PeopleForBikes is proud to announce the launch of our Recreational Bicycling Access Tool, a first-of-its-kind resource developed with generous support from REI. In development for the last three years, the new tool is designed to evaluate the accessibility, quality, and connectivity of recreational biking facilities across the United States.

ACCESS THE NEW TOOL

Not meant as a resource for people to find places to ride like Trailforks or MTB Project, the Recreational Bicycling Access Tool is specifically designed to help a broad spectrum of stakeholders, from land managers and government officials to bike advocates and academic researchers, make data-driven investments in infrastructure that ensure everyone has access to high-quality recreational bicycling opportunities close to home. The tool complements our Bicycle Network Analysis tool, which measures the quality of low-stress, on-road bicycle networks in more than 2,500 global communities.

“This tool significantly enhances our ability to drive progress on expanding recreational biking infrastructure,” says Jenn Dice, president and CEO of PeopleForBikes. “By integrating the Recreational Bicycling Access Tool with our Bicycle Network Analysis, we now have the data to identify gaps, prioritize investments, and improve connectivity at scale. This is about turning data into action — making sure every community has the tools to build better, more connected networks of bike facilities that meet the needs of today’s riders.”

To learn more about the tool’s functionality and future plans to expand its capabilities, join PeopleForBikes’ webinar on March 4 at 12 p.m. MT.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR

Leading the Way With Data

PeopleForBikes leverages data to help advocates, policymakers, and bike industry leaders drive progress for better biking nationwide. The Recreational Bicycling Access Tool is a key part of our commitment to helping more people ride bikes more often. Alongside our existing programs like City Ratings, which ranks cities worldwide on the quality of their bike networks, and the Great Bike Infrastructure Project, which tracks thousands of planned bike projects across the U.S., the Recreational Bicycling Access tool is helping communities make better data-driven decisions about where to invest in bike infrastructure.

Types of Recreational Bicycling Facilities

The Recreational Bicycling Access Tool maps various types and classes of recreational facilities:

While recreational bicycling can also occur on paved roads that allow motor vehicle access, this type of infrastructure is not included in the tool. For further exploration of access to paved roads for bicycling across the U.S., please check out our Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) tool and City Ratings program.

Like the BNA, the Recreational Bicycling Access Tool uses OpenStreetMap to identify the location of bike facilities. To add or update the facilities in your area, please see our guide on how to edit OpenStreetMap data.

Defining Access

People are more likely to ride bikes when facilities like trails, paths, and bike parks are easily accessible. The Recreational Bicycling Access Tool provides the insights and data necessary to ensure that recreational bike infrastructure is available to riders of all ages and skill levels, regardless of where they live.  

To analyze accessibility, the tool measures riding opportunities across eight geographic levels: census tract, county, state, metropolitan/micropolitan statistical area, congressional district, unified school district, state legislative upper house, and state legislative lower house.

The tool then quantifies access using five different metrics:

1. Facilities: The number of unique recreational facility classes the average resident can access.
2. Miles of Trails: The total miles of trails the average resident can access (excludes bike parks).
3. Miles per Person: The total miles of trails the average resident can access per 1,000 people living in the area (excludes bike parks).
4. Amenities: The number of unique amenities out of 39 amenity types located within 0.25 miles of a bike facility that a resident can access (excludes bike parks).
5. Bike Parks: The number of bike parks the average resident can access (excludes trails).
   

Access to facilities is viewable through two lenses: bike and motor vehicle access. A bicycling facility is considered accessible by bike within 1.67 miles of where people live, about a 10-minute bike ride at a 10 mph pace. A bicycling facility is considered accessible by motor vehicle when located within a 20-minute drive of where people live. Bicycling facilities located within a given census tract are considered accessible to everyone in that tract.

Users can further refine their view of the data through a series of filters based on demographic factors, including race, income, affordability, age, and more. 

For more detailed information regarding access calculations, facilities, and amenity types, please see our detailed methodology and OSM tag spreadsheet.

Exploring the Map

Comparing Access Metrics

At the county level, the tool reveals that in large, rural counties, unpaved roads provide the majority of recreational bicycling opportunities. For example, Lincoln County, NV, with a population of only 4,600 people, has more than 2,200 miles of trails.

However, looking at the “Amenities” access metric reveals a lack of any bike or transport-specific amenities (represented by purple and orange dots, respectively), indicating that despite having high trail mile access, Lincoln County may not specifically invest in bike infrastructure.

This stands in stark contrast to places like Bentonville, AR, the self-proclaimed Mountain Bike Capital of the World. Bike amenities are aplenty around Bentonville, as are both paved and unpaved trails, showing a clear investment in high quality recreational biking opportunities for residents and visitors.

Comparing Geographies

The tool can also be used to compare neighboring geographies while advocating for increased access. In Oregon, Deschutes County is home to a large network of unpaved trails for mountain biking just outside of Bend, where the majority of the county’s population resides. The proximity of these trails to town means that the average resident can easily access more than 23 miles of trails.

This stands in contrast to Lane County to the west. While the two counties have a comparable mileage of trails (1,100 in Lane, 1,300 in Deschutes), the tool reveals that the average resident of Deschutes county has direct access to almost twice as many trails. Despite the presence of unpaved roads for recreational riding in the southeastern part of Lane county, most residents live in Eugene, and thus can only easily access the paved trails close to town.

Increasing Recreational Bicycling Access

The examples above illustrate how a single metric might not tell the whole story of recreational bicycling access and how different geographies have different strengths and weaknesses with respect to existing infrastructure. By leveraging this unique dataset and considering access from multiple angles, PeopleForBikes hopes our new tool will support investment in high quality recreational bicycling infrastructure and connect new places to ride with where people live, allowing more people in communities across the U.S. to access the countless joys and benefits of biking.