By providing meaningful and visionary efforts for leaders to study, and investing in city staff and local partners to increase local knowledge and leadership, we can accelerate the installation of complete mobility networks. We encourage cities and states to move faster in creating these complete networks by funding additional planning, outreach and communications.

An integral part of any network buildout is measuring key outcomes with network connectivity, ridership and safety metrics. We provide measurement activities that offer a baseline evaluation of current and future conditions through our Bicycle Network Analysis and City Ratings tools.

Through proactive ballot initiatives, securing dedicated funds for planning and implementation, supporting coalitions that make bicycling a part of a broader narrative and encouraging communities across city lines to collaboratively pursue federal or state grants for regional infrastructure development, we help fund paths, bike lanes, mountain bike trails, pump tracks, bike parks, bike parking and more.

Our nation needs immediate action and long-term planning to mitigate the effects of climate change. Trading car trips for biking and walking is part of a broad suite of solutions. We advance climate and  active transportation infrastructure for carbon emission reduction programs as well as incentives that support climate resiliency.

Building a safe, interconnected network of protected bikeways relies on gaining the support of people who only occasionally bike or never bike at all. We perform research to understand people’s aspirations for mobility and the ways in which bike infrastructure can help achieve those. We use that research to craft messaging and marketing that grows public support for bicycling.

In the 2024 general election, PeopleForBikes’ VoteForBikes campaign tracked 30 bike-related measures on state and local ballots across the country. Out of a possible $33 billion available on November ballots, voters approved an impressive $26 billion in funding to support paved and off-road bicycle infrastructure projects. Combined with $1.4 billion approved in earlier elections, VoteForBikes supported a total of $27.4 billion for better biking nationwide in 2024!

Nearly 60% of the approved funding, totaling $16 billion, will go towards projects largely focused on the construction and improvement of safe places to ride including protected bike lanes, bike network expansions, street safety upgrades, and traffic calming improvements. The remaining $11.4 billion will fund the construction and maintenance of off-road trails and the acquisition and management of open space that supports and increases recreation opportunities. 

We collected seven of the most important pro-bike measures from the November election below. Visit our VoteForBikes page for a state-by-state breakdown of other pro-bikes measures in your area and around the country. 


Voters in the Evergreen State successfully voted against this harmful measure to protect critical funding for transformative multi-modal transportation infrastructure. Funding from the 2021 Climate Commitment Act (CCA), Washington’s cap-and-invest program designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, will continue to be available. This program funds the Move Ahead Washington package, which provides $1.3 billion for bike and pedestrian projects and programs that support safe and connected places to ride a bike across the state, including Connecting Communities Grants, Complete Streets, Safe Routes to School, and the School Based Bike Program. 

With a two-thirds majority, Seattle voters approved Proposition 1 and replaced the expiring Levy to Move Seattle. This 8-year, $1.55 billion investment represents a significant proportion of the Seattle Department of Transportation's budget and will increase mobility options across the city. Funding will be used to construct new protected bike lanes and greenways, improve the safety of existing bike lanes, and complete network gaps with an emphasis on southern Seattle. 


Nearly 60% of voters in the Golden State voted YES on Proposition 4, a $10 billion general obligation bond focused on safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparedness, clean air, and open space preservation projects. Of the $10 billion, nearly $2 billion will support the construction, maintenance, and improvement of recreation and active transportation infrastructure (like bike paths and trails!) to help combat the effects of climate change. 

City and County of San Francisco, California

San Francisco residents approved Proposition K to establish a park at Ocean Beach. This measure will amend the park code to permanently dedicate car-free space at the Parkway at Upper Great Highway after a temporary shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic was extremely popular. This initiative will allow people of all ages and abilities to safely gather and enjoy the outdoors for generations to come while also preserving delicate natural resources along San Francisco’s coastline. The park will increase opportunities to safely walk, bike, roll, and use transit, whether for recreation or transportation, without having to interact with vehicular traffic. 


Environment and Natural Resources Fund Amendment 

In a resounding win for the environment, Minnesotans overwhelmingly voted YES to reauthorize state lottery revenue to the Environment and Natural Resources Fund by constitutional amendment. This big win will provide a projected $1 billion in funding for projects that protect, conserve, and enhance air, water, land, and wildlife across the state. These projects include the creation and expansion of biking trails and biking tours that will increase recreation opportunities and continue Minnesota’s efforts to stay at the forefront as one of the best places to ride a bike in the U.S. This amendment also authorizes a 1.5% increase in funding for community grants that invest in underserved communities so everyone can enjoy access to nature. 

Voters in Maine approved Question 4 to authorize a historic appropriation of $30 million to the Maine Trails Program and fund the design, development, and maintenance of recreation and active transportation trails. With a focus on accessibility for all and a significant proportion of funding going towards non-motorized or multi-use trails, this funding will significantly expand opportunities to ride a bike across the state. 


Central Ohio Transit Authority (Franklin County, Ohio)

Voters in the greater Columbus area approved the Central Ohio Transit Authority Sales and Use Tax in a significant win for multi-modal transportation. This tax will generate an estimated $6 billion in revenue over the next 25 years to strengthen the rapidly developing region’s transportation system. While the primary focus is on public transit, nearly one-third of revenue will support transit-supportive projects like safe and connected places to walk and bike that facilitate safe access and first- and last-mile connections. Plans include building 500 miles of new bike paths, multi-use trails, and sidewalks, with 150 miles planned for completion in the next five years. 


Thanks to voters like you making your voice heard, we showed that Americans across the country value access to more safe and connected places to ride a bike. Thank you for joining us in voting to support vibrant communities where people and the environment are happier and healthier and everyone can access affordable and safe modes of transportation and recreation.


Looking for even more ways to get involved and make a difference? Explore PeopleForBikes’ Great Bike Infrastructure Project to support more great places to ride in your backyard and become a PeopleForBikes Foundation member to support better biking in your community and hundreds of others across the U.S.

Voters Approved $27.4 Billion to Support Better Biking in 2024

Much of the recent critical reporting around e-mobility products, specifically e-bikes, centers on the Big Apple. New York City’s 8 million residents are seemingly on the front lines (or as many call it, the “wild west”) of folks riding e-mobility devices of all kinds on our streets. The city has been busy proposing new regulations and rules in an effort to rein in the worst outlaw operators, and more importantly, curtail a serious outbreak of dangerous and sometimes fatal fires related to unsafe and untested lithium-ion batteries, and rightly so: Of the 40 deaths nationwide related to lithium-ion battery fires, 29 (72%) occurred in New York City alone.

Thankfully, there is some good news on that last front: According to Underwriters Laboratories, deaths from e-bike fires declined in New York City after battery safety standards were written into law. At the same time, the number of fires and deaths rose rapidly from near zero prior to 2020 to a peak of hundreds of fires and 18 deaths in 2023. So far in 2024, only four people (still four too many) died from a battery-related fire in the city. This progress is no doubt due to the passage of ordinances that require lithium-ion batteries used in all e-mobility devices to be tested and certified by accredited third party laboratories, ongoing public education, and diligent enforcement efforts by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the New York Fire Department, including shuttering some of the worst violators and going after online sellers who openly sell substandard batteries.

Over that same roughly five-year period, the number of people who lost their lives in New York City in a crash involving only an e-mobility device climbed from zero a few years earlier to 11 in 2023. That same year, eight cyclists and two pedestrians lost their lives in crashes that did not involve an e-mobility device or motor vehicle. As one might expect, crashes involving motor vehicles were the deadliest, taking the lives of another 22 cyclists, nine e-mobility users, 101 pedestrians, and 112 vehicle occupants. Despite the grim data clearly showing the dangers posed by motor vehicles to all road users, there has unfortunately been an increased focus on e-mobility devices (collectively and often incorrectly referred to as “e-bikes” in the public discourse) as particularly threatening. As the data clearly shows, New York City streets do present a real and present danger for operating an e-bike or e-scooter.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) both issued reports showing that the growth in popularity of e-mobility devices over the last five years has led to a significant increase in crashes and fatalities nationwide. Appendix B to the NTSB report reveals exactly where these fatalities occurred. Of the 53 reported e-bike fatalities nationwide from 2017 to 2022, 25 occurred in one of the five boroughs of New York City and two more occurred in neighboring cities in New Jersey. New York City had 47% of nationwide e-bike fatalities even though its residents only account for about 2.5% of the U.S. population. So just why is that?

Certainly, one may point to population density and lack of safe cycling infrastructure as possible causes. But New York City is not alone in that regard, and over the same period, other major, densely populated cities like San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago combined had a total of just two fatalities. Other cities also have equally inadequate infrastructure, while New York is actually making strides towards safer streets.

The prevalence of delivery workers in New York City, with an estimated 65,000 people performing the difficult and dangerous work of delivering meals and goods by bicycle, e-bike, scooter, or moped, could also be a factor: according to a recent article, 19 delivery workers died on the job in 2021 and 2022, two of the five years of the NTSB report with the highest number of fatalities (although some of these workers could have been using mopeds, which are considered motor vehicles). It is certainly unfair to blame these workers, many of whom are recent immigrants without other employment options, for the dangerous conditions they face trying to earn a living and support their families.

What is it about New York City in particular that led it to have both 72% of the fire deaths and 47% of the e-bike related deaths from traffic violence? This may be an instance where we should blame the e-bikes, because New York City has a type of e-bike that exists nowhere else on the planet.


When New York legalized electric bicycles in 2020, the legal definition included a “Class 3” e-bike that can go 25 mph by use of the throttle. In virtually every other state (and under federal law), that vehicle is considered a motor vehicle because it can exceed 20 mph on motor power alone.  Forty three states now follow PeopleForBikes’ model three-class definitions and require a Class 3 e-bike to only provide pedal assistance, not direct motor power. What happened in New York City was that no major e-bike manufacturer was willing to make an e-bike that (1) wasn’t legal to sell or operate anywhere else and (2) was likely subject to federal motor vehicle safety regulations.

The result should have been foreseeable in 2020 but has now become painfully clear in hindsight. Thousands of cheap e-bikes with unsafe speed capability and low quality batteries were made by a few foreign companies and sold to a vulnerable population. The names of these companies are well known to authorities. These companies do not have to bother with quality control, safety compliance, or product liability insurance because they are largely beyond the reach of government regulators and our judicial system. These low-quality e-bikes and batteries were sold not through traditional bike shops, but through e-bike stores that popped up all over the city to cash in on the growing demand for food delivery.

New York City is now working hard to undo this mess and reduce fires, crashes, and deaths that have little to nothing to do with the high-quality e-bikes that are sold and safely used everywhere else in the country. A great first step is to end the legal aberration that is a “Class 3” e-bike and align New York’s electric bicycle law to the 20 mph federal limits on motor-powered speed of low-speed electric bicycles and other e-mobility devices that are adhered to elsewhere across the U.S. Slower, throttle-enable speeds and safe e-bikes sourced from reputable U.S. manufacturers can help address these issues and improve safety for all New Yorkers.

Congressional action to close the de minimis loophole that allows foreign sellers to sell unsafe devices and batteries direct to consumers (and avoid tariffs paid by domestic companies)

Adoption of federal safety standards for e-mobility devices that incorporate international consensus standards such as those passed by legislatures in New York, California and Minnesota

Accelerate the construction of safer infrastructure including protected mobility lanes and daylighted intersections which are proven to reduce crashes and save lives

Why New York City Faces a Perfect Storm of E-Mobility Risks

On December 11, the PeopleForBikes Coalition Board of Directors approved our 2024 Industry Community Grants, totaling $75,000 across 10 grants. The grants will help fund projects that support our focus on building infrastructure that makes communities across the U.S. great places to ride a bike. This year’s supported projects include urban and rural trail systems, a pump track and a skills trail, several projects that make it safer for children to bike to school, and infrastructure development in large metropolitan areas. 

2024 PeopleForBikes Industry Community Grants

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia — $10,000

Philadelphia, PA | Support for the Schuylkill Crossing: Connecting Communities and Opportunities project that will activate a set of bikeways that constitute an entirely off road bike and pedestrian connection from Southwest Philadelphia and South Philadelphia to Center City and beyond.

Richmond, CA | A collaboration with community groups and county agencies to support the North Richmond Bike Bus program, leading to safe routes to school and critical improvements to this long-time disadvantaged community.

Pittsburgh, PA | Resources for the development of children’s bike buses throughout the region that may be used as a national guide and lead to advocacy for safe routes to school in hundreds of communities nationwide.   

California Bicycle Coalition — $10,000 

Sacramento, CA | A critical guide to the development of “slow streets” infrastructure on neighborhood streets that represent key links in urban bikeway networks in every American city. 


Berkeley, CA | Materials and advocacy for a demonstration project of a slow street in West Berkeley. 

Houston, TX | Infrastructure, including signage, for the improvement of dozens of dangerous intersections where the 4-mile Columbia Tap Trail crosses roadways.

Lake Placid, NY | A critical match for other donations that will close the funding gap for an 8-mile trail linking rural communities in the High Peaks region in New York’s Adirondack Park.


Native American Advancement Foundation — $10,000

Tohono O’odham Nation, AZ | The addition of a much-needed pump track in a brand new and popular “Free as a Bird Skatepark” in this native community. 

Austin, TX | Eva Carrillo de Garcia Park will get a new Skills Trail connected to a disadvantaged neighborhood in East Austin and a 4-mile bike loop around the perimeter of the park.

McClintock High School Bike Club — $5,500 

Tempe, AZ | Bike bus advocacy for improved school access, including an off-road path reaching the school, neighborhood bike route enhancements, and a new highway overpass.

PeopleForBikes' 2024 Industry Community Grants Recipients

As the popularity of electric bicycles (e-bikes) continues to rise, it is important for states and municipalities to understand the best methods for regulating this rapidly growing sector of the bike industry and keeping everyone safe on our shared roads and trails.

A groundswell of new proposed legislation at both the state and local levels has occurred in the last few years, and PeopleForBikes is actively involved in drafting and influencing those laws. We also continue engaging with advocates and government leaders on the best approaches to safely and successfully regulating e-bikes as there is a clear need for laws that are reasonable and consistent to keep e-bike riders and our communities safe.

In response to this need, PeopleForBikes launched our E-Bike Legislative Toolkit, compiling best practices, offering model safety-related legislation, and clearly highlighting the intersection of bike infrastructure and education. The toolkit offers a foundation to make it easier to propose and implement safety-related policies and programs while considering each communities’ unique needs and governmental structures.

We invite advocates, retailers, and policymakers across all levels of government to utilize this resource, reach out to us with questions, and borrow what works best for your community in creating effective, equitable, and harmonized e-bike laws. 

PeopleForBikes recommends that government leaders and advocates consider nine key priorities when addressing the safety and regulatory aspects of electric bicycles:

CREATE INFRASTRUCTURE: Prioritize funding and building connected bike networks to improve safety.

ADOPT THE 3-CLASS SYSTEM: Clearly define e-bikes using the three-class model and federal definitions set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

REGULATE OUT-OF-CLASS PRODUCTS + ANTI-TAMPERING: Address unsafe products exceeding power and speed limits set by law.

ENABLE CLASS 1 EMTB ACCESS: Define where e-bikes can be ridden both on and off road, including speed limits on shared paths.

CHAMPION BATTERY AND ELECTRICAL SAFETY: Ensure e-bikes meet applicable safety standards for electrical systems and lithium-ion batteries.

FUND E-BIKE INCENTIVES: Create equitable incentive programs to make e-bikes more affordable.

PROMOTE EDUCATION AND RIDER SAFETY: Implement effective rider education programs.

OPPOSE REGISTRATION AND INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS: Avoid unnecessary registration and insurance for e-bikes, which don't significantly reduce road fatalities.

PROVIDE LANDLORD GUIDANCE ON E-BIKES: Encourage landlords to allow safe storage of certified e-bikes.

With so many possibilities and limited resources, it's important to first focus on the greatest needs of your community. We strongly suggest improving infrastructure as the single most important strategy to provide the most impactful and lasting returns on safety and participation.  How does your state and its communities stack up in terms of City Ratings and pending infrastructure projects? Do you have laws in place requiring Complete Streets design standards and allowing communities to lower their speed limits? Is there adequate funding for projects?

Assuming you’re already making strides on infrastructure and growing ridership, you may be hearing concerns about how electric bicycles are being used, the kinds of e-mobility devices appearing on streets and trails, younger riders on e-bikes, or the safety of lithium-ion batteries. PeopleForBikes is very involved in all of these areas, and the E-Bike Legislative Toolkit contains our best advice on addressing them. With these resources, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to proactively respond to safety concerns and can leverage the work PeopleForBikes, our advocacy partners, and other states and communities have already accomplished.

Last, while we like to focus on the positive, we know that sometimes a defensive battle must be fought against proposed legislation that will negatively impact bike riders or the community.  Confronted with a bad e-bike bill or even a proposal for legislation? Please reach out to us!


If you have any questions about the toolkit or crafting state and local policies or programs related to bicycles and electric bicycles, please reach out to PeopleForBikes Vice President of Government Relations Dr. Ash Lovell at ash@peopleforbikes.org.

Advance Safe and Successful E-Bike Policies With PeopleForBikes’ New Toolkit

Slow streets, like this one in Chicago, help  turn dangerous residential streets into child-friendly open spaces. PHOTO CREDIT: City of Chicago

PeopleForBikes’ Legislative Guide for Safe and Connected Bike Infrastructure, a component of our Great Bike Infrastructure Project, is a valuable resource for elected officials and local advocates, showcasing the most effective ways to advance great places to ride through state and local legislation. To help improve bicycling in communities across the U.S., we’ve already explored the how and why behind funding bike infrastructure, mandating Complete Streets, and integrating bikes into climate legislation. In the latest edition of our blog series, we’re reviewing the fourth legislative strategy to create great places to ride — reducing traffic speeds.

Even relatively minor differences in speed can make the difference between life and death. SOURCE: Vision Zero

While most of the world is reducing traffic danger, injuries and deaths caused by car crashes in the United States continue to increase, injuring millions and killing more than 40,000 people last year alone. One of the big reasons for this ongoing tragedy is the high speeds at which most automobiles travel on U.S. roads. On September 19, PeopleForBikes hosted a webinar with experts from around the country to discuss the importance of reducing traffic speeds to save lives. 


Amy Cohen, the director of Families for Safe Streets, a national organization representing the families of victims of traffic violence, shared practical advice on campaigning for significant policy changes. One key example is “Sammy’s Law,” which permits New York City to reduce local speed limits to 20 mph with proper signage. In her presentation, Cohen recounted the moving stories they told and powerful strategies they employed to champion the law which took effect on October 9. She also pointed to the potential of technology, such as intelligent speed assist that alerts drivers who are speeding, and urged support for a California bill that would require the technology in new cars. 

The webinar also addressed a common challenge people face when advocating for slower speeds: emergency responders. Charlie Ream, planning and project development team leader at the Oakland Department of Transportation, shared how his agency earned the support of Oakland’s fire and police departments. His successful navigation of the “constant tension between the city and their emergency services departments” resulted in formalized agreements that expedite the installation of certain traffic calming measures that otherwise might be delayed by long negotiations and engineering experiments. You can access those memos, along with his presentation, here.

Christopher Falcos, traffic operations and technology engineer at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, one of the nation’s leaders in reducing dangerous vehicle speeds, also spoke during the webinar. MDOT’s “Safe Speeds” web page is a model for transportation departments nationwide to prevent serious injuries and fatalities through speed management. As discussed in Falcos’ presentation, one of MDOT’s biggest successes is the integration of speed management in all design decisions, as mandated in the MassDOT Project Development and Design Guide. 

Amy Cohen laid out the nation’s failure in stark terms. “We perform abysmally compared to every high-income nation, and it's because other nations are doing everything they can to slow speeds, and we’re not,” she said. "We need every tool in our toolbox.” 

To learn more about the best talking points and access resources and policy examples to reduce traffic speeds, check out our resources below:

Watch the recording of our “Designing Streets for Safety, Not Speed” webinar. 

Review our Legislative Guide for Safe and Connected Bike Infrastructure for examples of states and communities that have lowered speed limits.

Read our Supplemental Guide for Reducing Traffic Speeds, which includes data-backed talking points to help you advocate for change in your community.

Learn how reduced traffic speeds increase City Ratings scores.

There are places that are good for bicycling and then there’s Amsterdam, where the entire city feels as if it’s built around cyclists. To drive a car in the city’s center is to be constantly surrounded by swarms of bikes who ride in packs and without fear for their lives. In Amsterdam, the movement of cyclists is prioritized over that of drivers, but that hasn’t always been the case.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Dutch cities weren’t too far off from the American cities of today, where precedence is given to moving single-occupancy motor vehicles above transit, bicycle, or pedestrian traffic. At the time, the growing number of cars saw bike trips plummet across the Netherlands — entire neighborhoods were destroyed to make way for car traffic — and accordingly, the number of traffic deaths began to rise. In 1971, they hit a peak of 3,300 deaths, 400 of which were children.

For the Dutch, this would not stand. In the early 70s, “Stop de Kindermoord,” or “Stop the Child Murder,” became the rallying cry of a group of concerned citizens, many of them mothers, calling on the government to fund the construction of protected bike lanes. Thousands took to the streets and the protests, which coincided with a global oil crisis, worked: The Dutch government began building a network of connected, separate bike paths. The number of people on bikes grew exponentially, and pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities declined significantly. 

By the end of the decade, bicycle paths were built into every new neighborhood and along all major roads. Public outrage at the loss of life translated into tangible change and today, Amsterdam continues to have one of the lowest traffic fatality rates in the world. That change, while monumental, isn’t out of reach for the United States. It does, however, require a shift away from the idea that safety is the responsibility of the user — be they a walker, driver, or bicyclist — and towards an understanding that altering our built environment is how we save lives. 

When it comes to cyclist and pedestrian deaths, the U.S. today is much worse off than Amsterdam was 60 years ago and deaths are trending upwards. In the last 12 years, fatalities for people walking and biking have increased by 60%. The National Safety Council estimates more than 46,000 people in total across modes were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2022. That’s the equivalent of a plane crashing every single day for a year, a level of catastrophe we would never stand for. 

Yet, most of us do nothing, our lack of protest being a quiet acceptance of the status quo. The exception, of course, are those who have directly experienced the epidemic of traffic violence. People like Laura Keenan, a San Diego woman who lost her 42-year-old husband, Matt Keenan, in September 2021. 

Matt, an avid cyclist, had been hit by a car before, an experience that shook him to his core. On the night he died, Matt had just put his 15-month-old son to bed and was biking to the movies. He was in a painted bike lane, with a helmet and bike light on, when Melissa Gonzalez exited the opposite lane and hit him straight on. He died at the scene.

“I had to do something after,” says Keenan. “I knew his death was preventable and I started advocating for safer streets a week or two after he was killed.”

Laura Keenan stands at the spot where her husband Matt Keenan was killed, holding their son.

Keenan was frustrated with a legal system that doesn’t hold drivers accountable (Gonzalez got four days in jail for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, which is a relatively harsh sentence) but she was also frustrated with the safe infrastructure, or lack thereof, that directly contributed to her husband’s death. Keenan soon realized that she could break through and get people’s attention in a way others couldn’t. Just months later, she co-founded a local Families for Safe Streets chapter.

Families for Safe Streets (FSS) was founded in 2014 by the families of loved ones who were killed or injured in crashes in New York City. According to the group’s national director, Thomas DeVito, “It’s an organization that shouldn’t have to exist but because of the epidemic of traffic violence, has to exist to make laws safer.” FSS transforms grief into action by broadcasting personal stories of trauma and loss to bring about policy and legislative change. 

In 20 chapters across the country, people like Keenan work with their cities, counties, and local advocacy groups to refocus the conversation to try and save lives. In San Diego, for example, FSS has hung signs at fatal crash sites that read “Your neighbor was killed here” and hosts a World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in November, helping to honor loved ones lost while raising awareness. Crucially, the group’s biggest focus has been around budget and funding and in 2022, after a multi-month campaign, the city agreed to fund improvements at its more dangerous intersections.

In New York City, FSS has had a series of successive policy wins, starting with the lowering of default speed limits throughout the city from 30 to 25 mph in just one legislative session. Following that win, the group went on to secure the largest speed safety camera system in North America, leading to more than 2,000 cameras deployed across 750 school zones. Last year, the group pushed to expand operation hours of those speed safety hours, driven by data that a large number of crashes were happening overnight. That change has led to a 30% decrease in speeding.

Queen’s Boulevard was known as the “Boulevard of Death” before it underwent a road diet. 

The group has also succeeded in multiple local-level street design campaigns, which have seen hundreds of millions of dollars dedicated to overhauling dangerous thoroughfares. One prime example is the redesign of Queens Boulevard, once nicknamed the “Boulevard of Death” due to the 189 people killed on the road between 1994 and 2014. After the city spent just $4 million on a road diet, the road went from having as many as 16 deaths a year to zero. 

As a whole, FSS prioritizes policy and infrastructure changes and is skeptical of education-first campaigns, which puts the onus for change on individuals rather than the things we know make a difference, such as lowering speed limits, redesigning our streets and intersections, and regulating the design of automobiles, which continue to get bigger and more dangerous every year. 

“What that translates to at a basic policy level is our cities and states should be building Complete Streets whenever possible,” says DeVito, referring to an approach to planning, designing, and building streets that enables safe access for all users. “We know that Complete Streets can reduce crashes by over 30% on average.”

From experience, DeVito says that state-level departments of transportation often inhibit local policy implementation when it comes to Complete Streets principles. He believes state-level reform is needed in order to implement Complete Streets and solutions that save lives. As highlighted in our recent Legislative Guide, PeopleForBikes is prioritizing Complete Street mandates that require cities and states to build bike infrastructure as part of regular road construction and repaving projects. Other priorities include more state and local funding for bike infrastructure, reduced speed limits, and better design manuals for engineers. 

There are currently billions of dollars available for bike projects, specifically, a $1 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program to fund projects that help prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets. This is an undeniable win. However, it’s crucial that this money be spent on protected bike infrastructure and connected bike networks, as opposed to projects that prioritize the movement of cars above all other users. That includes painted bike lanes, which as Matt Keenan’s death in San Diego proves, do nothing to protect cyclists from vehicles.

“Paint is not protection — we have people dying in paint-only bike lanes every single year,” says Alexa Sledge, associate director of communications at Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit advocacy group in New York City that works in partnership with FSS. According to Sledge, it’s been a bad year for bicyclists in the city: More cyclists have been killed through the first nine months of 2023 than all but one other year on record, and 94% of the victims were killed on streets without protected bike lanes. “We’re working on passing a local bill that would streamline the process of getting bike lanes in the ground. We need to act with urgency and as such, our processes need to be a lot faster.”

In New York City and other communities across the country, we’re not building infrastructure at the pace traffic safety crisis — or the climate crisis — demands, often due to policy hurdles, decades of status quo roadway designing, and a lack of political will. The pandemic and America’s historic bike boom presented the country with a unique opportunity, one that will slip away if we don’t invest in more and better on-street infrastructure. Communities everywhere should be building infrastructure like our lives depend on it because they do. 

In 2021, the St. Louis, Missouri-based nonprofit Trailnet created its first Crash Report. A response to a spike in local traffic fatalities, the report identified every single pedestrian and bicycle crash, including fatalities, injuries, and/or instances of property damage. Sam McCrory, a community planner at Trailnet and the report’s primary author, used the raw data to identify high crash corridors. He also looked at the conditions around each crash, speed limits, the type of roads, and the neighborhood demographics.

“Our first two Crash Reports also included a section where we highlighted high-level solutions that could be used to lower crashes,” says McCrory, naming things like lowering speed limits, using road diets, and building protected infrastructure. With two reports under its belt, Trailnet secured a 2022 Community Grant from PeopleForBikes to create a third Crash Report, which highlighted more specific, local solutions. Trailnet was then able to use the report as an advocacy tool to accelerate the installation of safe mobility networks throughout St. Louis.

A specific infrastructure recommendation from Trailnet’s 2022 Crash Report.

“We’ve used the Crash Report to amplify the need to make our streets safer for everyone, and to include city government in that conversation,” says Charles Bryson, who leads Trailnet’s policy and advocacy agenda through coalition-building, community outreach, and government relations.

Bryson, who’s spent his career working to support historically underserved communities, sees the epidemic of bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities as an equity issue. In St. Louis, as in most other U.S. cities, high-crash corridors are predominantly in low-income communities of color. 

Bryson has successfully used the Crash Report to speak directly to these impacted communities, explain what infrastructure improvements are needed, and then demand those changes from the people who represent them.

Similar to Families for Safe Streets, Trailnet prioritizes infrastructure-heavy solutions and developed a model for targeting those solutions that it believes can easily be replicated elsewhere. American cities have the ability to similarly identify high-crash data and prioritize investments accordingly, they just need to find the necessity to do it. With pedestrian and cyclist deaths as high as they are, more and more advocacy organizations and everyday citizens are holding cities accountable and demanding change.

For those who want to get involved in saving lives locally but don’t know where to start, PeopleForBikes identified more than 1,000 infrastructure projects nationwide that need support. A key component of our Great Bike Infrastructure Project, these projects are protected bike lanes, intersection treatments, and other Complete Streets components that are in various stages of development and will make a tangible difference when it comes to creating safer and more accessible mobility opportunities for everyone. Accompanying each project are local advocacy organizations — contacting them can serve as a great jumping-off point for getting involved in your own backyard.

PeopleForBikes has identified more than 1,000 infrastructure projects nationwide that need support.

“Everyday folk have to become advocates and have to become vocally involved in some way,” says DeVito, from Families for Safe Streets. “That doesn't mean necessarily throwing yourself completely into the work but ultimately, elected officials are the gatekeepers of what policies are prioritized at any given moment, and they are responsive to the input that they’re receiving at the ground level.”

The transformation that Amsterdam underwent in the 1970s proves that drastic change is possible if we demand it, and the work of Families for Safe Streets, Trailnet, and countless other advocacy organizations showcase a way forward here in the U.S. It’s on all of us to communicate that one more life lost is a life too many — and to ultimately demand the infrastructure that we know saves lives.

Every year, PeopleForBikes advocates on behalf of the bike industry and bike riders across the country to support the construction of fun, safe, and connected places to ride that welcome more people to the joys of bicycling. 


From championing e-mobility lithium-ion battery safety, to mandating Complete Streets for improved road safety, to advancing the construction of bike infrastructure through climate legislation, PeopleForBikes successfully advocated for a multitude of policies at the state and local levels during the 2024 legislative session that will support bike businesses and riders of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds nationwide.

The safety of e-mobility lithium-ion batteries was a top priority for many states and communities across the U.S. this legislative session.

Following the guidance of PeopleForBikes and other industry experts, New York passed legislation to ensure the quality and safety of e-mobility products while maintaining accessibility to equitable transportation options. The legislation requires that e-bike and other e-mobility lithium-ion batteries be tested to standards that ensure the safety of the products the batteries power. It also enables the enforcement of products that do not meet these standards and contribute to unsafe conditions, including battery fires. 


Read more about this important legislation.

In June, the Chicago City Council committed to working with the bicycle industry and other stakeholders to amend a proposed battery safety ordinance to align with similar safety legislation in New York so individuals, retailers, and manufacturers can rely on consistent e-bike battery testing requirements across the country.

PeopleForBikes looks forward to continuing our work with states and municipalities across the country to promote uniform and effective battery testing regulations that ensure that e-bike batteries sold and used in the U.S. meet the highest safety standards.


PeopleForBikes recognizes the three-class system as the framework to categorize and regulate low-speed electric bicycles (e-bikes). Currently, 43 states officially recognize our model legislation. In 2024, Oregon and Rhode Island signed the three-class system into law. This system promotes a uniform definition of e-bikes across the country to mitigate confusion for riders, retailers, manufacturers, and regulators. 

PeopleForBikes will continue supporting the classification of electric bicycles as bicycles (not motorized vehicles) and will work with legislators to showcase the need for clear definitions and strong enforcement so that bicycles, and bicycling infrastructure, are protected. 


Out-of-Class Electric Vehicle Legislation 

Due to the constantly evolving range of electrically powered devices entering the marketplace and the growth of their use nationwide, PeopleForBikes led efforts to define products that exceed the speed and power limitations of the three-class system and federal law as out-of-class electric vehicles (OCEVs). 


Utah and Minnesota passed landmark OCEV legislation to promote safety and protect hard-won access for bicycles on state trails and paths. You can read more both here and here about why this legislation is so critical. 


PeopleForBikes will continue helping states and municipalities better define and enforce the difference between electric bicycles and overpowered, higher-speed, out-of-class electric vehicles (including electric dirt bikes) to protect the rights of bike riders across the country.

Cities and states nationwide continue to prioritize sustainable, equitable, and accessible forms of transportation through e-bike purchase incentives and rebate programs. This year, the Atlanta City Council approved a $1 million incentive for the purchase of e-bikes and the Bentonville City Council in Arkansas approved $2.25 million in grant funding for an e-bike rebate program.


With $20 million in funding approved in 2023, Portland City Council approved an implementation plan for the city’s e-bike incentive program set to launch in 2025. Michigan legislators also approved $2.95 million in funding for an e-bike purchase incentive program in their state budget to implement a statewide e-bike transportation incentive program. 

The 2024 legislative session included many recreation policy wins that PeopleForBikes helped secure to continue building momentum for eMTB access on natural surface trails. 

In Oregon and Colorado, PeopleForBikes supported the passage of recreational immunity bills that protect landowners from liability resulting from the use of their lands by other individuals for recreational purposes, including mountain biking.

The Tahoe National Forest prepared a Decision Notice/Finding of No Significant Impact (DN/FONSI) and final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Pines to Mines Trail Project. The project, totaling 72 miles of new, natural surface trails, will provide expanded recreation opportunities on National Forest System lands. It also authorizes the use of Class 1 electric mountain bikes (eMTBs) on all new and existing trails where traditional mountain bikes are already allowed within the project area.

A National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Assessment is also underway in the Tahoe National Forest, utilizing a forest-wide approach. This first-of-its-kind approach could yield historic results that allow entire forest districts to allow Class 1 eMTBs on natural surface trails, as opposed to laws differing by individual trail systems. 


Look out for more recreation and eMTB policy wins as we continue engagement with state and local land managers to open access for Class 1 eMTBs on multi-use singletrack trails in Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, and Utah. Additionally, PeopleForBikes is working on recreational trail access for mountain biking within the implementation of the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule. 


A lack of safe places to ride is one of the most significant barriers preventing Americans from biking. Dedicated funding streams for the construction of bike infrastructure creates more safe and connected places to bike, which in turn increases bicycling participation. The construction of bike infrastructure also contributes to other co-benefits, including positive public health outcomes, economic vitality, reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and transportation equity.  


As of July, PeopleForBikes has helped secure nearly $1.5 billion for the construction of bike infrastructure that increases safe places to ride bikes through our 2024 VoteForBikes campaign. With a potential $2 billion more on the November general election ballot, 2024 is shaping up to be a big year for bike infrastructure funding. Stay tuned for our post-election VoteForBikes recap to see how much funding PeopleForBikes helped secure for local communities across the country! 


In addition to our work advocating for bikes at the ballot box, PeopleForBikes supported additional legislation to fund bike infrastructure, including Minnesota’s Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund that invests more than $11 million in the expansion and enhancement of recreational trails, active transportation infrastructure, and mountain bike access across the state. 


Passing dedicated funding streams for bikes and bike infrastructure at the state and local levels is the most important policy priority for PeopleForBikes. We will continue paving the way for the construction of infrastructure that allows more people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds across the country to safely and efficiently travel around their communities and access more opportunities to ride a bike.


PeopleForBikes continues to advocate for legislation that reduces serious injuries, saves lives, and allows people to travel safely throughout their community with confidence. Reducing speed limits and actual vehicle speeds is one of the most effective ways to improve road safety and save lives.

After four years of hard work, PeopleForBikes was honored to support local advocates in New York as Governor Kathy Hochul signed Sammy’s Law into law in May. The new law allows New York City to implement a 20 mile per hour speed limit with additional 10 and 15 mile per hour zones. This legislation will dramatically increase safety for people walking and biking on roads with a high volume of motor vehicles. 


Michigan and Virginia also passed legislation that makes it easier for local municipalities to lower speed limits that are appropriate for the context and needs of those communities. 

We know that in addition to lower speed limits, safer road designs reduce motor vehicle speeds, one of the most significant causes of serious injuries and deaths on roads. As a result, Complete Streets mandates — which require the construction of bike infrastructure when roads are reconstructed or repaved — are one of the most effective policies communities can implement for improved road safety. Complete Streets also close gaps in transportation networks and enable all road users, regardless of their mode of transportation, to easily access places that they need to go. PeopleForBikes will continue to fight for legislation that mandates Complete Streets to promote safe and thriving communities. 

In March, voters in Los Angeles, California, one of the nation’s most car-centric cities, approved Measure HLA. This requires the implementation of the city’s Mobility Plan, including bike and pedestrian infrastructure when road construction or repaving occurs. PeopleForBikes endorsed this measure to increase transportation opportunities and accessibility, improve road safety, promote health, and reduce transportation-related GHG emissions. 


As part of historic legislation, Minnesota also strengthened the state’s Complete Streets policy by adding PeopleForBikes-supported amendments that require the integration of Complete Streets design principles and offer implementation guidance.

Advancing Bike Infrastructure Through Climate Legislation 

There is significant momentum across the country to fund active transportation infrastructure through climate legislation in order to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and GHG emissions. Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed an executive order establishing annual GHG and VMT reduction targets for his state’s transportation sector, requiring the Maryland Department of Transportation to implement a process for evaluating and reducing GHG emissions attributable to transportation projects, and investing in projects that reduce VMT and enhance transportation choices. 

Looking ahead to the 2025 legislative session, PeopleForBikes is actively involved in several local coalitions supporting climate legislation to curb transportation-related GHG emissions. Stay tuned for more bike infrastructure and climate legislation wins next year! 

There is already huge momentum for bikes and 2024 is not finished yet! At all levels of government and at the ballot box, PeopleForBikes is championing policies that create safer and more connected places to ride alongside supporting legislation that maintains safe, reliable, and quality products to get more people on bikes more often. 


You can help us achieve even more! By making a donation to PeopleForBikes, we can make an even greater impact in communities like yours all across the country. You can also sign up to receive our advocacy alerts to learn how you can support similar policy wins where you live.

PeopleForBikes’ 2024 Policy Wins Advance Bicycling Safety and Access Nationwide

If you’ve ever attended a town hall meeting to support a proposed bike lane or trail, or simply engaged in a lively discussion about one on Nextdoor, you know it can often be a pretty frustrating process. These days, when discussing anything that involves growth or change, there’s almost always a small, vocal contingent that relies on emotion to argue why something shouldn’t happen. You might know a new bike lane — or another proposed project, like a housing bill that indirectly affects bicycling — would be a good thing for your community, but without data or research to back up your argument, speaking up can feel like a lost cause. 

That’s where our new guide comes in. At PeopleForBikes, we spend our days firmly entrenched in the research and data that supports building better communities for bicycling. We developed this 15-point fact sheet to help counteract misconceptions that often arise when advocating for change, as well as to promote strategies we know work. Bookmark it, print it out, and email it to everyone you know — let this article support you in shifting the larger conversation around the power of bicycling.

This might feel like a given, but if Utah Senator Mitt Romney’s recent remarks are any indication, we’re not all on the same page about the climate benefits of getting more people on bikes. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation makes up 28% of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with 57% of those emissions coming from passenger vehicles. When we build more (and better) bike lanes, the environmental benefits are clear: higher bike ridership, less driving, and an overall reduction in emissions.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon found that “if even 10% of short car trips during peak afternoon travel were replaced with micromobility, more than 4,800 car trips would not happen, decreasing vehicle miles traveled by more than 7,300 miles a day.” While this would translate to a 2.76% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it would only be possible with “wide-scale bike lane deployment.” This study confirms similar findings from McGill University that spotlight bike infrastructure in Montreal, as well as research from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, which found new bike lanes lowered emissions in Guangzhou, China, and Bogota, Colombia.

According to another European study, if 10% of the population were to replace one car trip a day with a bike ride, overall carbon emissions from transportation would also drop 10%. Research done by Portland State University showed that if 15% of car trips were instead taken by electric bicycle, we could see a 12% decrease in transportation-related emissions. Add in the fact that bikes are one of the lowest carbon-emitting modes of transportation, and it's safe to say that any way you look at it, bicycling benefits the environment.

Ask most people why they don’t bike and they’ll likely name safety as a key concern. A nationwide survey from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities found that a whopping two-thirds of U.S. residents would be more likely to bike if they were separated from cars by a physical barrier. There is so much research that shows people will bike if cities build good infrastructure. Overall, the average protected bike lane sees bike counts increase 75% in its first year alone.

Notably, bicycling in Sevilla, Spain, increased 435% when the city added 86 miles of dedicated bike lanes. Even smaller transformations to include protected bike infrastructure can have a huge impact. After buffered bike lanes were installed on Philadelphia's Spruce and Pine streets, bike traffic increased 95%, while intersections in Montreal with protected bike lanes saw 61% more bike traffic than comparable intersections with no bike infrastructure. There’s also evidence that protected bike lanes are better for bike share.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a 2022 upgrade brought a two-way protected bike lane to a section of Garden Street, where before there had only been sharrows and door-zone bike lanes. The changes transformed the entire neighborhood: Bike mode-share nearly quadrupled and increased by more than 2%. Even accounting for seasonal dips in ridership, bicycling in the area increased more than sixfold since the separated bike lanes were built.

3. Yes, protected bike lanes are better than sharrows or standard bike lanes

As a rule of thumb, if something’s not going to be comfortable for people of all ages and abilities to ride, then don’t build it.

For decades, U.S. traffic engineers assumed that people on bikes could almost always share the road with cars. But a shoulder — even a striped bike lane — on a street with fast traffic isn’t an appealing place to bike for most people, especially women and less experienced riders. Putting a bike symbol in the middle of a busy thoroughfare does little to make it a place where parents feel comfortable riding with their children.

We now know, based on both U.S. and international experience, what kind of infrastructure designs give people of all ages and abilities the sense of safety, comfort, and enjoyment that makes them want to ride. This includes protected bike lanes, which are located next to the road and physically separated from traffic, as well as things like better lighting, traffic-calming barriers, and well-marked crosswalks. While sharrows might have a place in small towns or on low-stress streets, protected bike lanes should be the default for roadways with speeds above 25 mph or when vehicular volumes exceed 6,000 average daily traffic (ADT).

People living in bike-friendly communities tend to have better health outcomes due to increased physical activity, improved cardiovascular health, and reduced stress levels. A 2015 Columbia University study showed that New York City's $10 million investment in bike and pedestrian improvements resulted in an estimated societal health savings benefit of $230 million. Put another way, every $1,300 New York City invested in building bike lanes provided benefits equivalent to one additional year of life at full health over the lifetime of all city residents. 

According to the British Medical Journal, regular bicycling is associated with a 41% decrease in the risk of death from any cause, a 45% decrease in the risk of cancer, and a 46% decrease in the risk of heart disease. And the benefits don’t stop there: a PLOS Medicine study showed that people who began bicycling regularly after age 50 saw a 20% decrease in the risk of Type II Diabetes. 

5. Bikes lanes and trails are good for business

In response to proposed or newly built bike lanes, it seems like store owners often complain about reduced parking and customers lost. All of the evidence, however, points to the fact that installing protected bike routes tends to boost local shops. For example, after a hugely contested bike lane was installed on Skillman Avenue in Queens, New York, data shows that sales in the stores, bars, and restaurants on the seven-block commercial stretch collectively rose by 12%.

Other streets in New York have seen similar results: After the construction of a protected bike lane on 9th Avenue in Manhattan, local businesses saw a 49% increase in retail sales (on other streets in the borough, the average was only 3%) and a redesign of the city’s Union Square to include a protected bike lane resulted in 49% fewer commercial vacancies, compared to 5% more throughout Manhattan. And it’s not just in New York: In Salt Lake City's Broadway, replacing parking with protected bike lanes increased retail sales. 

There’s also evidence that customers who arrive at retail stores by bike spend the same amount per month compared to people who arrive by car — they tend to make smaller purchases but return more frequently. What’s more, neighborhoods that don’t require a car to move around are more economically resilient. Bike trails and greenways also benefit communities economically by attracting visitors, promoting job growth in tourism-related industries, and revitalizing communities through the "Trail Town" model and Trail-Oriented Development.

6. More bike infrastructure can benefit drivers, too

It’s important to remember that even if the infrastructure is perfect, not everyone will choose to bike. Die-hard drivers can still become bike advocates, however, especially when they realize that the more people ride bikes, the less car congestion there is. 

This was a key messaging point in Austin, where the city completed 115 miles of new bike lanes in just two years. By shifting traffic from cars to bikes and making it easier to reach transit stops, Austin's planned 400-mile protected bike lane network is projected to increase the city's traffic capacity by about 25,000 trips per day at about the same cost ratio as a single expressway widening.

In 2014, a New York City Department of Transportation (NYDOT) study found that after a six-foot buffered bike lane was installed on Columbus Avenue, car volumes were unaffected and that those cars moved 35% faster. According to an NYDOT statement, the “study found that on corridors with protected bike lanes traffic flow was maintained or improved on average because of the enhanced organization of the roadway.”

7. Protected bike lanes and reduced speeds save lives

Time and again, we see that when speed limits fall, safety rises. Because the likelihood of fatality increases exponentially with vehicle speed, even small reductions in speed limits can have an outsized effect. The Highway Safety Manual shows that deadly crashes can be decreased by 17% if speeds are reduced by just 1 mph, while a separate study from Sweden's Lund Institute of Technology found that a 10% reduction in average speed led to 34% fewer fatal crashes. (As an added bonus, there's evidence that lower speed limits improve air quality.)

A widely celebrated success story comes from Spain: When the speed limit on single-lane urban roads was lowered to 18.5 mph, road deaths fell by 14%. For cyclists, deaths were cut almost in half. This is good news as cities nationwide lower speed limits across the board, making streets safer for everyone. 

The even better news? Protected bike lanes reduce speeding and make streets safer for people walking, biking, and driving. After protected bike lanes were installed in New York City, injuries for all road users on those streets were reduced by 40-50%. Similarly, protected bike lanes in Montreal led to a 28% decrease in injuries. This 2019 study of twelve cities also found that protected bike lanes decrease fatalities for all road users. 

8. Bikes help reduce the cost of living and make cities more affordable

In 2021, U.S. households spent an average of $10,961 on transportation, making it the second largest household expense after housing. One in four U.S. adults suffers from transportation insecurity, a phenomenon that often has an inequitable impact on low-income families. Increasing access to low-cost modes of transportation like bikes — and safe places to ride them — effectively reduces this often-overlooked household expense and ensures communities remain affordable for everyone. The Housing and Transportation (H+T®) Affordability Index is a great tool to determine the neighborhood-level housing and transportation costs for your community. 

9. Housing policy and bike policy are intertwined

The right kind of housing policy can make our communities more bike-friendly. When we create transit-oriented neighborhoods, remove parking requirements, allow for more infill housing in existing urban areas, and permit the building of accessory dwelling units and multi-family housing, we naturally start to create places where destinations are closer together and people feel more comfortable biking.

The U.S. is in the midst of a severe housing crisis, forcing residents to live increasingly far away from important destinations. Adopting climate-friendly land use policies promotes a mix of land uses in close proximity to one another. When people’s homes are closer to their basic needs — jobs, grocery stores, schools, pharmacies, etc. — they’re more likely to ride a bike for daily trips. For those who drive, trips are considerably shorter.

10. Parking reform is key to building bike-friendly cities

The U.S. has about 2 billion parking spots, which translates to about seven parking spaces for every car. And parking is expensive for new developers to build — it can cost between $40,000 and $60,000 per parking space — increasing housing costs for everyone and taking valuable space away from development.

What’s more, fewer homes have led to a slew of other intersecting issues: a nationwide housing shortage, an increase in home prices, and growing inequity. Lower-income families who drive less and use transit more inevitably end up paying for infrastructure they don’t need while drivers are subsidized for their car use. 

When parking is required, buildings are forced to spread further and further apart, decreasing an area’s walkability and leading to urban sprawl, which swallows more and more land to sustain the same population. This in turn pushes people to drive more, upping greenhouse gas emissions, while the ensuing traffic makes it harder for everyone to get where they need to go. 

Essentially, this plethora of free car storage is at the root of a number of societal woes. A much better investment is a network of protected bike lanes and trails. Less parking means more proximity — since most people only want to bike one or two miles, the more destinations you have in that radius, the better a place becomes for bicycling. That’s only possible, however, if you’re not required to build big parking lots. Thus, parking reform is key to building bike-friendly cities.

While the federal government currently offers a federal tax credit for electric cars of up to $7,500, nothing similar exists for people buying an electric bike. With a lack of federal initiative, more and more states, counties, and cities across the country are taking matters into their own hands, creating e-bike incentive programs that are as varied in substance as they are geographically. While many programs are relatively new, the data is compelling. 

Launched in the spring of 2022, Denver’s incredibly popular e-bike incentive program has led to some notable results, including $1 million in cumulative annual savings for the city. Researchers also calculated that the program avoided considerable amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, with some 71% of survey respondents claiming to use their gas-powered vehicles less often (those surveyed rode their e-bikes an average of 26 miles per week, replacing 3.4 round trip vehicle trips). Importantly, 29% of Denver e-bike redeemers who completed the program survey indicated they were also new to riding.

12. Shared micromobility is a good investment for cities

Bike and scooter share, known collectively as shared micromobility, is a good investment for cities. When shared micromobility is done equitably, it can help alleviate transportation insecurity and lead to better public health, environmental, and economic outcomes. Unfortunately, not nearly enough municipalities treat shared micromobility as an integral part of their transit landscape or fund it accordingly. That’s a huge miss.

A 2021 study found that bike share systems are a boon for public health, saving the U.S. healthcare system more than $36 million a year on average. Another research paper from that same year looked at New York’s Citi Bike and found that the system — the largest in the U.S. — is a net win for the climate. In Britain, a more recent study found that if one-fifth of car trips were taken by shared electric bikes or scooters, the result would be a more than $1.2 billion boost to the economy.

On paper, many bicycle laws — such as those that require people to wear helmets, use bike lights, obtain a bike license or register their bikes — seem like a great idea. After all, helmets can protect our heads in the case of a crash, lights help bikers see and be seen, bike licenses can raise money for infrastructure, and bike registrations safeguard people against theft. At least that’s all true in theory. In reality, these laws are virtually unknown and rarely enforced. When they do get enforced, it’s usually to the detriment of Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) or those experiencing homelessness.

A report from Equitable Cities outlines how prevalent these transportation laws are in the U.S. In addition to the obvious trauma that can make even the most essential trip to the grocery store a fraught affair, these policies limit mobility, opportunity, and access for BIPOC. They also have implications beyond mobility, contributing to adverse social, political, economic, environmental, and health outcomes. There’s also evidence that repealing laws doesn’t have negative effects: A 2023 study also found that after a helmet law was abolished in Seattle, helmet use actually increased.

14. Bicycling is really good for our youth

There are obvious reasons why any bike advocate would want to see more kids on bikes, including the fact that youth are our cities’ future riders and the next generation of community leaders. What’s less often talked about are the holistic health benefits bicycling offers our children. Aside from the obvious physical benefits of increased activity, youths who engage in regular physical activity report fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, have higher self-esteem, and also perform better academically than kids who are inactive. Additionally, Outride’s “Riding for Friends, Fun, and Fitness” report highlights how youth who ride regularly report higher levels of mental well-being and spend fewer hours in front of screens. 

Don’t always focus on bikes — in fact, if you can manage it, your messaging should focus on the benefits to everyone rather than just people riding bikes. This may seem antithetical to the goal of getting more people riding but research bears out this messaging strategy. Make a point to talk about how bicycling infrastructure improves the lives of all, whether or not people choose to bike, by increasing opportunity, relieving congestion, and growing the economy through recreation improvements. 

When discussing bicycle infrastructure, dwell less on the cyclists and instead focus on how infrastructure can help make streets safer for everyone, benefit people’s health, and provide crucial transportation access to jobs and essential services. Your messaging around bikes should always focus on bringing people together and turning drivers into supporters. 

As the leaders in the fight for building better communities, the responsibility for messaging falls on us. To win over diverse groups and achieve a bike-forward agenda, we need to shift the conversation.

People for Bikes

Building Safe Mobility Networks

Assisting Cities and States to Create Long-Term Bike and Pedestrian Network Plans, Faster

Measuring the Effectiveness of Safe Mobility Networks

Creating New Funding Mechanisms for Bike Networks

Developing Programs That Fund Bike Plans to Mitigate Carbon Emissions

Improve Messaging Around What Bike Networks Are and Why They’re Important

People for Bikes