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75,000 Miles, 1 Question

By bikeleague / June 17, 2015
In February, I was invited to attend both the World Bicycle Forum in Medellin, Colombia, and the League’s National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. As the only African represented at both these forums, it was with great curiosity that I presented to and gleaned knowledge from those who have navigated the advocacy space for much longer than me. Initially almost every workshop session and talk in Medellin bore reference to Copenhagen. From gender split to trip generation percentages — with the requisite baguette and basket imagery, of course! — it was always there. Until a question from the audience changed everything. “Can we please talk about our own country and let Copenhagen be?” A nervous bundle of applause cascaded into a unanimous agreement from the 2,000 strong auditorium of advocates, activists and all those positioned somewhere in between. Thinking had shifted. It was a coming out of sorts: a great day for change makers in the Global South. Read More

5 Things I Learned As ‘BFC Steve’

By bikeleague / December 3, 2014
It’s official: The League reached 100 visits to communities across the country this year, helping them to create more bicycle friendly places for their residents. I completed 77 of those visits myself, so, as you can image, I have a lot of lessons to share. Here’s some of what I learned. Read More

Bikes + Sustainability + MIT = Innovation

By bikeleague / October 23, 2014
Access and safety are top priorities for the institute in promoting cycling. Infrastructure around the MIT campus supports safe cycling for MIT and its neighbors through the integration of a cycle track and bike lanes that connect with the surrounding Cambridge community. There are eight bicycle fix‐it stations around campus that ensure quick access to tools for commuters and cyclists on the go. For community members without a bicycle, the annual MIT Bike Auction provides a low‐cost purchasing option to encourage bike ridership. The auction also provides a recycling mechanism for discarded bikes on campus. Read More

Future Bike Recap: Elephants and Robots

By bikeleague / September 23, 2014
For half a day on Thursday, September 11, the Future Bike conference took over a few rooms of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Many attendees had also been a part of Pro Walk Pro Bike Pro Place, the biennial junket for planners, advocates, and other bike/ped professionals that had just wrapped up in the same center. Others were bike-interested Pittsburghers who didn’t attend PWPBPP but had something to share. Read More

BFC Building Block: Bike Coordinator

By bikeleague / August 20, 2014
(Part of our ongoing Building Blocks of a Bicycle Friendly Community series.) I’m going to come right out and say it: Cities that have bicycle program managers or bike coordinators are far more bicycle friendly than those that do not -– even when the same amount of resources are being devoted to improving conditions for bicycling. Read More

Bike to School Stories: San Francisco

By bikeleague / May 6, 2014
Over the past three years, Dorie Apollonio has artfully chronicled her family’s biking experiences on her blog, Hum of the City. Last year, she wrote this beautiful piece about the increased number of parents biking their kids to her son’s school — and we couldn’t think of a better inspiration for National Bike to School Day tomorrow! Read More

League Birthplace Becomes a BFC

By bikeleague / October 16, 2013
Newport, R.I., has “returned to its roots” as a hub for bicycling. The birthplace of the League back in the late 1800s, Newport was named a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community yesterday. Newport is also now the first BFC in Rhode Island, growing the network of BFCs to 48 states. Read More

Bicycle Account Guideline Provides Tools to Monitor Biking in Your Community

By BillN / September 18, 2013
We created the Diamond Bicycle Friendly Community challenge to keep setting a high bar for the leading BFCs, one that takes into account safety and levels of ridership. In doing so, we looked to our friends in the city of Copenhagen for examples. No, we’re not expecting every city and town in America to adopt the Copenhagen model, but these communities at the top are doing really well and we need to give them options. Read More

Cantor Offers Support for Building Bikeable, Walkable Communities

By bikeleague / June 27, 2013
Yesterday marked a major advance for the bicycle advocacy community in Richmond, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and, I would argue, for the nation as a whole. On the steps of the Capitol, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor… Read More

Meet the Women’s Forum Exhibitors: Iva Jean

By bikeleague / February 22, 2013
When she started biking to work in Seattle, Ann DeOtte Kaufman knew she needed gear to stay dry— but there was no way she was going to pay top dollar… Read More