Last week, the League of American Bicyclists honored 10 new communities with the prestigious Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) designation. Nineteen additional communities renewed their designations. Bikes Belong is a lead sponsor of the Bicycle Friendly Community program, which recognizes cities that support bicycling and works to replicate their successes.

This was the biggest application cycle to date—51 communities applied for the designation. The program awarded one gold, one silver, and eight bronze communities in this round. Renewing community Boulder, Colorado, advanced to platinum, joining Portland, Oregon, and Davis, California, as the only cities in the U.S. to have earned this top designation.

“We are tremendously excited by the results of the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Community designations,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists. “Not only has Boulder broken through to the platinum level but four great bicycling communities—Fort Collins, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; Jackson, Wyoming; and Stanford University, California—received the gold designation. Each community has high levels of bicycle use and has demonstrated a commitment to improving conditions for all types of cyclist from the student and avid mountain biker to the casual visitor and everyday commuter.”

All BFCs enjoy quality of life benefits to which many other communities aspire. The BFC program is providing a helpful road map for communities to make that transition.

New Communities
Gold
Seattle, Washington

Silver
Wood River Valley, Idaho

Bronze
Arvada, Colorado
Billings, Montana
Claremont, California
Columbia, South Carolina
Oceanside, California
Roseville, California
Salem, Oregon
Thousand Oaks, California

The League awards this four-year designation to communities that have made impressive, measurable efforts to integrate bicyclists into the community. There are four levels—platinum, gold, silver, and bronze—awarded twice each year.

“Boulder well deserves the platinum designation,” said Clarke, “because they are actually delivering the quality of life benefits to which so many other communities aspire. The number of single occupant vehicles is falling; bike use, walking and transit is increasing. People can get almost everywhere in town by bike—and it’s a normal thing to do.

“The city isn’t perfect, however. Bicycle use is still low by comparison to equivalent cities in Europe, and there are still clear needs for improved infrastructure and better access to mountain biking in the city. The really great news we can share with you today is that Boulder is categorically not stopping at platinum! The mayor, city council, city manager, and the entire Boulder bicycling community is committed to making those improvements and being a world class city for bicyclists.”

The Bicycle Friendly Communities program was initiated in 2003 and has received applications from more than 245 communities. There are now 96 awarded communities in 32 states. The program is generously supported by Trek's One World Two Wheels program and Bikes Belong. For the complete list of Bicycle Friendly Communities and more information on the program, click here.