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Bicycles are here to stay as part of our transportation system. While MAP-21 reorganizes and reduces funding opportunities, advocates and agency staff will need to look beyond Transportation Alternatives. This may be the Highway Safety Improvement Program, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, Surface Transportation Program, or a number of other federal and state sources. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the FY2012 grant recipients for their Bus Livability grant program. Highlighting the importance of connecting bicycles and transit, many of the approved projects include a bicycle component. At the same time, states are recognizing and funding important bicycle programs and projects. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley recently announced 28 Bikeways Program Grants, part of his Cycle Maryland initiative. The grant winning projects include on and off-road bicycle route connections, bike route signage, bike racks and safety improvements. Salisbury, a recent host of a Bicycle Friendly Communities workshop, received funding to complete their downtown bicycle lanes project (way to go bike-SBY!). Baltimore will be using the grant to install a downtown cycletrack. Click here for a complete list of projects. As these two programs show, there are funds available for bicycles, but not always in the first place you look. Advocates and agency staff will need to be creative and tenacious in finding sources and getting projects funded. The Advocacy Advance team is always here to answer questions, brainstorm ideas, and help get your projects funded.

From 2000 to 2010, bicycle commuting rose 40 percent in the U.S. But, in the 38 largest BFCs, the rise in bike commuters was almost double the national rate, growing a staggering 77 percent over the same time period. Cities like Portland, Ore.; Boulder, Colo; Davis, Calif., and other leading BFCs are almost ready to join the ranks of world-class bike communities - and the League has been working with BFC representatives to envision a higher standard that challenges and charts new heights for bicycle-friendliness in the United States. "If it sounds like we are moving the goalposts, it's because we are," says Andy Clarke, League President. "Communities are doing so much more, and the state of the practice in innovative infrastructure and programs has developed so rapidly in recent years, that it really is time to challenge communities to do even more to make biking better." Attaining Diamond designation will involve an individualized challenge tailored to each community. The League will conduct a detailed audit for each city and work with community leaders to create clear 5-, 10- and 15-year goals for important factors like bicycle mode share, land use, crashes, network connectivity and bike culture. The primary measure to Diamond designation: The number of people riding and citizen satisfaction. Cities will delve into a more detail evaluation of ridership and level of service, using standard methods of measure like the American Community Survey and National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project, but also more challenging and broader tools such as Copenhagen's Bicycle Account. The end goal: American communities that rival top international cycling cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam with world-class facilities, like protected bike lanes - and so much more. "In Portland, bikes mean business," says Tom Miller, Director of the Portland (Ore.) Bureau of Transportation. "Our commitment to bike-friendly streets has helped to attract a wealt

When it comes to walking, many businesses understand pretty intuitively the value of fostering good foot traffic - the ones that are surviving, anyway. With bicycling, however, a lot of business owners and political decision-makers just don't get it at all. When Elly Blue wrote "Why an additional road tax for bicyclists would be unfair," which was later followed by a series of posts on Grist under the banner of bikenomics, I started to view bicycling under a completely different lens. This view and emphasis on economics has influenced my own writing and advocacy ever since. Elly Blue (left) & April Economides (right) At Pro Walk-Pro Bike April Economides, principle of Green Octopus Consulting, who headed up the program to create bicycling friendly business districts in Long Beach, is another voice in the bike movement who has been emphasizing economics. She was recently hired by Bike Nation to manage their bike share program proposed in Long Beach. Blue and Economides got together for the first time for a presentation at Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike titled "Bikenomics & the Business Case for Bike-Friendly Business Districts". Their presentations complimented each other very well, with Blue setting up some of the conceptual framework for why looking at the economics of bicycling is important, while Economides outlined the nuts and bolts of the outreach and programs done so far in Long Beach. April encouraged people early on in her talk "to engage the business community; we can't just preach to the choir". Some of the most well known aspects of the Long Beach bicycle-friendly business districts are the discounts participating businesses offer for those arriving on bike, and the themed bike racks selected by and installed for businesses. Each business district also received its own cargo bike to be used by businesses for whatever use they may find for them. Given the difficulty of finding places to either buy or rent such utilitarian bicycles throughout most

We've sourced second-hand, upright bicycles directly from Japan to recycle and get them onto New Zealand roads, just as Kiwis have been doing with used cars for the past few decades. Our bicycles have been carefully rebuilt, and, with sturdy steel frames and simple no-nonsense components, chances are they'll outlast most cars on the road. Not only are our Mamacharis practical and environmentally friendly transport alternatives, we also think they're things of beauty. We're well aware that not everyone aspires to the lycra-clad image - embrace your right to cycle in style! Our bicycles are not sports-machines but rather a chic way of getting about your daily life, suit, skirt, heels and all. classic bicycle design used by most societies in the world today has remained relatively unchanged since the 1920s. The upright, step-through bicycle with a basket, bell and full mudguards and chainguards continues to transport millions of commuters with little fuss or cost, whether rich or poor.

They have been working on becoming bicycle and pedestrian friendly for 20 years. 15% of their road funds go to pedestrian and bicycling projects. A transportation system is not complete without bicycle and pedestrian elements. These travel options provide essential connections to the region's transit system and are particularly important to create walkable communities. A strong bicycle and pedestrian program gives Central Floridians an option for travel beyond one person in one vehicle. It creates a community where it is possible to live, work, and play in the same area.

Madison Avenue is a small part of a much broader network of planned designated bicycle lanes in Memphis, TN. Yet plans to implement designated bicycle lanes have been met with opposition, largely through the prevalence of widespread misinformation. This site seeks to clear up any ambiguities that may exist about the benefits of bicycle lanes as they specifically relate to Madison Avenue. Last summer, Mayor AC Wharton committed to the construction of 55 miles of bicycle lanes in the City of Memphis over the next two years. You can see his release here: Giving Memphis the Bike-Friendly City You Deserve After a public meeting and a period of public input, the City of Memphis Bikeway/Pedestrian Coordinator recently submitted a formal recommendation to Mayor AC Wharton that bike lanes be striped on Madison. See his full recommendation here: Bikeway/Pedestrian Coordinator's Formal Recommendation to the Mayor

Here are some ideas of how park and ride or carpool lots could be catapulted into the 21st century, attract more users, promote healthier lifestyles, and offer more intermodal connections. Additional suggestions are always welcome. Add bicycle parking racks (preferably covered) and bicycle lockers. Even if one cannot bike commute the entire distance to work, adding bike parking racks and lockers to carpool lots allows cyclists to ride part of the way and then safely secure their bicycles. Whenever possible, locate the park and ride lots along or near mass transit routes. Add EV (electric vehicle) charging stations. These lots are perfect place to re-charge your EV while carpooling. Provide shelters for those who are waiting for their carpool group or for mass transit. No need to get drenched when you don't have too. Add some landscaping. Let's show some community pride by making them attractive amenities instead of simply another sea of asphalt and/or stone. Security lighting that is also dark-sky friendly. There is no need to light up the entire interchange (or neighboring homes) when properly installed and designed lighting can accomplish the job and be environmentally friendly. Lease some space to car-sharing organizations like ZipCar and donate space to local, non-profit bike-sharing programs if they exist. This would produce some income for maintenance of the carpool lot and provide a greater range of intermodal services. Include an area for taxis to pick up and drop off people. Include emergency phones.

But when Atomic Object put a single bike rack outside its Grand Rapids office, "all of a sudden, there were more bikes than could be secured, so we added another," said Mary O'Neill, business manager of the Grand Rapids-based software development company, which also has an office in Detroit. "Then we realized there were people who wanted to bike in all seasons of the year, so we looked at a place to store bikes inside," O'Neill said. Despite humble Census numbers, more employers in Grand Rapids may be pushed by their workers to follow Atomic Object's lead as the city government works to become more bicycle-friendly and encourage more people to pedal to work. Grand Rapids officials - believing that if they build it, people will pedal - are putting together a 100-mile urban bike network. City officials would like to see 2 percent of the workforce riding bikes to work and dream of being a bicycling mecca like Ann Arbor. In that city, nearly 5 percent of the workforce - or 2,782 of the 56,646 working adults, according to the 2011 Census report - get to work on bikes, the highest percentage of bicycle commuters in Michigan.

Article originally published on 19 November 2007. Revised November 2015. Over the years we have realised that a large part of our work at Copenhagenize Design Co. in working towards bicycle-friendly cities is the simple art of mythbusting. While time-consuming and often frustrating, it still appears to a necessary part of the dialogue around the world.

As acceptance of the bicycle lifestyle gains traction throughout North America, business owners and entrepreneurs of all stripes are hard at work entrenching bike-friendliness into their business models. Why? Quite simply, it's a smart business move.

This is a list of sites across the US for bicycle friendly benefits

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified the positive impact of making cities more bike-friendly: "integrating health-enhancing choices into transportation policy has the potential to save lives by preventing chronic diseases, reducing and preventing motor-vehicle-related injury and deaths, improving environmental health, while stimulating economic development, and ensuring access for all people." The CDC also recognized that a lack of efficient transportation alternatives to driving and a fear of biking in heavy traffic only encouraged people to continue to drive all or most of the time.

You knew bicycling was good for your health and good for the planet, but did you know it was good for your business as well? It seems every day there's more research confirming that people who bike to work are happier, more productive, and take fewer sick days.