Silver Bicycle Friendly Community in 2021
Colorado Springs has been recertified by the League of American Bicyclists as a Silver Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC)!
In February, Colorado Springs applied for the League of American Bicyclists’ prestigious Bicycle Friendly Community award. It has long been a goal of our city to be a recognized leader for the work our transportation professionals and local citizens have put in over the years to make our community more accessible by bike. Today, we’re proud to be part of the nearly 500 communities across the United States that are transforming America one Bicycle Friendly Community at a time.
“Biking in America has shown great resilience in light of trying times and it’s so important that communities like Colorado Springs have laid the groundwork over several years to make biking a safe, accessible option for all. As so many Americans have turned to biking as a fun way to get outdoors and as a necessary transportation option, we must keep the momentum to build a Bicycle Friendly America for ever
yone going,” said Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “This Bicycle Friendly Community award is the culmination of years of work put in by Colorado Springs and its citizen advocates for better biking. This award round, Colorado Springs joins 37 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Communities in the movement toward healthier, more sustainable and connected places. As we progress through 2021, we’re proud that Colorado Springs and communities like it are pedaling alongside us to power this movement.”
People across our community are biking more than ever, for commuting to essential jobs, trips to the store, and for recreation. The Silver BFC award recognizes the commitment Colorado Springs has made to improve conditions for all people who bike through investments in bike education programs, bike events that promote and encourage people to choose biking, pro-bike policies, and bike infrastructure. We can’t wait for future events where we can all celebrate this award and our achievements for building a better community together.
Learn more about the League’s Bicycle Friendly Community program at bikeleague.org/community.
Thank you for supporting safer bicycling in Colorado Springs, and while we have made a lot of progress over the last 4 years we still have a lot of room for improvement.
If you want to help make our city a safer place to ride please consider becoming a Bike Colorado Springs member and helping to fund the efforts we have underway to make our city a better place to ride a bike.
Bicycle Friendly Community Scorecard
At Bike Colorado Springs we are excited that we have retained our Silver Bicycle Friendly Community status but we recognize that there is still significant work need for Colorado Springs to become a place where anybody is comfortable riding a bike.
Looking at the Community Score card or Category scores have increased across the board from our 2017 rating.
Our city’s Engineering score showing the connectivity of our bicycle network improve to 5.21 out of 10 from 3 out of 10 in 2017 showing that effort the city has put into improving our bicycle infrastructure over the last four years. Two other measures, rating the mainstream adoption of bicycling and Setting targets and having a plan also increased. Colorado Springs encouragement score improve from 5 out of 10 to 6.7 out of 10 and our Evaluation & Planning score improved to 4.91 out of 10 from 4 in 2017.
Even with all these improvements Colorado Springs has seen a sharp decrease in the level of safety.
With bicycle ridership in our community staying basically flat (Pre-Covid data) it is concerning to see both crashes and fatalities increase from 2017 numbers. The League of American Bicyclists says that an average Gold level City sees 287 Crashes per 10k bicycle commuters, yet in Colorado Springs Crashes increased from 439 to 664.36 per 10k bicycle commuters. Similarly Colorado Springs saw our bicyclist fatalities increase from 4 per 10k bicycle commuters to 20.72 per 10k bicycle commuters in 2021, well above the 2.2 fatalities per 10k of the average Gold Level city.
Below are the League’s Key Steps to becoming a Gold Bicycle Friendly City
» Bike Masterplan Implementation
Congratulations on the adoption of the 2018 Bicycle Master Plan! This plan will be a blueprint for improvements and has many great recommendations for a more connected network of safe and comfortable bicycle facilities.
Continue to focus on implementing to new bike plan and to expand and improve low-stress on-road bike network. Ensure that your community follows the plan’s bicycle facility selection criteria that increases separation and protection of bicyclists based on levels of motor vehicle speed and volume, to maximize safety and comfort for bicyclists of all ages and abilities. This means identifying gaps and adding new facilities that complete and expand the bicycle network, as well as upgrading existing bike lanes into protected bike lanes by adding physical barriers that improve safety and accessibility for all ages and abilities.
»Bicycle Parking
Continue to increase the amount of high quality bicycle parking throughout the community, and to upgrade the quality of existing bike parking to meet APBP standards. Adopt a bike parking ordinance for new and existing buildings that specifies the amount and location of secure, convenient bike parking available. Develop community-wide Bicycle Parking Standards that adhere to current APBP guidelines (see www.apbp.org/bicycle-parking-solutions). Conduct a bike parking study or audit to determine current conditions of bike parking, both in terms of quality and quantity.
See our Bike Parking Guide here
Bike Parking
For Bicycles to be accepted as a tool for transportation to appeal to more members of our community, bicycle parking needs to be easy, convenient, secure, and functional. Learn how to park, where to park, and the best type…
»Bicycle Education
Expand bicycle safety education to be a routine part of education for students of all ages, and ensure that schools and the surrounding neighborhoods are particularly safe and convenient for biking and walking. Work with the school district, local bicycle groups, and interested parents to create Safe Routes to School programming for all K-12 schools.
Learn more about our Bicycle Education Program here
Education
The Education committee teaches people how to access and safely use our bicycle network as well as teaching drivers how to interact with bicyclists and bicycle infrastructure throughout the Pikes Peak region.…
»Bike Commuter Support Program
Develop a community-wide trip reduction ordinance/program, commuter incentive program, and a Guaranteed Ride Home program to encourage and support bike commuters in Colorado Springs.
»Vision Zero
Adopt a comprehensive road safety plan or a Vision Zero policy to identify specific strategies to reduce traffic crashes and deaths for all road users, including bicyclists and pedestrians. Road diets, lane diets, and traffic calming treatments are important engineering components for addressing safety.
