Bicycle Friendly State

Our Evaluation & Planning category showed the second best improvement of any Bicycle Friendly State category this year. This looks at how states plan to accommodate and protect bicyclists. To have good plans and ensure that they are working this category also looks at measurables – such as bicycle commuting rates and bicycle fatalities. This year, we saw a lot of improvement among states that scored either a 1 or a 2 in this category last year. Hopefully this means that these states are putting plans in place to increase cycling rates and decrease cycling-related fatalities, and that we will be reporting on those successes in the future.

Every year the Bicycle Friendly State ranking collects information and grades states on the laws that govern bicyclists and motorists. Many of the questions in this category are on basic laws and states tend to do well on those basic questions. These questions allow us to provide up-to-date information on state laws throughout the nation. We also try to recognize trends in laws due to local advocacy and reward states that are pushing the envelope when it comes to providing legal protection for cyclists.

The simple answer is “yes,” there are lots of great places to ride in Washington State and it is indeed the most Bicycle Friendly State for the sixth straight year. At the same time, every state has great places to ride and I certainly wouldn’t discourage you from riding in Montana or Alabama, which ended up at the bottom of the rankings this year.