Active Mobility Action Plan, and receive training, resources, and direct technical assistance from the League to implement it. 

Throughout the Leadership Lab, League staff guided Lunsford and participants from four other communities through training sessions, peer learning opportunities, one-on-one coaching, and the development of community action plans. A key part of the program asks participants to assemble a local working group, helping to build local collaboration, accountability, and community buy-in for projects that can help increase walking and biking. 

For Lunsford, that local working group became the most valuable part of the experience. 

“I often feel very isolated in my work,” she said. “There are a lot of people heavily reliant on what I do [as a transportation planner], and yet the work is not super participatory. The Leadership Lab has been a really nice way to reorient with people who are willing to participate.” 

The BFC ‘Cycle of Support’ graphic illustrates how many communities have seen programming efforts like Bike Month lead to increased demand for bicycle infrastructure, which in turn creates a positive feedback loop by further increasing ridership and bike culture.

As the local working group began discussing Fairbanks’ needs, one idea quickly gained traction: Bike Month. National Bike Month, held each May, gives communities a framework to bring the community together to celebrate and encourage biking, and to help build bike culture. 

For Lunsford and her local working group, normalizing biking and building public support through initiatives like Bike Month is an important step toward longer-term change in Fairbanks. By helping more residents experience the benefits of biking firsthand, the group hopes to build support for the programs, policies, and infrastructure improvements that make it easier and safer for people to bike as part of daily life.

Beyond shaping the Bike Month action plan, Lunsford says the Leadership Lab changed how she approaches community engagement and coalition-building. “It has helped me figure out best outreach practices and standards, made me ask how I can find new ways to strategize, and inspired new creative tactics,” she said. “I made a ‘gravel for breakfast’ video as part of an effort to win a street sweeper, and that creative energy came from the Leadership Lab for sure.” 

Perhaps most importantly, the Leadership Lab helped turn what felt like a personal ambition into a shared community effort. “It went from me asking myself, ‘Am I the only one who wants to do Bike to Work Week?’ to having a whole group of people stoked for an entire Bike Month,” says Lunsford. 

A FAST Planning volunteer applies a valet tag to a user’s bicycle, prior to checking it in to the Free Bike Valet Bicyclists line up to check their bikes in to the fourth annual Free Bike Valet at the Midnight Sun Festival All three FAST Planning employees wave at the drone from a corner at the intersection of their next big project.

The first Fairbanks Bike Month is still taking shape, planned for May 2027. But for Lunsford, that’s already a sign of success. What started as one planner’s idea has grown into a community effort, with partners across Fairbanks helping build a stronger culture around biking and creating more opportunities for people to experience the city by bike. By bringing more people into the conversation today, Fairbanks is laying the groundwork for the community support needed to make biking and walking a more visible and accessible part of everyday life. 

This project was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Cooperative Agreement CDC-RFA-PW-24-0080). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC. These efforts are part of the CDC’s Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative that is working to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. 

The post Building Community Around Biking in Fairbanks, Alaska  appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

If you’re a member of the League of American Bicyclists, you already understand the transformative power of two wheels. You know that bicycles are tools for environmental sustainability, public health, and social connection. But when was the last time you took a step back from the local advocacy meetings, the daily commutes, and the spreadsheets, and just allowed yourself to get lost in the pure, unadulterated joy of the open road?

If you are looking for your next adventure, it’s time to put a Climate Ride event on your calendar—specifically, the upcoming Green Fondo Berkshires weekend this August 28–30. With three route options each day for road cycling or gravel (your choice!), there’s a sweet ride for seasoned and novice cyclists alike.

More than just a bike ride, this is an opportunity to be a part of something bigger. Since 2008, over 8,000 Climate Riders have contributed nearly $16 million to non-profit organizations, the majority of these grassroots funds fueling local bicycling and environmental advocacy groups. 

Here are four reasons why a Climate Ride is an ideal summer adventure for League members who want to turn their passion into joyful action.

1. You’ll support the League with every mile

Climate Ride’s fundraising model gives you autonomy over where your hard-earned donor dollars go. When you register for a Climate Ride event, you can select the League of American Bicyclists as your sole grantee!

On Green Fondo, that means 100% of your fundraising grants go directly back to the League to support our national advocacy work, federal policy pushes, and the growth of bicycle infrastructure across the country. You get to embark on a joyful weekend of riding while fueling the national movement for a more Bicycle Friendly America. Talk about a win-win!

2. Get a joyful antidote to climate anxiety

In the advocacy world, it is incredibly easy to burn out. We spend so much time pushing back against car-centric infrastructure and confronting the heavy realities of the climate crisis. Climate Ride flips the script with a simple, powerful philosophy: Climate action shouldn’t be rooted in doom—it should be rooted in joy.

Committing to a multi-day bike ride forces you to move your body, breathe fresh air, and remember exactly why we fight so hard to protect this planet and our communities. “Hope” becomes a verb that generates real impact.

3. Enjoy a fully supported ride (and a digital detox)

Our attention spans are fried, our notifications are endless, and we all desperately need a nature reset. A Climate Ride event is a great excuse to take a break and unplug.

When you sign up for an event like Green Fondo Berkshires, you don’t have to worry about a thing. Climate Ride handles all the logistics: they carry your gear, mechanical teams handle the flats, rest stops are stocked with plenty of food, and the routes are fully supported. All you have to do is get there. Your only job for three days is to wake up, pedal through the gorgeous, rolling backroads of Massachusetts, and let your brain reset.

4. You’ll find your people

The magic of a “Fondo” or a Climate Ride goes beyond the miles. You aren’t riding alone; you’re surrounded by a community of 200+ other cyclists, advocates, and change-makers who share a common goal.

From the casual “party pace” groups on the road to the evening social gatherings, the atmosphere is intentionally inclusive, collaborative, and high-energy. There are no racing stats or ego here, just a shared belief that bikes can change the world. You’ll arrive as a solo rider and leave with a nationwide network of lifelong friends.

Hear from 4x Green Fondo rider, Kendra Toy: “Climate Ride is the best! The team is so supportive and is really with you the whole way—from registration to fundraising to the event itself. Everything is so well-organized and well-supported that you can really just focus on enjoying the ride, the people, the views, and the experience. It really is more than just a fundraising bike ride. Climate Ride does an excellent job of inspiring people toward action, building community and fostering camaraderie among the participants, and creating events that create lasting memories and impact.”

Ready to ride the green wave?

Whether you are a seasoned century rider or a casual weekend explorer, there is a place for you on the path. Let’s ride the high of the summer, build a more powerful community, and fund the future of bicycle advocacy together.

Join us at Green Fondo Berkshires from August 28–30. Head to the registration page, select the League of American Bicyclists as your grantee, and let’s get rolling! 

Looking for more? Climate Ride also offers multi-day tours in scenic destinations all over the world. This September, Climate Riders will venture from Pittsburgh to DC along the GAP and C&O Canal Trails – riding smooth, flat, shady, car-free miles along reclaimed rail trails.

>>>Member Perk Alert: Use code ‘BikeLeague’ for $25 off your registration fee on Green Fondo, and $100 off your registration fee on the GAP and C&O Canal Trail Ride.

The League and Climate Ride are long-term partners in building a greener, cleaner country. Over the past 20 years, dozens of League members have ridden with Climate Ride on unforgettable adventures, raising thousands of dollars to support the League’s advocacy work.

Look for more events open to grantee selection on their events page, and support the League while you pedal farther for the planet! Learn more at www.climateride.org, or reach out to info@climateride.org. 

The post League Members: Climate Ride is Calling! appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

If you’ve been following along on our blog, Marco Speeks needs no introduction. You might know him from his LCI Spotlight last year, or from the Youth Empowerment Award he received at the 2026 National Bike Summit on behalf of Major Taylor Michigan Cycling Advocacy. 

Recently, Marco added another honor to that list: the 2026 Trailblazer Award from the Major Taylor International Cycling Alliance, recognizing his work pioneering Major Taylor Day in Michigan. We caught up with him again to hear what this recognition means, how the campaign came together, and what it could look like to bring Major Taylor Day to the rest of the country.

“I am honored to receive the 2026 Trailblazer Award from the Major Taylor International Cycling Alliance for pioneering Major Taylor Day in Michigan. Governor Whitmer’s proclamation was a team effort, and this recognition belongs to everyone who rode with us.” — Marco Speeks

Congratulations on the Trailblazer Award! You’ve been getting some well-deserved kudos lately. What does it feel like to have your work seen and celebrated this way?

Gratitude is the word. When you’re deep in the work, you’re not thinking about awards. You’re thinking about the next school visit, the next bike rack installation, the next kid who needs a bike to get to school. So when recognition comes, it lands differently. It reminds you that the work matters beyond your own four walls. The 2026 Youth Empowerment Award from the League of American Bicyclists, Governor Whitmer’s proclamation, and now the Trailblazer Award from the Major Taylor International Cycling Alliance, each of these is a signal that the broader cycling community is paying attention to what Major Taylor Michigan Cycling Advocacy is building in Detroit. I receive it on behalf of everyone who showed up. 

You mentioned the recognition belongs to everyone who “rode with us” on this campaign. Who were the key players, and what did that coalition-building process actually look like?

It was a genuine coalition, and we spearheaded and led every step of it. We brought in the League of American Bicyclists, the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society, Bike Friendly Kalamazoo, and the League of Michigan Bicyclists to support our petition. We submitted the letters of support. We drafted the proclamation language. We made the case from multiple angles: historical justice, youth inspiration, educational value, and Michigan’s own identity as a state that leads on civil rights. That layered argument matters because no single voice wins a gubernatorial proclamation. You need a chorus, and we built it.  

Michigan is now the first state in the country to honor Major Taylor with a gubernatorial proclamation. Why do you think this hadn’t happened before, and what made Michigan the place where it finally did?

Honestly? Someone had to go get it. Major Taylor’s story has been hiding in plain sight for over a century. He was the fastest man on a bike, the first Black American world champion in any sport, and he preceded Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens by decades. The history was always there. What Michigan had that other states didn’t, in this moment, was a sustained, organized campaign with a clear ask, credible partners, and a governor willing to lead. Detroit’s own story of resilience and reinvention mirrors Taylor’s, and that connection gave the proclamation an authenticity that no other state could claim in quite the same way. But the real answer is: we put in the work to make it undeniable.

If an advocate in another state wanted to replicate what you did in Michigan, where would you tell them to start?

Start with the story, not the politics. Major Taylor’s life is extraordinary on its own terms. Once people understand who he was and what he overcame, the case for recognition makes itself. Then build your coalition before you make your ask. Don’t walk into the Governor’s office alone. Bring civil rights organizations, educators, cycling clubs, city council members. Document everything. Draft the proclamation language yourself so there is no ambiguity about what you are requesting. And be patient. Persistence is not optional in advocacy. You are asking government to do something it has never done. That takes time and repeated effort.

We are not keeping this playbook to ourselves. We are currently consulting and advising cycling clubs, community organizations, and advocacy groups across the country on how to petition their own states for statewide recognition of Major Taylor. If your organization is ready to take that step, contact us. We know the path, and we are glad to help you walk it. Reach us at marks@mtmca.org or MTMCA.ORG.

What do you hope this moment in Michigan ultimately means for Major Taylor’s legacy nationwide?

I want it to be the first domino. Michigan proved it could be done. Now every state has a model to follow and no excuse not to. Major Taylor deserves a Congressional Gold Medal. He deserves to be in every American history curriculum alongside the other pioneers of his era. What we did in Michigan is a chapter, not the conclusion. The goal is a day when a young cyclist in Atlanta, or Detroit, or Los Angeles knows exactly who Major Taylor was and feels the full weight of what he accomplished. That is the legacy. We are just trying to make sure it is not buried anymore.

Marco (center right) with youth participants of MTMCA’s education programming.

The post Honoring Major Taylor’s Legacy: Q&A With Trailblazer Marco Speeks appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

League Cycling Coaches play a key role in the League’s Smart Cycling program, training and certifying the next generation of League Cycling Instructors (LCIs). Becoming a Coach isn’t easy: it requires years of experience teaching as an LCI, proven bike maintenance skills, active community involvement, and recommendations from experienced Coaches and League staff. In this spotlight, we’re celebrating the newest names in our small but mighty network of certified League Cycling Coaches.

Kevin Baross (left) and Randy Torres-Van Vleck (right).

The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition (SDCBC) has long invested in bike education as a tool for making biking better in San Diego County. Recently, the organization has leveled up its efforts with two newly certified League Cycling Coaches on its team: Kevin Baross and Randy Torres-Van Vleck.

For bike advocacy organizations like SDCBC, having an in-house Coach can be a game-changer. As Coaches, Kevin and Randy can now officially lead LCI seminars to train, mentor, and certify the next generation of cycling instructors in their community. 

We spoke with Kevin and Randy about their path to becoming Coaches, what they learned during the certification process, and how they hope their new roles will help grow bike education in the region.

Can you share a bit about your roles at San Diego County Bike Coalition (SDCBC) and what led you to pursue becoming a League Cycling Coach?

Kevin: I am the Education Manager here at the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, where I’ve worked for almost 11 years now. I work with a team of 40+ LCIs to put on hundreds of bike education events for thousands of adults and children every year, across the 18 cities and unincorporated areas of San Diego County. 

I’ve been attending Smart Cycling classes since they were put on in my backyard as a child, so achieving Coach status is a natural next step in my life, and also will be hugely beneficial to the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition in the future. We’re very excited to increase the number of LCI seminars we put on, and customize the format a bit as well.

Randy:  Since becoming an LCI in 2008, I’ve led over 200 classes and community bike rides for the San Diego County Bike Coalition. As a community organizer working in the urban planning advocacy space professionally, I bring a popular education approach to bike education. I pursued Coach status to recruit and train the next generation of LCIs.

What was the most valuable thing you took away from the Coach training process?

Kevin: I think anyone who’s an LCI already knows this, but the best way to learn something is to teach it. And it turns out teaching teachers to teach is even better! Becoming a Coach is not a quick process, nor should it be. The standards are high, the oversight is very hands-on, and it truly feels like an accomplishment by the end. Even though the journey hasn’t actually been unusually long, I feel like in some ways I’ve been working towards this for decades.

Randy: The Coach training process was fun. I appreciated the opportunity to enhance my bike education skills and the feedback from experienced educators Coach Rio Oxas and Coach Ron Durgin. 

What difference do you hope having two new League Cycling Coaches will make for SDCBC?

Kevin: LCI Seminars are almost defined by their very quick and intense pace. Coaches fly in to the area, have limited time to share knowledge, and then need to get on to the next seminar. As organizational coaches, we’re here for the long haul! This means we can make the class more accessible. It can be a big ask to demand the full attention of students for as many hours of the day as a traditional seminar does. Being able to spread things out a bit more will mean someone who wants to become an LCI but doesn’t have the ability to devote a full weekend to the class will feel more welcome. I want more neurodivergent LCIs. I want more instructors who require learning accommodations. There is no shortage of opportunities to teach in San Diego County, and we need more instructors! Being organizational coaches will help us get a more diverse population on board.

Randy: Kevin and I have been co-teaching Smart Cycling courses together since 2009.  I’m a collaborative person and enjoy working with others to co-design proposals, programs, events, campaigns, etc.  I’m looking forward to co-designing the LCI seminars in San Diego with Kevin. We have ideas on how to make the seminar more accessible such as spreading out the three days over a few different weekends rather than three straight days. 

What do you hope this growing network of LCIs will mean for people in San Diego County?

Kevin: San Diego County is nearly twice as large as Delaware, with a population greater than the entire state of Nevada. And I always say even if you never ride a bike, you’ll be using the road alongside people that do, so there’s something at our classes for everyone. More LCIs means more classes. And more education means things are better for everyone, bicyclists and otherwise.

Randy: We plan to provide a local LCI seminar every March. The consistency will make planning and recruitment easier which we hope will lead to more folks participating.  

Do you have a favorite local bike route or hidden gem in the region?

Kevin: Well, if I gave up all the best hidden spots, they wouldn’t be hidden anymore! That said, the Bayshore Bikeway is the first place I send new visitors to San Diego. This 24-mile loop around the whole of San Diego Bay did not come into existence on its own, and is the proud result of many Bike Coalition advocates across decades. And there’s still more work to be done!

The San Diego River Path which runs through Mission Valley is also an excellent resource and a bit of a hidden gem. “I never knew you could ride your bike to the beach!” is a real phrase I’ve heard from (slightly out of breath) friends who have lived here their entire lives. 

Randy: We have so many incredible bike routes in San Diego. My favorite routes are the Los Cruzadores group rides my friends and I lead from Barrio Logan through the South Bay where I grew up, across the border, and into Tijuana.  We have lots of new protected bikeways such as the SR-15 Commuter Bikeway in the urban core communities.  As advocates, we spent over 10 years organizing and building support for them. It feels amazing to ride bikeways you helped advocate for.

Anything you’d like other advocacy organizations to know about the value of having their own in-house Organizational Coaches?

Kevin: I frankly don’t think every bike advocacy and bike education organization should have their own organizational coach. It’s a big investment of time and energy and money. But if your organization is big enough and active enough, the ability to have LCI seminars available essentially on-demand would be extremely helpful. 

This field has traditionally been monochromatic and male-dominated. My number one goal as an organizational coach is to recruit more instructors in traditionally underserved areas of the county. More seminars put on in more accessible ways means we can diversify our pool of teachers. That means more bilingual classes, more classes taught by people who live and work in the areas they teach, and a better education for all.

Randy: It’s a bit early to tell because we just became Organizational Coaches last month. But the hope is that by having Organizational Coaches, orgs can take their bike education services to the next level by planning seminars more frequently, recruit more folks and add more seminars if needed to meet demand, and design the courses around the needs of local communities. 

The post Meet San Diego County Bike Coalition’s New League Cycling Coaches appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

When Ashley Sisk applied to join the League’s Active Mobility Leadership Lab, she was looking for new ways to build support for bicycling in Wichita Falls, Texas. As the first Bicycle Friendly Community Coordinator in the city’s Health Department, Sisk hoped the program would help Wichita Falls build a more coordinated, data-driven approach to improving bicycle safety and connectivity.  

ABOUT THE PROGRAM 
Active Mobility Leadership Lab 
The Active Mobility Leadership Lab is a 16-week training program, generously funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in support of their Active People, Healthy Nation℠ Initiative. Participants (local government agency staff in emerging and aspiring Bicycle Friendly Communities) form a working group, develop an Active Mobility Action Plan, and receive training, resources, and direct technical assistance from the League to implement it. 

A few weeks into the program, the work took on new urgency.  

In early spring 2026, while Sisk and her fellow Leadership Lab participants were learning about community engagement and starting to build action plans, a father and daughter were killed while riding their bikes along the I-44 corridor that connects downtown Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base. Another bicyclist fatality followed just over two weeks later, amplifying concerns that residents already had about safety on local roads. 

As community members began asking what could be done, the city’s new working group that emerged from the Leadership Lab became a place to channel concern into action. “People have been calling to see what the city is doing [to address these fatalities],” said Sisk. “The working group and the Bicycle Advisory Committee have been a great outlet for them to share their voice and get involved… We’re having stakeholders reach out and say, ‘We want to stop this. This isn’t right, we got to make our roadway safer.’” 

Photo: Ramble & Co, a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Business in downtown Wichita Falls, is among the local businesses working to support a safer bicycling community. 

As a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community since 2019, a designation that helps a community align with national standards as it works towards its bicycle infrastructure and programming goals, Wichita Falls already had a foundation for this work. Local champions, city staff, and organizations like the Wichita Falls Bicycling Club have already spent years building momentum to get more people riding bicycles safely in the community. Events like the Hotter’N Hell Hundred draw more than 10,000 riders each year, boosting bicycling as a more visible part of community life. Education programs like Cycle SMART and city investments in bicycle and pedestrian connections have also helped make active transportation a safer everyday option.

The pieces were there, but there was no formal process for consistently bringing partners together, aligning priorities, and turning ideas into action. Sisk and the local Leadership Lab working group she organized focused their action plan on this key challenge: creating a more coordinated approach to bicycle safety and planning in Wichita Falls.  

Their plan calls for launching a pilot bicycle advisory committee through the Health District, with representation from across the community and a range of local government departments. The goal is for the committee to strengthen coordination among partners while laying the groundwork for a more formal advisory structure in the future. 

Sisk says one of the best outcomes of the work so far is a promising new partnership with the local military base. “Honestly, it wouldn’t have happened without the working group,” says Sisk. “Sheppard Air Force Base is huge here. We train 60% of airmen in the U.S. and it’s a big part of our economy. Many service members are here short-term without their vehicles, and they are walking, they’re biking, and they’re riding public transportation. …I connected with someone from the base’s Office of Safety, which is a whole office that’s focused on the safety of airmen outside of the base. It’s been great.” 

The committee is still taking shape, but the impact of the Active Mobility Leadership Lab is already visible. For example, both the City and County recently adopted Bike Month proclamations to show their commitment to improving conditions for bicyclists at the local and county levels. New partners like the Air Force Base and local business leaders are joining the conversation, more Wichita Falls residents are finding ways to get involved through public meetings, and local leaders are working together to meet growing public interest in health, safety, and active transportation options. For Sisk, that’s an important step toward ensuring bicycle safety remains a shared community priority long after her time in the Leadership Lab training program ends. 

The League is looking forward to hosting a new round of Active Mobility Leadership Lab training next year. Keep an eye on the League’s blog and newsletter for announcements about the next Leadership Lab application period.  

This project was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Cooperative Agreement CDC-RFA-PW-24-0080). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC. These efforts are part of the CDC’s Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative that is working to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. 

The post Building Partnerships for Safer Active Mobility in Wichita Falls, Texas  appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

This blog was originally featured in Momentum Magazine.

Six months ago, the League of American Bicyclists released the Bike Advocacy Toolkit: a practical, grassroots-focused guide for advocates working to make biking better in their communities.

We sat down with the toolkit’s author, Anna Tang, the League’s Bicycle Friendly America Program Specialist, to talk about what inspired it, who it’s for, and what she hopes it becomes.

What inspired the creation of the Bike Advocacy Toolkit, and was there a particular moment that made you realize it was needed?

As the League’s Bicycle Friendly America Program Specialist, I travel around the country facilitating Bicycle Friendly Community Workshops to help people make biking better in their cities and towns. As I’ve listened to the challenges people face at the local level, it became clear that there is a need to help the grassroots bike movement get better organized and learn the fundamentals of doing that work.

To answer that need, the League developed a series of bike advocacy workshops that I lead to certify people as League Cycling Advocates (LCAs). The LCA program was the real instigator for creating the toolkit — so that advocates would have a manual of sorts, for use as an educational tool during the workshop, and as a reference for continuing their advocacy journey beyond the workshop.  Our next LCA workshop is in Chicago, Illinois, this September, and registration is open through August 14th, 2026. 

Sign up for the next League Cycling Advocate workshop here! Registration closes on August 14th, 2026.

Who do you imagine using the toolkit most — first-time advocates or established organizations refining their strategies?

While it’s written for anyone, novice and seasoned advocates alike, I imagine most toolkit users are bike advocates who are probably at least a year into their bike advocacy journey. I do hope established bike nonprofits will use it, particularly to distribute to their local members to help them get organized and educated. It’s also written with new advocates in mind who are early in the work, starting their own advocacy initiatives in their community, and who need some guidance to build up their local circles of support.

What are some of the biggest barriers local advocates face when trying to create change in their communities?

Personality clashes, moving forward without a plan, access to funding, and time constraints are probably the most common barriers that I see local advocates face. Often, outside factors beyond the group’s control are part of the issue at hand, so I’m a strong believer in debating ideas instead of debating people. That mindset helps not to take those conflicts so personally. 

Many advocates also plow forward with an idea or goal, but they don’t do their homework first. For example (and to tie into the time and money barriers), I’ve often seen advocates jump in at the end of a project and ask for a bike lane when the project has already gone through the design phase, environmental review, council approval, and budget hearings. Unfortunately, at that point, it’s probably too late in the game to include a bike lane. It would behoove advocates to make a plan, do their homework, and be strategic to get ahead of the next big project. The Bike Advocacy Toolkit is meant to help them do so, especially the section on the “7 Steps to a Winning Campaign,” which helps organize ideas into a strategic effort.

Why do you think grassroots, community-level organizing is such an effective force for better biking infrastructure?

Illustration from the Bike Advocacy Toolkit.

There’s a saying out there — “Nothing about us without us” — and it’s really what being an effective organizer means. When you invite as many perspectives and people as possible to the table (and intentionally include folks to be part of the conversation), not only will the work that you’re trying to do have a better result, but people in the community will have more buy-in, understanding, and support for the end project. 

It’s okay to have different perspectives and opinions about various issues; that’s what makes this work interesting. If there’s no space to share diverse perspectives and engage in dialogue about the work you’re doing, then the result usually won’t be as robust as it could be. Grassroots, community-level organizing is the most effective way to build sustainable power and create structure for long-term change — not just making a bunch of quick wins.

How did you ensure the toolkit reflects equity and inclusion and elevates diverse voices within cycling advocacy?

Equity, inclusion, working towards justice, and accessibility are the starting points for effective and good advocacy work, so that is where we started. We wanted to make sure these values were woven throughout the toolkit, and invited a variety of external reviewers to offer different perspectives and provide feedback to make it more accessible, equitable, and inclusive. I know there’s also probably a lot more we could do to make our document more accessible to different types of learners and abilities, and welcome feedback on how to do so. 

Illustration from the Bike Advocacy Toolkit.

Which tool or exercise inside the toolkit are you most proud of?

I think the local budget section and the example capital budget request letter are very useful, and I hope people get a lot of mileage out of those sections. If local advocates can work on influencing their local budget to get more funding for biking projects, that would be a dream come true — it would really make a difference for people today and for generations to come. Not enough people realize how influential they can be on their local budget, no matter the size of their community.

How does this new resource fit within the League’s broader mission to make biking safer and more accessible nationwide?

The League’s mission is to create a bicycle-friendly America for everyone. Right now, the U.S. population is around 340 million people, which our staff of fifteen could not possibly reach individually in a lifetime. The Bike Advocacy Toolkit aims to amplify our reach by helping those who are already in the bike advocacy movement to be more effective organizers and advocates. 

What role do you see technology and digital organizing playing in the future of local bike advocacy?

Technology and digital organizing will only ever be as good as the user puts it into practice. With that being said, I can see it being a huge help for organizers who are trying to scale their work up and manage large projects with lots of moving parts. However, people have been organizing impactful advocacy campaigns for decades upon decades without the newfangled technology of today, so it’s not a necessary tool to be effective or impactful. The best-case scenario is that advocates can use tech to cut down on busy work and let folks do more of what they love. 

What advice would you give to advocates who feel discouraged by slow or bureaucratic progress in their city?

Have fun along the way and incorporate your existing hobbies and interests into your bike advocacy work. For example, if you’re an event planning connoisseur and like to curate gatherings, then do that and just have people bike to the event! Or if you love to take pictures and videos, you can use that skill for social media or influencer opportunities. 

Illustration from the Bike Advocacy Toolkit.

Unfortunately, some advocacy projects (like building huge infrastructure projects) take a long time, but some don’t. You can focus on both at the same time, boosting your morale for long-term projects by celebrating a small, bite-sized win. Just taking a bike ride is a form of advocacy, after all. You don’t have to always build a bike lane to make a difference.

How do you hope the toolkit will grow and evolve over time — could there be updates, translations, or new versions?

I’m hoping for all of the above! I definitely would love to see it translated into several languages as funding becomes available. (P.S. If anyone knows of relevant funding opportunities, let me know!) I also plan to expand on this toolkit to answer questions and cover advocacy topics that we didn’t cover in this version, like how to recruit board members, start bike buses, engage with various populations like college students, and much more — but I think we would produce a new toolkit or addendum, rather than make this one even longer. Our resources for advocates are always intended to be as useful as possible, so if you have feedback or ideas, the door (or really, my inbox) is always open!

On a personal note, what kind of rider are you, and how does your own cycling experience shape the way you approach advocacy?

I would say that I’m a bike commuter and adventure rider. I enjoy getting around town on a bike and also use it as a form of adventure — bikepacking is my favorite form of biking. Commuting by bike is really what first influenced me and my approach towards advocacy. I started out feeling very overwhelmed, confused, and scared, but I was determined to make my own personal experience biking to work better. This led me to the organizing and bike advocacy world, where I had to learn through experience and educate myself firsthand. I wish someone could have just handed it all to me in a manual instead of having to learn everything the hard way, and I hope the Bike Advocacy Toolkit can be that manual for all the emerging bike advocates out there. 

The post From Bike Lanes to Big Wins: How a New Advocacy Toolkit Is Empowering Local Changemakers appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Editor’s Note: This blog was written by Sara Studdard at City Thread, a partner of the League, and also appears on City Thread’s blog.

Organized by the Bentonville Moves Coalition, this event celebrates the City’s completion of a new stretch of protected bike and pedestrian infrastructure and reinforces the City’s commitment to moving faster. Photo: Sierra Scott

Three years ago, Bentonville, Arkansas, was a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) with an ambitious goal: to build a connected bike-and-pedestrian infrastructure in a few years that traditional planning timelines would have taken decades to deliver. Fast forward to 2026, and Bentonville has built 30 miles of protected bike lanes, sidewalks, and greenways, has earned Silver BFC status, and is on a credible path to Gold. 

Work is ongoing, and impact metrics are just starting to come in, but as industry experts, we’re betting the Bentonville case study will turn the entire field of community building on its head. The lessons learned here can be applied everywhere, and plenty of cities stand to benefit from these results. 

Project delivery in Bentonville accelerated 15 times the city’s historic pace, backed by tens of millions of dollars in aligned local and public investment. Anyone who’s worked for or with local governments knows how impressive those numbers are. What’s more, we’ve learned that achieving these results doesn’t require any conditions unique to Bentonville. Just a deliberate approach to building the right coalition, resourcing local champions, and keeping an ambitious timeline.

Community partners gather for “Bentonville Moves,” a broad coalition for safer, convenient, and more connected streets for everyone—not just people who bike. Photo: Sierra Scott

The First Thing You Build is Your Coalition

The bike infrastructure initiatives that stall usually do so because people think the purpose is to serve cyclists. We’ve learned that when a mobility project is framed primarily as a benefit for one group, it invites opposition from groups favoring other modes of transportation. 

Bentonville framed the project as mobility and added safety for everyone, regardless of how you get around. That framing invites in drivers worried about congestion, parents focused on school safety, employers thinking about workforce access, and neighborhood advocates pushing for equity.

As Jeremy Rose, owner of Bike Inn Bentonville, put it: “This is a community that values active transportation, outdoor recreation, and forward-thinking infrastructure.” That whole-community mindset enabled the city to build a broad coalition capable of carrying the project across the finish line. 

At a March 2025 workshop, Bentonville brought together local businesses to help submit applications for the League’s Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) certification. Businesses and organizations present included Gnargo Bike Co, Specialized Bentonville, Phat Tire Bike Shop, Toole Design Group, Meteor Bike Shop, Bike Inn Bentonville, Pedal It Forward, Peel Compton, Coler, Latinas En Bici, Flo Bikewear, Halff Associates, 5th Street Studio, Amazeum, and Signature Bank. Bentonville built its coalition across sectors, bringing together not just bike shops, but engineering firms, banks, and nonprofits. 

Local businesses and organizations meet in March 2025 to work on Bicycle Friendly Business applications, with attendees from local businesses including bike shops, banks, nonprofits, and design firms. Photo: Sierra Scott

Local Investment, Local Control

One of Bentonville’s most impactful strategic decisions was to move away from a financial model heavily dependent on a single major philanthropic funder to one grounded in diversified local investment. The city committed $28 million of its own dollars to that effort. That’s a big stake, but it paid off in Bentonville, and we think it’s crucial to success everywhere. 

Local investment matters for several key reasons. It gives cities the authority to set their own priorities rather than deferring to outside funders. It creates a stronger case for attracting state and federal dollars, since local investment signals credibility and commitment. And it builds more durable momentum that doesn’t collapse when a funding source dries up.

Local leaders in Bentonville talk about how committing city dollars to bike infrastructure reshaped the politics of getting projects built. Photo: Sierra Scott

The pattern we see cities repeat across the country is to wait for major philanthropic backing before they move. Bentonville illustrates how, when a city puts its own resources behind a plan, it changes the political dynamics, accelerates decision-making, and indicates to residents and businesses that this is really happening.

Students and families participate in Bike to School Day on Bentonville’s new protected routes, showing how rapid infrastructure build-out can quickly change daily travel habits, from less stressful carpool drop-offs to new ways of getting to school. Photo: Sierra Scott

Speed is Part of the Strategy

There’s a frustrating tendency in this field to treat slow implementation as a given. The Bentonville coalition was likely as united by its frustration with waiting as by anything else. That shared commitment to keeping a foot on the gas resulted in 30 miles of biking and walking infrastructure in 3 years, at 15 times the historic rate. And it proves how quickly a project at this scale can be completed when the political, organizational, and financial conditions are aligned.

Strategically, speed matters in more ways than just efficiency. Communities need to see results within political and human timeframes to sustain enthusiasm and trust. Early accomplishments build confidence and momentum, and that translates beyond just construction timelines. 

Bentonville more than doubled the number of certified Bicycle Friendly Businesses within a year because the infrastructure was built quickly enough to capitalize on the excitement around the project and change how people actually move through the city. 

How to Replicate Bentonville’s Success 

Every community has its own political dynamics and funding landscape, but the core strategy here can be achieved everywhere. We’ve used this same Accelerated Mobility Playbook (AMP) across the country: align partners, resource local champions, and build at scale, quickly. It works, and Bentonville is just the latest proof.  

The path from Bronze to Silver to Gold is feasible for many more cities than they realize. There may be significant challenges in politics, community support, and resources, but these are solvable problems when you bring the right strategy to the table.

Want to learn more about Bentonville’s journey? Join the League and Citythread for a webinar on June 30th, 2026, to hear from city and community leaders on how they are moving forward together, faster.

Sara Studdard is a Partner and co-founder at City Thread, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to accelerate projects that help people move safely, efficiently, and equitably throughout their communities. A community engagement and communications professional with a 15-year track record of working with people and systems to use their resources for growth and good, Sara’s approach centers on coalition-building strategies that drive positive change. 

The post How Bentonville Became a Bike City: From Bronze to Silver and Beyond appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

When I came to Beckley, West Virginia, for a two-day Bicycle Friendly Community workshop earlier this month, I wasn’t sure what kind of turnout to expect. What I found was a room full of people who didn’t need convincing. Parks directors, trail advocates, city engineers, a youth mountain biking coach, folks who work in regional economic development… people who came because they’re already doing this work, and who want their state to be better for biking.

Attendees of Beckley’s Bicycle Friendly Community workshop

Take Phil Waidner, who drove over from Fayetteville, where he runs one of the region’s premier cycling destinations: Arrowhead Bike Farm. Phil didn’t need a workshop to tell him that West Virginians love to bike, he’s built a business on it. 

If you build it, the cyclists will come (and they’ll bring their wallets)

Outdoor adventure recreation is already West Virginia’s brand. Rafting, hiking, climbing, and increasingly, biking, are all commonly enjoyed by West Virginians and tourists drawn by the allure of the Mountain State. You don’t keep those tourists coming back without a rich local bike culture: shops to explore, restaurants with bike parking, destinations like Arrowhead Bike Farm where the whole vibe is built around bikes and the people who love to ride them. That’s the neat thing about investing in bikeability. If you build it, the people who bike will come — and they’ll arrive with empty stomachs and open wallets.

Tourism is just the start of the benefits you get when investing in better biking. Expanding a rail-trail corridor like the Lewis McManus Memorial Honor Trail (the four-mile Beckley rail trail we explored during the workshop’s bike audit) attracts out-of-town riders, but it also serves locals who are already biking to get groceries, the car-free college students trying to get their fast food fix, and the older adults for whom cycling is one of the most accessible and age-friendly ways to stay active.

Mitch Lehman, Director of Beckley’s Office of Outdoor Economic Development, says: “One of the practical goals is improving connections between existing recreational assets and everyday destinations…we want to make it so that you can bike all around Beckley, and especially getting folks from the Harper Road area into our downtown space is super important.” 

Stopping by the Bill Withers Plaza during the workshop’s bike audit Attendees rode to the end of Beckley’s McManus Rail Trail and discussed the need for more connectivity

The terrain is the point, and the challenge

West Virginia isn’t called the Mountain State for the bumper sticker. The topography that makes it such a draw for adventure recreation also makes it challenging to build connected transportation infrastructure, especially with limited small-town budgets. As one attendee described it, communities in West Virginia can feel like a collection of islands: small-town oases tucked into river valleys and hollows, separated from one another by winding mountain roads, steep grades, and rugged terrain.

Shoutout to Dr. Abildso (center) for lending his expertise and insights during the bike audit and workshop overall!

You can’t move the mountains. But throughout the workshop, there was a clear sense that communities across West Virginia are trying to build more connections across them. Dr. Christiaan Abildso, a Physical Activity Specialist with WVU Extension’s Family Nutrition Program, described helping the tiny town of Clay, West Virginia (pop. 399) secure a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant. The funding will help Clay County develop a comprehensive safety action plan focused on reducing roadway fatalities and improving conditions for people walking and biking: building critical infrastructure like sidewalks, pedestrian bridges, traffic calming, and improved signage.

In a state where many communities are separated by mountains and miles of rural roadway, that kind of support can make the difference between recognizing a problem and having the capacity to address it.

What the data says

The enthusiasm in Beckley tells one story. The League’s Bicycle Friendly State rankings tell another. Together, they make a compelling case.

West Virginia currently ranks 33rd in the nation and 8th out of 13 states in the Southern region. Its lowest scores are in Infrastructure (49%, 38th nationally) and Capacity & Support (42%, 33rd), which tracks with what workshop attendees described: communities that want to build, plan, and connect, despite low capacity and limited resources.

There’s reason for cautious optimism: West Virginia has seen a record use of federal funds on biking and walking projects over the past two years, and seven communities across the state have received SS4A grants to develop comprehensive safety action plans. That federal investment is already headed in the right direction. The opportunity now is for state leadership to coordinate around it, amplify it, and push for more.

One thing that would help enormously is a statewide transportation advocacy coalition. West Virginia previously had one (West Virginia Connecting Communities) but it has since dissolved, leaving a real gap in organized, unified advocacy for biking and walking at the state level. That absence shows up in the data. It also showed up as a recurring undercurrent in the workshop: community leaders doing good work in relative isolation, without a statewide network to connect their efforts or amplify their voices. 

West Virginia, it’s time!

Beckley wants to bolster bikeability, according to the front page of the local Register Herald

Beckley is already a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community, and the people there are ready to go further. Folks left the BFC workshop energized, connected, and already talking about how to keep the momentum going. 

What they need is for West Virginia’s leaders to fight for funding that matches the level of demand that already exists. Not because biking is a niche hobby for a niche crowd, but because it’s economic development. It’s public health. It’s how kids get to school. It’s connectivity for communities. And based on this workshop’s energy, it’s what West Virginians are asking for. 

The federal investment is already there, waiting to be met. The communities are ready. The next Bicycle Friendly State report cards come out later this year — and with the right support, West Virginia has every reason to move up.

Thank you to General Motors for making this workshop possible.

The post West Virginia Is Ready to Roll: Reflections from Beckley’s Bicycle Friendly Community Workshop appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

This post will be updated as we analyze new sections or learn new information.

On Sunday night, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released its proposed legislative language for the next five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill. This 500-page plus bill is our first look at how Congress is approaching transportation issues in this reauthorization – and while it’s not our worst fears realized, there are proposed cuts and repeals across the board that temper any enthusiasm. 

Here are the good (many with an asterisk), the bad, and the ugly parts of the House’s reauthorization bill. 

Our Priorities 

Going into reauthorization, we’ve had several main priorities in our advocacy. These are the lifeblood of keeping bicycling and walking safe and accessible for everyone. 

Transportation Alternatives – GOOD*

Transportation Alternatives (TA) is the largest, most reliable pot of funding for bicycling and walking projects. When Chairman Sam Graves was quoted earlier this year saying this would be a “traditional” highways bill and wouldn’t fund things like bike lanes, we grew concerned and thousands of you took action with us to remind Congress of the value of bike projects. 

The bill maintains Transportation Alternatives as a stand-alone program along with its statutory annual increases. This is very good. However, the asterisk is due to the removal of language limiting states’ ability to transfer funding out of TA to other projects, which had been introduced in the previous reauthorization.   

Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act – GOOD*

Sarah Debbink Langenkamp was a diplomat, a mother, a spouse, a person who biked. The bill named after her would ensure her life’s legacy of safer roads for everyone. Sarah’s bill has been a Summit ask of the League since 2023. 

Key provisions of Sarah’s bill have been included in the bill, a testament to the advocacy of her family and of advocates across the country. The provisions would make it easier for states and local governments to fund bicycling and walking safety projects. As for the asterisk, we are working with partners on an amendment that would ensure all the provisions of Sarah’s bill are included in the House’s reauthorization bill. 

Safe Streets and Roads for All – GOOD*

Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) is a discretionary grant program created by the previous reauthorization bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Disbursing $5 billion over five years, SS4A provided local grantees with direct access to funding for projects to plan for and implement safety improvements. Like TA, SS4A is a major source of funding for projects that make roads safer for everyone. 

SS4A is preserved in this reauthorization draft and includes changes that should benefit grantees, such as increasing the federal share of a project from 80% to 90%. The only asterisk is more about the unknown: the program will shift offices within the U.S. Department of Transportation and with that be subject to new parameters. 

Magnus White and Safe Streets for Everyone Act – GOOD 

The Magnus White and Safe Streets for Everyone Act will require a new car safety standard for bicyclist-Automatic Emergency Braking. The bill is named after Magnus White, a 17-year-old rising star in the cycling world who was killed while on a training ride ahead of the world championships. The driver who killed him was asleep at the wheel. Lives like Magnus’s can be saved with bicyclist-AEB. The bill includes language moving bicyclist-AEB closer to being deployed in new cars. 

Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program – UGLY

The Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP) is another program created by IIJA – a major win by Rails to Trails Conservancy. ATIIP was intended to provide large grants to local governments to build out active transportation networks within cities, or to build connectors between communities, however its authorization did not come with funding. A push by advocates, including Lobby Day participants at the 2022 Summit, was able to secure $44.5 million in funding for ATIIP. Demand was huge: grant applications totaled more than $1.8 billion. 

ATIIP is repealed in this reauthorization, despite it not utilizing any funding. ATIIP projects are still eligible under the new “Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant” but it is just one eligibility of many. 

Other Top Issues 

More broadly, we’re keeping an eye on bicycling and walking issues in every section of the bill. 

BIKE Act – GOOD 

The reauthorization includes updating the Highway Safety Program Guideline on Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety for elementary and secondary school students to “encourage on-bicycle training that promotes bicycling skills and safe practices,” a major provision of the BIKE Act, a 2025 Summit ask. 

Safety Funding – GOOD 

The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) provides roughly $3 billion each year for all types of transportation safety projects. Before the IIJA, states spent roughly 1% of their HSIP funding on vulnerable road user (VRU) safety, despite the share of VRU fatalities often being much higher than 1% of roadway deaths. The League for years advocated to create a special rule that would require states to spend more on VRU safety where VRU fatalities represented a higher share overall. In the IIJA, we secured a VRU Special Rule that required states with a VRU fatality rate 15% or higher to spend 15% or more of its HSIP funds on projects to improve VRU safety.

The bill keeps the VRU Special Rule in place, ensuring continued funding for these safety projects. 

Project Eligibility – GOOD 

Biking and walking projects can be funded by a broad array of core formula and discretionary grant programs. Allowing broad eligibility gives states and regions the discretion to build multimodal infrastructure, ensuring more efficient project delivery. 

The bill maintains broad eligibility so state and local governments can implement multimodal projects that benefit their communities.

Small Project Delivery – GOOD

One of the most frustrating things about building high quality bicycling and walking infrastructure isn’t just getting the funding, it’s getting the permits to actually build. For decades, small bike projects like installing bike racks have had to go through the same process as expanding the interstate. Under the new bill, the Federal Highways Administration is directed to create a short easy to understand checklist to move a project through the environmental review process. We hope this will be modeled off of a similar checklist the transit administration already uses. In addition, some changes were made to make it easier to maintain and expand bicycle and pedestrian projects within parklands.  These provisions were first approved under the Biden Administration and this bill will codify those changes. 

Lithium Ion Battery Safety Standards – GOOD

The bill also requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to transform their voluntary lithium ion battery standards to permanent, required UL standards. 

(Anti-)Speeding Program – GOOD

For the first time, Congress is directing behavioral safety funding administered by NHTSA to address speeding, which is involved in about 30% of traffic deaths. This new program is funded at slightly more than twice the level of the nonmotorist safety program. While the focus is on speeding, the funding can also be used to post new, hopefully lower, speed limits signs. As in previous bills, automated speed enforcement is limited to school and work zones.

MOVE Act – GOOD

The original MOVE Act required a study on the safety, especially as it pertains to children, of micromobility (under 20mph without pedalling) and high speed personal transportation devices (such as e-motos). A study on micromobility is included in the bill, but high speed personal mobility devices were left out. MOVE Act sponsor Representative Titus offered an amendment to include the faster vehicles in the study, but withdrew the amendment because the votes weren’t there in the end.

Bridge Access – BAD 

Under IIJA project sponsors were required to provide bicycling and walking access on bridges if it could be done at a reasonable cost (as determined by the Secretary). The new bill says a Secretary may require it, but that such access isn’t automatically required. 

Recreational Trails – BAD 

We had been working on an option to increase funding for recreational trails while maintaining existing funding for local government transportation funding levels. We were unsuccessful and Rec Trails will stay at its current level. 

Healthy Streets – BAD

Authorized but not funded by IIJA, the Healthy Streets program would fund communities to address urban heat islands and flooding in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. As a League ask, we had been successful in getting funding in the House budget, but not the Senate. The bill repeals Healthy Streets and any potential for funding. 

Autonomous Commercial Motor Vehicles – BAD

While this provision is specifically about trucks on interstates, it is a potentially large step for the deployment of autonomous vehicles. The bill includes a regulatory framework for the autonomous commercial vehicles that is based on self-certification of a Safety Case. The Safety Case concept rests “claims, supported by arguments and evidence” about the safety of autonomous vehicles. The specificity of claims, arguments, and evidence would depend upon rulemaking as the bill uses terms like “description” and “explanation.” While bicyclist safety can – and should – be addressed in a Safety Case, this is far from the objective data on performance that has long been the League’s priority in a “vision test.”

Consolidated Funding Pilot Program – TBD

This pilot program will allow 10 states to receive all of their base apportionment in a lump sum. That includes their Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, Transportation Alternatives Program, safety and highway performance money, et cetera. In doing so they would not have to set aside funds for TAP or VRU safety – even if they have fatalities rates that would require it.

Carbon Reduction Program – UGLY 

The IIJA included the first-ever Climate title (essentially a dedicated subject area) in a transportation bill. With that title, the Carbon Reduction Program offered more than $1 billion a year for both bicycling and walking projects, as well as projects that could help encourage more biking: congestion pricing, traffic demand management, speed management. In the last two years, bicycling and walking projects received around 9% of funding from the Carbon Reduction Program, about $130 million per year. Along with the entire Climate title, the bill repeals this program. 

Bike and Safe Routes Coordinators – UGLY 

The law requires every state DOT to have a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. That requirement is still there but changes their title to Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator and changes their mission to only address safety concerns, and not – as was the case from 1991 until present – to promote active transportation. This gets an ugly because it is such a petty change!

The League also supported the Safe Routes Partnership bill to reinstate a requirement for states to have a full time Safe Routes To Schools Coordinator. In 2012, Congress removed that requirement. Since 2012, states that have retained statewide Safe Routes to School coordinator positions provide more robust programming, support implementation of infrastructure to support safe student travel near schools, and reach a wider array of communities, including small and rural communities, than states without statewide Safe Routes to School coordinators.

Neighborhood Equity and Access – UGLY 

Created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Program made $3.15 billion available to focus on improving community connectivity, especially in communities that had been made vulnerable by historic and/or contemporary policy, funding, and infrastructure decisions. In 2025, Congress moved to rescind all unobligated funding for NAE and this bill formally repeals authorization for the program. 

What Comes Next 

The committee marked up the bill on Thursday. Members of the committee introduced amendments to the bill and two potentially negatively impacting our issues failed, one on eliminating TAP failed 9-55, and another to eliminate SS4A failed 7-57. With the bill leaving committee, what we all learned from Schoolhouse Rock still stands: the bill would get a vote in the full House and if it passes it heads to the Senate, so on and so forth. The Senate will have their own version of the bill, though, and we have yet to see what the authors there have in mind for reauthorization.

But the authorizations enacted by the IIJA expire on September 30, 2026. Congress is highly unlikely to pass a new bill before then. Rather, we will likely see a continuing resolution extending the IIJA for a short amount of time while the House and Senate hash out their differences. 

Conclusion 

We knew this would be a difficult year for our priorities in reauthorization.Yet, the core of our work remains intact. It’s a testament to advocates at the local and state levels, and allies in Congress, who have made bicycling safety a non-negotiable at the national level. As we look to next steps, we’ll keep working to make sure those priorities continue to be reflected.

The post Our first look at transportation reauthorization appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Washington, DC — The League of American Bicyclists is proud to announce the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) awards, recognizing 44 organizations during National Bike Month. This round includes 13 new awardees, 9 businesses moving up in recognition level, and 22 renewing at their current level, bringing the total number of certified Bicycle Friendly Businesses nationwide up to 1,130.

Find the full list of current BFBs here, and the latest round of awards and Honorable Mentions here.

“During National Bike Month, we’re proud to recognize businesses that are helping bicycling thrive in their communities,” said Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “From everyday encouragement to broader advocacy, Bicycle Friendly Businesses across the country are helping build a culture where more people feel welcome to get rolling.” 

From ice cream shops and breweries to hospitals and city halls, what sets a Bicycle Friendly Business apart isn’t what kind of organization it is; it’s how the business encourages people who bike and how it shows up for cycling in its wider community.

That spirit is especially visible during National Bike Month, when many Bicycle Friendly Businesses host Bike to Work Day breakfast stations, group rides, commuter challenges, and other events that bring people together around biking. 

Some organizations carry that momentum far beyond May. Bicycle Technologies International (BTI), a renewing Platinum-level BFB in Santa Fe, NM, described its “Summer of Bike” initiative as “a natural progression from Bike to Work Day, to Bike Week, and ultimately to Bike Month.” The initiative now includes more than 170 rides and events throughout the summer that help raise the visibility of cycling across Santa Fe.

It’s safe to say the best Bicycle Friendly Businesses don’t just think about supporting bicycling internally. This round features an impressive number of organizations going above and beyond to invest in cycling infrastructure, fund local advocacy, and help make biking a more viable option for everyone in their communities.

New Belgium Brewing’s Asheville, NC location (a renewing Platinum-level BFB) exemplifies this commitment at scale. Through its $1 Per Barrel program, the brewery distributed $158,000 in bicycle advocacy grants in 2025 alone, supporting community-based programs working to increase ridership, improve safety, and expand access, particularly in historically underserved communities. 

Smaller businesses are making an outsized impact, too. Fitchburg Family Pharmacy in Fitchburg, WI (a newly promoted Silver-level BFB) helped successfully advocate for and sponsor the expansion of the Madison BCycle bike share system into Fitchburg. There are now 21 stations in the city, including three within a half-mile of the pharmacy, allowing those without cars to access the pharmacy by bike. 

Across this round of awardees, businesses described bicycling as a way to improve employee morale, strengthen local economies, and build community resilience:

“Embracing our biking amenities and promoting biking as a major part of our brand for our community has contributed to the overall economic health of the community, the wellness of our residents, and has increased our visitor awareness of biking as a recreation and transportation option in Fitchburg.” — Fitchburg Chamber Visitor + Business Bureau in Fitchburg, WI (renewing Silver-level BFB)

“[One] positive outcome is our employees willing to donate their time to assist others in making repairs to their bicycles. During lunch, there were smaller groups that would ride for exercise or for just a leisure ride with co-workers. Observing this not only helps improve the health of our employees but improves morale within the workplace.” — Delaware Department of Transportation (renewing Silver-level BFB)

“By promoting bicycling, walking, and taking public transportation instead of driving alone, Jibe’s programs reduce single vehicle occupancy trips while cultivating a culture of livability in our community.” — North Natomas Jibe – Walk. Bike. Bus. in Sacramento, CA (newly promoted Platinum-level BFB) 

Participants enjoying the first annual Draft Picks Brewery Ride in 2025 in Fitchburg, WI DelDOT bicyclists at the 2024 Bike to Work Day in Dover, DE Earn-a-Bike Class 1:2 in 2025, copyright North Natomas Jibe

Want to join the movement and become a Bicycle Friendly Business? Applications for the next round are due June 3, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT. Learn more and apply at bicyclefriendly.secure-platform.com/a.

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.

The post League Celebrates 44 New & Renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses during National Bike Month appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

In March, the Eno Center on Transportation, a transportation think tank in DC, released a report on the state of the Highway Trust Fund. This is a summary of that report. 

What the Highway Trust Fund Is

The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is basically a bank account for transportation. The federal gas and diesel fuel tax, plus a few other taxes on commercial vehicles, are deposited into the HTF. Funds in the HTF account can only be spent on transportation projects authorized by Congress in a transportation reauthorization bill. 

The existence of the HTF means there is a guaranteed source of transportation funds which then allows Congress to write multi-year transportation bills instead of having to debate on transportation funding every year. 

From 1956 to 2009, this system worked well. In fact, it worked so well that Congress occasionally raided the HTF for the interest on its deposits to help pay for other programs. However, since 2009, the gas, diesel, and other taxes going into the trust fund have not kept up with demand.

This leaves the HTF with two big problems  Insolvency

The first problem is that there is not enough money coming in through the gas tax and other transportation taxes to pay for the funding authorized and appropriated by Congress. Right now, every state receives more funding from the federal government than it pays into the trust fund. In fiscal year 2026, the Trust Fund is expected to run a $32 billion deficit. 

Ponzi scheme

The other problem is that projects take years to build, so funding that is obligated in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 may just be coming due in fiscal year 2026. That means that even if Congress chose to stop funding any new transportation projects this year, we’d still need to keep the federal gas tax in place for years to pay for projects already obligated (under contract) but not yet paid out. 

How did we get here? Declining Growth in Vehicle Miles Traveled

• From its creation until the oil crisis in the early 1970s, Vehicle Miles Traveled was increasing at 4.5% annually
• From the 1970s to the early 2000s, VMT grew at 2.5% annually
• After 2003, VMT growth fell to less than 1% a year. It is now predicted to grow at 0.3% over the next few years. 

Stagnant Gas Tax

The gas tax was last increased in 1993, and was not indexed to inflation. 

Increasing Fuel Efficiency 

Starting in 1978 the federal government introduced CAFE standards to increase fuel efficiency in passenger cars. The first standard in 1978 set a fleet average at 18 miles per gallon (mpg). That increased to about 23 mpg in the late 1990s, and has since reached  26-27 mpg in 2005. 

Electric Vehicles

This has been a tiny factor until recently, but electric vehicles are a growing factor in the insolvency of the HTF. Had the incentives created in the Biden Administration to increase utilization of electric vehicles been fully realized, the HTF annual deficit was projected to reach $50 billion a year. Given changes by the Trump Administration, it is now only projected to be $37 billion. 

When you add this up, plus inflation, you get our current situation. 

Can the deficit be fixed? 

There are three options: cut spending, increase revenue, or a combination of the two.

Cutting spending

The HTF has two accounts, one is for highways (roads) and the other is for transit.  

• The Highway Account could be solvent by 2028 if Congress cut the contract authority (the amount states and USDOT are allowed to obligate) by 35%.
• The Transit Account is more insolvent and cannot be made solvent by just cutting spending. It is set to go into negative spending by mid-2027. 

To make both accounts solvent through spending cuts alone would require Congress to transfer funding from the highway account to the transit account, and then cut spending from both accounts by 48%.

Increasing revenue

The Eno report explores a few options based on their ability to raise funds, practical considerations, and political viability:

• Raising the gas tax
• Instituting a Vehicle Miles Travelled fee
• Federal registration fees 
• Devolution

Gas Tax Increase 

Eno calculated it would take a 17 cents/gallon increase to the current gas tax (18.3 percent) brought in over multiple years with an increase at 10 cents/gallon the first year. The tax would also be indexed for inflation. 

The good news is that the gas tax is easy to administer, costing less than one percent of the revenue. Politically, it has been a non-starter in discussions for the last 10 years.

Vehicle Miles Travelled Fee

This has been the darling for many lawmakers because it would be  a fix that gave them an excuse to not vote for a gas tax. Revenue-wise, it could be set to meet current needs and it is inline with the idea of a user fee, which is generally popular. 

Practically, the U.S. is not ready to implement a VMT fee. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 instituted a board to study how to implement a VMT, but the Biden Administration was slow to appoint the Board so it never really got off the ground before 2025. The Trump Administration then fired the Board, so the project is stalled and cannot move forward unless other appointments are made. 

New Zealand has a program like this but it costs them 3% of the revenue raised to administer, so the fee’s price will have to account for a higher administration cost. 

On the political side, it was touted as the solution because it wasn’t do-able. However, when IIJA created the study, the familiar complaints about privacy almost killed the bipartisan support. 

Registration Fees

Creating a new federal registration fee for vehicles is an option that has come into vogue as electric vehicles become more popular. It addresses the loophole in the gas tax where vehicles that do not use gas don’t pay for roadway use. In New Hampshire there was even a bill to create an annual $50 registration fee on bikes!  

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves proposed a vehicle registration fee in the Inflation Reduction Act, but it was stripped out before passage. There’s a good chance we’ll see it in a 2026 reauthorization proposal.

Eno calculated that an annual registration fee of:

• $120 on all motor vehicles (gas, diesel or electric) would close the gap between the HTF revenues and expenditures. 
• $290 on all motor vehicles (gas, diesel or electric) would cover all expenditures and replace the gas tax. 
• They acknowledged that the fees could be adjusted for different types of vehicles. 
• I believe this included public sector vehicles as well (which don’t have to pay gas tax). 

Managing this fee could be easy. All 50 states already have a vehicle registration fee, so they could also collect the federal fee at the same time, keeping administrative fees low. However, it is not clear if the federal government can require that as it may be a violation of the 10th Amendment.  

One thing Congress could do is make it voluntary, but bar states from receiving funds from the federal transportation program if they don’t take part. That may work for the $120 fee because the state would then be incentivized to join to get the gas tax fees. If Congress were to choose the higher registration fee – the $290 option – then any state whose drivers  pay more into the HTF with the gas tax than the state gets back would have no incentive to cooperate. 

One of the interesting political dilemmas is that it would change the donor/donee states. Pre- 2015 one of the big political issues in federal transportation debates is that some states, like Texas, were considered donor states because their residents paid more into the HTF than they received back based on funding formulas. Other states, like Washington, were donee states, meaning they receive more funds back from the transportation program then they contribute in fuel taxes. 

Since the mid 2010s, Congress has transferred so much in general funds to the Highway Trust Fund that all states are now donee states. However, if we went to registration fees, that dynamic would shift and Texas would become a donee state and Washington would become a donor state, because Washington has a higher car ownership rate. This will upset the transportation dynamic in Congress. 

As for political feasibility, we saw what happened when Chairman Graves proposed a $20 fee on gas cars, and a $200 registration fee on electric cars: Congress stripped it out. 

Devolution

One other talked about solution is devolution, where the federal gas tax is reduced to only cover the interstate system and other federal lands. The thinking here is that states have been more successful in raising new revenue either from raising gas taxes, tolling, and congestion pricing. 

Any administrative burdens would also be passed onto the state. 

However, one of the political problems with it is the federal government would have to continue collecting the federal gas tax at current rates until all projects in already underway are completed and paid for. This would be several years, making the scheme politically difficult. 

Will Congress take this on?

The only serious proposal I’ve heard to make a dent in the HTF deficit was Graves’ idea to add a nominal registration fee to all cars and much higher fees for electric and hybrid vehicles.  His legislation didn’t get far. 

Before the Transportation Committee would vote on it, Graves had to remove the fee on gas and diesel powered vehicles, and by the time the bill was voted through the full House and Senate, the registration fees on electric and hybrid vehicles was also removed. 

There doesn’t seem to be an appetite in Congress for cutting spending or increasing taxes- and  Congress is expected to bail out the HTF with general funds for the next reauthorization bill. 

The next time the problem will become acute will be in the early 2030s.  

If that is the case, the Highway Trust Fund won’t be the only Trust Fund hitting a cliff. The Medicare and Social Security trust funds are also expected to hit insolvency around 2033. Perhaps Congress can take one really hard vote to fix all three? 

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National Bike Month is finally here!

Every May since 1956, the League of American Bicyclists has been proud to celebrate National Bike Month: a whole month dedicated to the brilliance of the bicycle, connecting with your community on two (or more) wheels, and sharing the joy of biking with anyone who’ll listen. 

Whether you’re rolling with a group or flying solo, National Bike Month is packed with ways to get involved. Here are a few dates worth putting on your radar:

• May 3: National Ride a Bike Day
• May 5 @ 3pm ET: Safe Streets for All Grant Program 101 Webinar
• May 6: Bike & Roll to School Day
• May 11–17: Bike to Work Week
• May 15: Bike to Work Day
• May 19 @ 3pm ET: Organizing Bike Audits Webinar
• May 26: Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant deadline
• May 31: Last day to get your Bike Joy postcard set! Join or renew your League membership by the end of the month to get yours.

If you’re hosting local events to celebrate any of these days, use this form to add them to our growing Bike Month events map!

And this year, we’re adding something a little special to help new and renewing League members spread bike joy during Bike Month: a free set of bike postcards! The pack of ten postcards, featuring the vibrant bike illustrations from last year’s What Bike Are You quiz, is yours free when you join or renew your membership with the League during Bike Month.

Use them to write a note to a pal who just got back on two wheels. Hand one to someone you see locking up outside your favorite coffee shop. Leave one on a bike-curious coworker’s desk during Bike to Work Week. Write your partner a love letter and tuck it in their desk for a rainy day. Send it through snail mail to your long-distance Zwift buddy. However you share them, the point is the same: bikes are more fun when you bring someone else along for the ride!

Ready to get yours? Join or renew your League membership by May 31 and we’ll send them your way.

Oh, and there’s more — we’ve also got a full suite of materials for both print and digital uses. You can find all the Bike Month promotional materials on our site, including shareable graphics and event resources, to help you celebrate and spread the word in your community. Plus, we’ve added some cool Bike Month stickers on Giphy that you can use in your Instagram stories!

Happy Bike Month! We’ll see you out there.

P.S. Tag the League on social media with all your Bike Month celebrations so we can like and share! 

The post A Love Letter to National Bike Month  appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

The League of American Bicyclists is seeking candidates for our Board of Directors and we’d love for you to apply! We are looking for passionate, committed people to join our Board of Directors who want to help guide the League in our mission to build a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. 

The League’s mission is to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone, and the board is an essential part of making that happen. As a board member, you’d play a meaningful role in guiding the organization by supporting the League’s financial health and shaping our efforts to amplify the voice of people who bike. We encourage candidates from all kinds of backgrounds: advocacy, finance, law, communications, community organizing — and of course someone with a passion for bikes and for sharing their skills.

Here’s how to apply: put together a statement of qualifications that speaks to how you meet the seven qualifications on this page, and send it along with your resume, a short bio, and a photo to governance@bikeleague.org by May 30, 2026.

From there, the Governance Committee will review all applications and confirm who makes it onto the ballot. Qualified candidates will be posted on our blog in mid-July, voting will open in August,  and new board members are officially seated at our board meeting in October. Just make sure you’re a League member by August 9, 2026, if you’d like to vote.Questions or want to learn more? Find the full timeline and process on our Board elections page.

The post Help Shape the Future of Bicycling: Apply to Run for the League Board appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.