Community FAQ & Resources

• Log in to access the online BFC application here
• Download the latest Word version of the BFC application here (For informational purposes only -- applications must be submitted through the online form)
• Find local League Cycling Instructors, League affiliated clubs, bike shops and organizations
• Existing awardees: Find your current award level and BFC Report Card on the BFA Awards Map

• Action Plan for Bicycle Friendly Communities charter

• USDOT Secretary Anthony Foxx's Action Plan on Bike and Pedestrian Safety
• USDOT's Safer People, Safer Streets - Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Initiative
• FHWA' memorandum to support taking a flexible approach to pedestrian and bicycle facility design. The memorandum recognizes the AASHTO Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities, AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, ITE Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares document, and the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide as resources to inform the design of safe, comfortable, and context-sensitive pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
• FHWA reports on bicycle networks: Delivering Safe, Comfortable, and Connected Pedestrian and Bicycle Networks - A Review of International Practices and Case Studies in Delivering Safe, Comfortable, and Connected Pedestrian and Bicycle Networks
• Information on the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act
• FHWA report: Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding, Design and Environmental Review: Addressing Common Misconceptions
• Guide for using policy to build Bicycle Friendly Communities
• IBPI's Guide to Creating Walkable and Bikeable Communities
• FHWA Works: How the Federal Highway Administration Makes Walking and Bicycling Safer (Video)
• Research Article: Evidence on Why Bicycle-Friendly Cities Are Safer for All Road Users

Benefits of being a Bicycle Friendly Community

• Economic Impacts of Bicycling in the US (infographic and report)
• Smart Growth America's report: Safer Streets, Stronger Economies
• Michigan DOT's Grand Rapid's Case Study - Community and Economic Benefits of Bicycling
• Protected Bike Lanes Mean Business
• A collection of studies and other resources on the economic benefits of bicycling 
• Improving Conditions for Bicycling and Walking - A best practices report listing outstanding projects that communities have undertaken
• The health risks and benefits of cycling in urban environments compared with car use: health impact assessment study
• 10 lessons from the world's great biking cities
• Bloomington, IN, Platinum Bicycle Task Force Final Report: Breaking Away: Journey to Platinum
• 17 infographics about bicycling, including How Bikes Can Save Us and Bicycling in the United States
• Infographic on American's Support for Funding Sidewalks and Bike Lanes
• European Cycling Lexicon for bicycling terms in 27 languages

General Resources: 

• UN Press Release: Bicycles as driver of post-COVID-19 ‘green recovery’
• PBIC: Local Actions to Support Walking and Cycling During Social Distancing Dataset
  
• The Untokening: Mobility Justice and COVID-19
  
  

Biking & COVID-19 in the News

• CityLab: In a Global Health Emergency, the Bicycle Shines (3/25/20)
• WRI: Biking Provides a Critical Lifeline During the Coronavirus Crisis (4/17/20)
• The Guardian: Cycling 'explosion': coronavirus fuels surge in US bike ridership (5/13/20)
  
  

Rapid Response & Implementation

• NACTO's COVID-19: Transportation Response Center
  
  

Remote Education & Encouragement Resources

• Be a Bike Ambassador During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Back to School 2020: Recommendations for Safe Routes to School Programming
• COVID-19 Resources from Safe Routes National Partnership
• National Bike Challenge
• Smart Cycling videos
• BikeMN: Walk! Bike! Fun! At Home Distance Learning Resources
• Get to Know Bicycle Basics with Ayesha McGowan
• May 2020 is STILL Bike Month 
  
  

Outreach and Engagement

• Principles For Equitable Public Outreach & Engagement During Covid-19 and Beyond
  
  

Youth/Schools Engagement

• Safe Routes Partnership: Back to School 2020 Programming Guide
  
• Discover Traffic Gardens: Fun at Home
  
  

Bike Counts during the Pandemic

• Eco-Counter's COVID-19 Dashboard: Understand the impact of the pandemic on cycling
• Temporary and pop-up bike-ped infrastructure: measure impact and make it count  (from Eco-Counter)
• COVID-19: Using count data to understand changing bike and pedestrian trends.  (from Eco-Counter)
• COVID-19: the evolution of bicycle and pedestrian activity following containment measures. (from Eco-Counter)
• StreetLight Data COVID-19 VMT Monitor
  
  

Policy & Advocacy

• Congress Must Fast-Track Transit and Active Transportation Invesments in Pandemic Response
• Designating Bike Shops as Essential Businesses
• Advocates Adapting Streets to COVID-19
• Lobbying in a Time of COVID-19

Equity & Racial Justice Resources for Bike Advocates and BFCs

• League of American Bicyclists Equity Reports and Resources
• Race Forward Racial Justice Trainings
• Bridging the Divide: A Transportation Plan for the 21st Century
• Principles For Equitable Public Outreach & Engagement During Covid-19 and Beyond
• Resources from the Transportation Equity Caucus
• Active Transportation and Equity: Key Challenges and Opportunities from the Field
• Grist: "Biking While Black" is a thing, too
• America Walks: For George Floyd and So Many Others, How Can We Do Better?
• The Untokening: Equity and Mobility Justice
• Tamika Butler Consulting & Training Services
• Courtney Williams The Brown Bike Girl Consulting & Training Services
• Equiticity Racial Equity Statement of Principle
• Attention Transportation Advocates: Race is a Part of the Work
• Resources from The Untokening
• The Untokening: Mobility Justice and COVID-19
  
• Bicycling Magazine: Why we Must Talk About Race  

Equitable Infrastructure

• BUILDING EQUITY: Race, ethnicity, class, and protected bike lanes: An idea book for fairer cities
  
  

Bike Share Access & Equity

• Better Bikeshare Partnership
• Breaking Barriers to Bike Share: Insights on Equity
• Engaging Youth in Urban Bking and Bike Share Toolkit
  
  

Equity & Accountability in Enforcement

• Center for Policing Equity: a national nonprofit organization eliminating bias in policing by measuring it
• Create Fair and Effective Policing Practices from The Opportunity Agenda: Transforming the System
• A Toolkit for Promoting Justice in Policing from PolicyLink and The Center for Popular Democracy
• Vera Institute of Justice: Ending Police Violence and Ensuring Accountability
• Campaign Zero: Police Use of Force Policy Analysis
• Changelab Solutions: Equitable Enforcement to Achieve Health Equity
• The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL): Defund the Police Resources and Messaging Guidance

Equity in Staffing & Hiring

• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Recruitment, Hiring and Retention from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network
  
  

Equity in Evaluation & Planning

• Portland State University's Bicycle Master Plan Equity Report
• Planning While Black: A Powerful Call for Racial Equity by Tamika Butler
• Advancing Transportation Equity through Inclusive Travel Survey Data Methods (Portland State University TREC)

Rapid Response & Implementation

• NACTO's COVID-19: Transportation Response Center

Equitable Infrastructure

• BUILDING EQUITY: Race, ethnicity, class, and protected bike lanes: An idea book for fairer cities

Complete Streets and Routine Accommodation

• Complete Streets resources, reports & guidance from Smart Growth America
• Pedestrian & Bicycle Information Center Complete Streets Resources
• American Planning Association report on Complete Streets Best Policy and Implementation Practice
• Boston's Complete Streets Program
• Smart Growth America's Best Complete Streets Policies of 2018
• Complete Streets in Rural Contexts

Bicycle Facility and Streetscaping Design Standards

• Design Resource Index - Identifies the specific location of information in key national design manuals for various pedestrian and bicycle design treatments
• AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, 4th Edition
• MUTCD Traffic Controls for Bicycle Facilities (Also see FWHA's Bicycle Facilities and the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices webpage)
• NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide
• NACTO Urban Street Design Guide
• Model Design Manual for Living Streets
• FHWA Planning Guidance for Bicycle Transportation Facilities
• FHWA Small Town and Rural Design Guide: Facilities for Biking and Walking
• Washington County Bicycle Facility Design Toolkit
• Scottsdale, AZ Road Streetscapes Design Guidelines

Target/Low Design Speed

• FHWA: Self-Enforcing Roadways: A Guidance Report
• NACTO on design speed and speed reduction measures
• WHO's Speed Management Road Safety Manual for Decision-makers and Practicioners
• Fehr&Peer's Traffic Calming resource page
• Blog: Slowing Traffic to a Target Speed: How to make our Streets Safer

Training for Bicycle Program Coordinators, Engineers and Planners

• Training opportunities related to trails and greenways
• FHWA University Course on Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation
• Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals
• National Highway Institute
• Pro Walk Pro Bike Conference (held every 2 years)

Liability 

• National Cooperative Highway Research Program’s Liability Aspects of Bikeway

Bicycle Parking

• APBP Bike Parking Guidelines (2015)
  
• A review of bike parking considerations and costs
• Guidelines for Artistic Bicycle Rack
• Streetfilm about on-street bike parking
• Model bicycle parking ordinance
• Dero's Bike Parking Guide
• Making a Place for Bicycles fact sheet
• Philadelphia, Pa., bicycle parking ordinance
• Portland, OR bike parking ordinance (starting page 266-22) and bike parking design and placement guidelines
• Washington, DC's legislation that allows tenants to request retrofitting of existing buildings
• Mobility Lab's 10 Rules for Construction of Good Bicycle Parking

Bike Sharing Programs 

• Bike Share in the United States (NACTO)
• North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA) Sample Documents (Sample bikeshare regulations, agreements, etc.)
• Better Bikeshare Partnership
• Engaging Youth in Urban Bking and Bike Share Toolkit from the Better Bikeshare Partnership

Bikes and Transit 

• First Mile, Last Mile: How Federal Transit Funds can improve access to public transit for people who walk and bike
• How to improve transit accommodation of bikes in the U.S. 
• Information from the FHWA regarding bicycles connection to transit

On-Street Bike Facilities and Treatments

• FHA Bicycle Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System
• FHWA's guide to signing, striping and marking bike lanes on streets
• DOT FHWA's Road Diet Informational Guide
• DOT FHWA's Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide
• Matrix showing 15 ways to protect a bike lane (including installation costs, protection level, perceived safety rating, and durability information).
• Study: Evaluating the Safety Effects of Bicycle Lanes in New York City
• Study of Contra-Flow Bike Lanes in Cambridge, MA
• Traffic Calming Resources
• Santa Monica's Woonerf/Shared Space model project
• Bicycle Boulevard Planning & Design Guidebook
• Best Practices in Bicycle Way-finding signage in the Washington Region
• Study of Bicycle Signal Heads in Davis, Ca
• Report on  Bicycle Detection
• Bicycle Detection and Signalization
• Barre-Montpelier Road Diet video

Off-Road Trails and Other Recreational Facilities

• The Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program
• The Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Trail Building Toolkit
• Information on structure and design considerations when constructing underpasses and overpasses for bicycles
• Integrating Rail-Trails into Statewide and Metropolitan Long Range Plan
• Trailbuilding Resources
• Philadelphia - Wissahickon Trail
• San Francisco- Mt Sutro Open Space
• Tuscon- Fantasy Island at Saguaro National Park
• NYC - Highbridge Bike Park
• Seattle - Colonnade Mountain Bike Skills Park
• Boulder - Valmont Bike Park
• National Mountain Bike Patrol Resources Communications

Bicycle Facility Maintenance

• FHWA's Guide for Maintaining Pedestrian Facilities for Enhanced Safety
• Iowa DOT's trail maintenance recommendations
• Seattle Spot improvement program
• How Communities are Paying to Maintain Trails, Bike Lanes, and Sidewalks

Land Use and Urban Form

• Building in Healthy Infill
• Planetizen's DIY Form-Based Code: An Introduction (28 min video, free)
• Understanding Smart Growth Savings - Evaluating Economic Savings and Benefits of Compact Development, and How They Are Misrepresented By Critics
• Attracting Infill Development in Distressed Communities - 30 strategies to help local governments overcome obstacles and encourage infill development in distressed communities

 Resources for Rural Communities

• FHWA Small Town and Rural Design Guide: Facilities for Biking and Walking
• Complete Streets in Rural Contexts
• Rural Transportation.org
• National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Rural Bicycle & Pedestrian Resources
• NADO Rural and Small Urban Bicycle and Pedestrian Inititatives (2014-2020)
• NADO Rural Transportation Technical Assistance Reports (March 2019)

Adult Cyclist and Motorist Education

• A database cataloging motorist educational materials
• The League’s Ride Better Program
• The League’s Smart Cycling Tips and Presentations
• The League's Smart Cycling Quick Guide
• Ticket diversion: Bicyclist traffic education and enforcement programs in Arizona
• Share the Road public service announcements
• OCTA's humorous Bike Smart, Bike Safe - 3 Feet for Safety Act PSA video
• Bicycle Education en Español
• League Cycling Instructor seminar
• Marin County Bicycle Coalition’s Share the Road and Share the Path Campaigns
  
• Spanish PSA poster and video in Los Angeles
• Florida's Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow Education Campaigns

Professional Driver Education

• TMi Municipal Bus Driver Training DVD Collection
• San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Frequent Driver Training

Children and Youth Cycling Education 

• Back to School 2020: Recommendations for Safe Routes to School Programming
• Safe Routes to School Guide
• Bike Texas' SafeCyclist Curriculum and Certification designed for fourth and fifth grade
• FHWA's Bicycle Safer Journey
• Youth bike clubs – After-school Bike Education
• Bike Rodeo Manual
• Kidical Mass DC's ABC of Family Biking class
• Community Cycling Center and Summer recreation programs
• Sheriff’s Safety Town in Shreveport, LA
• Earn-a-Bike program
• High School NORCAL Bike League

Bike Ambassador Program

• Chicago program
• Philadelphia program
• Montana Program
• Fort Collins Program
• Washington, DC Program

Bike Month, Bike to Work Day and Bike to School Day

• Guides and materials for Bike Month and Bike to Work Day 
Bike to School Day

Bike Commuting

• An Employer Guide to Bike Commuting
• Create-a-Commuter program at the Community Cycling Center in Portland, OR
• Bike Buddy Program in Spokane, WA
• San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Employer Bike Commuter Incentive Guide
• Bicycle Commuter Mentor Program in Charlotte, NC

Bike Challenges

• The National Bike Challenge
• Active Transportation Alliance’s Bike Commuter Challenge

Women Biking Resources

• The League's Women Bike program
• Report: Engaging More Women in Bicycling
• Women Bike Grants and Toolkits
• Women Bike Webinars and Webcasts
• How to Host a Women's Bicycling Forum
• National Journal article: There's a Biking Gender Gap. And It Has A Real Economic Impact.
• Black Girls Do Bike

Family Biking

• Family Biking Guide (in English, Spanish and Chinese) by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
• Portland's Family Biking Guide
• Kids and Bicycling
• Kidical Mass - Kids are Traffic Too
• Family Biking Ages and Stages
• Gear Guide
• Child Seat Reviews
• Discover Traffic Gardens
• Using Safe Routes to School to Combat the Threat of Violence

Events

• Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s Community Bike Events
• Implementation & Advocacy Manual for Summer Streets/Ciclovia/Sunday Parkways
• California Bicycle Coalition Report on Open Streets events
• Commuter Breakfasts in Portland, OR
• Signature Cycling Events
• Trail Construction or Maintenance Day

Other Encouragement Groups, Activities, Services, etc.

• Example of a  Local tourism board promotion and promoting local cycling and tourism
• The League’s guide on how to start a bike club or advocacy organization
• League of Michigan Bicyclists guide on how to start a bike club
• Friends of the Trail Groups
• National Mountain Bike Patrol
• Bicycle Co-ops
• An example of the benefits of a community bike shop
• Find specialty bicycle retailers
• Recycle-a-Bicycle program
• Bucks for Bikes program
• Local Trips for Kids chapters
• Black Girls Do Bike

Maps

• The top online bike route mapping websites
• Pittsburgh’s award-winning bike commuter map
• Aspen & Pitkin County trails map
• Colorado's interactive trail map

Evaluating and Prioritizing

• NCHRP's Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Along Existing Roads - ActiveTrans Priority Tool Guidebook
• League of Illinois Bicyclists' Bicycle Level of Service Calculator
• OTREC Report: Improving Regional Travel Demand Models for Bicycling
• Bicycle Compatibility Index
• Mineta Transportation Institute Research Report on Low-Stress Bicycling and Network Connectivity
• Use the bikeability checklist for evaluating the bikeability of a community
• FHA Guidebook on Methods to Estimate Non-Motorized Travel
• FHWA's research report: Evaluation of Safety, Design, and Operation of Shared-Use Paths

Staffing

• Your Guide to forming a Bicycle Advisory Committee by MassBike
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee best practices
• Report of importance of bicycle & pedestrian staff
• Find your state bicycle coordinator
• Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Recruitment, Hiring and Retention from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network

Surveys & Bike Counts

• Advancing Transportation Equity through Inclusive Travel Survey Data Methods (Portland State University TREC)
• National Bicycle & Pedestrian Documentation Project (NBPD)
• See the Final Report from the BPAC of Alexandria, VA, for an example of how the NBPD project is used to benefit a community
• Bike Count Resources from Eco-Counter
• Eco-Counter COVID-19 Dashboard: Understand the impact of the pandemic on cycling
• Automatic bicycle counters in Arlington, VA
• Using GPS data to replace travel diaries
• Strava Metro for Cities

Safety

• FHWA's BIKESAFE: Bicycle Countermeasure Selection System
• Bicycle crashes and safety facts
• New York's Vision Zero campaign and Transportation Alternatives' analysis
• STI's Vision Zero: Adopting a Target of Zero for Road Traffic Fatalities and Serious Injuries
• Seattle's Vision Zero plan
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT)
• Intersection Magic – Crash Records Analysis

Bicycle Master Planning and Implementation

• A list of exemplary bicycle and pedestrian plans
• Creating a Roadmap for Producing & Implementing a Bicycle Master Plan 
Recreational trail planning
• Multnomah County, OR's Diversity Outreach Workshops to train staff in creatively expanding outreach to cultural and minority communities
• Seattle, WA's Neighborhood Planning Outreach and Engagement Program to engage residents in ethnically diverse and historically underrepresented neighborhoods
• Strategies for implementing simple, low-cost improvements
• Video produced by Arkansas State University explaining the bike planning process
• A case study on Houten, Netherlands for the design of a bike-centered suburb

Transportation Demand Management Ordinances and Strategies

• Trip reduction ordinance database
• EPA report on trip reduction ordinances
• 7 Best Practices in Transportation Demand Management
• An analysis of Portland's Smart Trips Welcome Program
• Comparison of Arlington, VA's and Washington, DC's Transportation Demand Management programs
• FHWA report: Developing a Regional Approach to Transportation Demand Management and Nonmotorized Transportation: Best Practice Case Studies

Economic Impact Study

• Portland, OR Bicycling Economic Impact Study
• Virginia Creeper Trail Economic Impact Case Study
• FHWA's White Paper: Evaluating the Economic Benefits of Nonmotorized Transportation

Public Outreach

• Principles For Equitable Public Outreach & Engagement During Covid-19 and Beyond

Equity in Planning

• Portland State University's Bicycle Master Plan Equity Report
• Planning While Black: A Powerful Call for Racial Equity by Tamika Butler
• Advancing Transportation Equity through Inclusive Travel Survey Data Methods (Portland State University TREC)

Costs

• Building a new roadway for motor vehicles can cost millions of dollars to construct, and many of the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure facilities are extremely low-cost in comparison. Use this database to review up-to-date estimates of infrastructure costs of pedestrian and bicycle treatments from states and cities across the country.

General Resources

• Advocacy Advance report: How Communities are Paying for Innovative On-street Bicycle Infrastructure

Federal Funding

• Since  1992  bicycle  and  pedestrian  projects have  been  eligible  for  federal  transportation funding. To learn more about what federal funds are available for bicycle projects, FHWA provides a table of eligible funding programs by bike/ped project type.

State Funding

• Biking and walking dollars aren't only available from the federal government. States can also have their own revenue sources that can be used to fund active transportation. Use this report to explore your state’s funding sources for bicycle and pedestrian improvements.

Local Funding

• Local governments can also create their own revenue streams to improve conditions for bicycling and walking. Three common approaches include: special bond issues, dedications of a portion of local sales taxes or a voter-approved sales tax increase, and use of the annual capital improvement budgets of Public Works and/or Parks agencies. Bicycle facility improvements can also be tagged on to larger projects to create economies of scale that results in reduced costs and reduced impacts to traffic, businesses, and residents. For example, if there is an existing road project, it is usually cheaper to add bike lanes and sidewalks to the project than to construct them separately. To learn more about public funding of bicycle infrastructure improvements, visit pedbikeinfo.org/planning/funding_government.cfm.

Resources and Support

• Our page of resources for Advocates offers several tools, resources, and workshops to help advocates and agency staff maximize eligible funding programs.

Read our full statement: Removing Enforcement from the '5 E' Framework

As of October 5, 2020, the League has officially and permanently removed ‘Enforcement’ as one of the pillars of the Bicycle Friendly America program’s ‘5 E’ framework.

As applicants and advocates consider how to apply these changes in their own community, we invite participants to consider these resources on equitable solutions and alternatives to enforcement:

• Center for Policing Equity: a national nonprofit organization eliminating bias in policing by measuring it
• Create Fair and Effective Policing Practices from The Opportunity Agenda: Transforming the System
• A Toolkit for Promoting Justice in Policing from PolicyLink and The Center for Popular Democracy
• Vera Institute of Justice: Ending Police Violence and Ensuring Accountability
• Campaign Zero: Police Use of Force Policy Analysis
  
• Our Streets Minneapolis: Why we don't Support Traffic Enforcement
• Transportation Alternatives: The Case for Self-Enforcing Streets
• Changelab Solutions: Equitable Enforcement to Achieve Health Equity

Read how other national organizations are making similar changes:

• Safe Routes to School National Partnership: Dropping Enforcement from the Safe Routes to School 6 E’s Framework
• Vision Zero Network: Active for Racial Justice & Just Mobility More Resources for Bicycle Friendly Communities

Equity & Accountability in Enforcement

• Center for Policing Equity: a national nonprofit organization eliminating bias in policing by measuring it
• Create Fair and Effective Policing Practices from The Opportunity Agenda: Transforming the System
• A Toolkit for Promoting Justice in Policing from PolicyLink and The Center for Popular Democracy
• Vera Institute of Justice: Ending Police Violence and Ensuring Accountability
• Campaign Zero: Police Use of Force Policy Analysis
• Changelab Solutions: Equitable Enforcement to Achieve Health Equity

Alternatives to Enforcement

• The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL): Defund the Police Resources and Messaging Guidance
• Our Streets Minneapolis: Why we don't Support Traffic Enforcement
• Transportation Alternatives: The Case for Self-Enforcing Streets
• Atlanta Bicycle Coalition: Petition to Remove Police Enforcement from Vision Zero
• Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia: We Are Dropping Police Enforcement From Vision Zero
• Walk Bike Berkeley: De-policing transportation to create safe streets

Bike Theft Prevention

• Bicycle Theft, Problem Oriented Guide for Police
• Bait bike program

Laws & Regulations

• Bicycle laws by state