Nine senior transportation leaders and policy makers from Pittsburgh, PA and Columbus, OH are visiting Minneapolis this week, studying the city’s success in creating some of the country’s most appealing, safe, and accessible bicycling facilities.

The delegates are attending a workshop hosted by the Bikes Belong Foundation. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and other local officials are helping to lead the event, which showcases the city as a national leader in bicycle transportation engineering, promotion, and policy.

Minneapolis was recently declared the best city in America for bicycling by Bicycling Magazine: five percent of all trips in the city are made by bicycle. Workshop participants are gaining an insider’s perspective on how Minneapolis has leveraged modest investments in bicycling to address diverse urban challenges such as economic development, road maintenance and parking costs, public health, traffic congestion, and quality of life.

“We have one overarching goal for the workshop: for the delegates to return home inspired and equipped with replicable, effective ideas for improving livability and mobility in their cities,” said Bikes Belong vice president Bruno Maier, who is on the trip.

This workshop location is particularly relevant because Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Columbus have much in common: all are large cities with cold winters, rich manufacturing traditions, and recent increases in bicycle use.

Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), Park Tool, and Twin Cities retailers are assisting to make the event a success.

The Bikes Belong Foundation leads these transportation workshops through its Bicycling Design Best Practices Program, launched in 2009. This is the third domestic event for the program – the first two were in Boulder, CO and Portland, OR in 2010. Another workshop is planned for New York City this fall. The program also hosts study tours internationally to bring home the best that European cities have to teach U.S. transportation officials. Learn more at bikesbelong.org/bestpractices.