Bicycle Friendly Communities

Austin, TX | Silver Level

Education: Austin offers great education programs for adults and children, as well as weekly Road I courses. The City of Austin’s Municipal Court mandates the LCI motorist course to motorists cited for illegal behavior toward cyclists. The Yellow Bike Project partners with schools in low income areas to provide after school programs focused on bicycle maintenance and promotion. Children learn to work on and build bikes; they build a bike they get to keep at the end of the program.

Encouragement: This city is home to a large community of cyclists and four associations that encourage and promote bicycling year round: Austin Cycling Association, Austin Ridge Riders, Austin Flyers, and Team Hotel San Jose. In January 2007, the mayor initiated a bicyclist safety task force (named the Street Smarts Task Force) to encourage/promote bicycling and educate bicyclist and motorist to create a more harmonious existence between the two.

Enforcement: Austin’s bicycle hotline, established in the early 1990s, has evolved into a sophisticated customer service response system. All bicycle requests for maintenance are responded to within 24 hours.

Engineering: Austin has a policy to accommodate cyclists on all new road projects. The city’s November 2006 General Bond Election included $2 million in bicycle specific funding, and the Texas Department of Transportation plans to dedicate an existing roadway/bridge facility to a bicycle/pedestrian-only bridge to be owned and maintained by the city, as part of the Lance Armstrong Bikeway. Austin has, in the past three years, reduced motor vehicle lanes on roadways to install bicycle lanes. Almost 4 percent of Austin’s residents commute to work by bicycle.