Bicycle Friendly Communities

The Bicycle Friendly Community program provides incentives, hands-on assistance and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling through a combination of infrastructure, programs and policies. There are currently 24 Bicycle Friendly Communities in the League of American Bicyclists Award Database for Wisconsin:

• Platinum: Madison
• Silver: Appleton, Fitchburg, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Shorewood, Stevens Point
• Bronze: Dane County, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Janesville, Kenosha County, Menasha, Menomonie, Middleton, Monona, Onalaska, River Falls, Sheboygan, Sheboygan County, Sturgeon Bay, Sun Prairie, Verona, Wausau MPO

People on bicycles are an indicator species for vibrant, economically healthy communities where people want to live, work, do business and visit. Investments in bicycling yield tremendously high returns at a very small cost. Bicycling is such a cost-effective, simple solution for so many of today’s complicated problems, it’s no wonder communities across the state are working to make themselves more bicycle friendly.

Get started in applying for a Bicycle Friendly Community Award!

• Begin by downloading and reading the Bicycle Friendly Community Overview.
• Take a few minutes to evaluate your community with this quick Bicycle Friendly Community Scorecard.
• Visit the League’s Application Portal. Please note the Bicycle Friendly Community application process is on hold until Fall 2022 when you may begin to the fill out the online application. The process will require some research into demographics and infrastructure to complete.
• Plan your strategy for pitching bicycle-friendly improvements.
• Gather support.
• Call your government official and request a meeting.
• Ask for something specific and try to get a specific commitment. A good starting point is to ask if the person will submit the application for Bicycle Friendly Community status.
• Follow up and follow up (and follow up).
• Consider hiring the Bike Fed to create and submit your application – We have a proven track record of procuring designations including Madison’s recent Platinum Status

The Five E’s of the League of American Bicyclists ranking assessment:

• ENGINEERING – Bike lanes, bike routes, trails, bike parking, etc.
• EDUCATION – Availability of cycling education, safety materials, Safe Routes to School programs and number of League cycling instructors
• ENCOURAGEMENT – Bike to Work Week events, Bike Challenge participation, printed materials such as maps and brochures, fun events like Tour de Fat, etc.
• EVALUATION and PLANNING – Community Bike Plan, annual bike counts, evaluation of crash data, mode share, etc.
• EQUITY – while not an official “E”,  equity is an important consideration, and is the recognition that recognize that youth, women and people of color are underrepresented in many bike advocacy efforts and local transportation decisions.