REI/Bicycle Friendly Communities Grant Program

The REI Bicycle Friendly Communities Grant Program—administered by the Bikes Belong Foundation in partnership with the League of American Bicyclists—supports designated and aspiring Bicycle Friendly Communities that are demonstrating success, employing creative strategies, and showing marked advancements in becoming more bicycle friendly.

One of the goals of the REI/BFC Grant Program is to help aspiring cities to experience—and designated cities to maintain—the significant momentum generated by the BFC application process. The 2009 REI/BFC Grant recipients will also receive technical assistance from the League to help them prioritize and reach their bike-friendly goals.

This is not an open application. Advocacy organizations are invited to apply by the REI/BFC review committee.

January 2008 Awards

Transportation Alternatives (TA) will use their award to support a comprehensive citywide bike parking initiative designed to increase bike transportation in New York by giving cyclists safe, convenient places to park and store their bicycles. TA will conduct advocacy work for "parking spot swaps" and legislation mandating bicycle access to commercial buildings. The grant will also back a bike-rack design competition organized by the NYC Department of Transportation, TA, and city art museums.

Chicagoland Bicycle Federation will use their funding to produce the first of a series of Sunday Parkways events in Chicago, modeled after Ciclovia in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Bogotá, Columbia. With a goal of "transforming communities by invigorating their lifelines—their streets—every weekend from June through October," Sunday Parkways promises to dramatically increase ridership in the city of Chicago by creating a car-free community celebration that other U.S. cities can adopt.

June 2008 Awards

Colorado Springs, Colorado
The City of Colorado Springs, a silver-level BFC, received $15,000 to conduct a community survey that will help determine key bicycling needs and attitudes in the city. The results will help city planners develop a detailed Bicycling Encouragement Plan for implementation in 2009.

Madison, Wisconsin
The City of Madison, a gold-level BFC, is using a $15,000 award to conduct a similar initiative. Their survey results will help the city rank and prioritize bike projects in their Platinum Plan, helping them advance toward their ambitious goal of "making Madison the best place in the country to bicycle."

New Haven, Connecticut
The City of New Haven received honorable mention in the last BFC round. Their $10,000 grant is helping develop and implement a plan to improve bike safety, access, and parking in downtown New Haven, particularly targeting the Union Station area. This is the first step in their vision of a fully equipped bike station at the transit center.

Flint, Michigan
The Safe and Active Flint Coalition received $5,000 to improve bike safety and awareness through a Sharrow program. Flint received honorable mention in the last BFC round. They identified Sharrows—pavement markings encouraging cars and bicycles to share the road—as key to marking the first designated bike routes in the city.

New Orleans, Louisiana
The Metro Bicycle Coalition received $5,000 to help launch New Orleans' first bicycle event since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area in 2005. The community ride will promote bicycling and bike commuting while continuing to build momentum for bike facilities in the Unified New Orleans plan—a city-wide post-Katrina planning process. New Orleans received honorable mention in the last BFC round for its commitment to including bicycling in its infrastructure improvements.

March 2009 Awards

BikeDenver—Denver, Colorado
BikeDenver is helping its home city, currently a Bronze-level BFC, to reach Silver status. Through participation on the Denver Bike Initiative committees, they'll help the city to implement a bike-share program and improve city infrastructure and policies related to cycling. BikeDenver plans to work with their state group, Bicycle Colorado, to help update the Colorado DMV manuals and tests to include bike-specific information and questions—a key enforcement initiative. They'll also encourage more people to participate in Bike to Work Day through their Bike Pool program, and expand their successful Bike Valet at major events this year.

LivableStreets Alliance—Boston, Massachusetts
LivableStreets Alliance is working with Mayor Menino's Boston Bikes Program on key initiatives that will help the city establish policies for safe street design and expand infrastructure for bicycling. They are providing technical assistance and facilitating community involvement to help Boston develop its Bicycle Network Plan, and working to ensure improved bicycle access on the many bridges over the Charles River that are about to undergo reconstruction. In the short term, LivableStreets is working to ensure that proposed stimulus funding for bike parking at transit stations will be spent quickly and efficiently on secure, well-designed bike storage solutions. These important goals will further LivableStreet's mission of working systematically to help Boston become a Bicycle Friendly Community.

Bike Pittsburgh—Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Bike Pittsburgh is tackling education and encouragement through public outreach by developing a local Bicycle Friendly Employers Program and expanding the popular Pittsburgh BikeFest—an annual 10-day event that celebrates cycling in the city—to include a criterium race and ciclovia event. They're also funding the reprint of Pittsburgh's famous bike map this year. The group is forging a strong relationship with Pittsburgh's new bike-ped coordinator, and will serve as a principal advisor on the soon-to-be updated Citywide Bike Plan and cycling investment strategy.

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition—Atlanta, Georgia
The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC) is working with the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia's Department of Transportation to enact Complete Streets policies and guide bicycle facility design. They're also helping to increase awareness through Bike Month and Bike to Work Week participation programs. ABC's unique approach to enforcement combines enacting new legislation and partnering with the police department to plan targeted-enforcement "stings" and update crash reporting and investigative techniques. Best practices from their enforcement work will serve as good models for other communities.

San Diego County Bicycle Coalition—San Diego, California
The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition is focusing on education and encouragement to promote bicycling in their city. Through public outreach and awareness as well a new social marketing campaign, modeled after successful programs in Chicago and Portland, they hope to get more people to use the excellent infrastructure that already exists in San Diego—and make the case for more bike facilities that will bridge existing gaps in the network. Evaluation of these measures is a key element of their plan and will help other cities adopt successful strategies to increase ridership.