Policy and Advocacy

The Bike League works to make biking better

We are the voice of the nation’s 57 million bicyclists, promoting and protecting your right to ride

From the halls of Congress to the streets of your community, the Bike League is working to make your next ride safer and more convenient with fewer "Bike Lane Ends" signs and more protected places for you, your family, and your neighbors to ride.

Read the lastest Federal Advocacy program updates on our blog

Read the lastest Local and State Advocacy program updates on our blog

Our advocacy efforts span the spectrum, from lobbying Congress for our fair share of funding to empowering state and local advocates with the tools to win campaigns for better bike policies in your town. Since 1880, we have been the hub of information that gets the wheels spinning in communities nationwide. At the federal, state and local level, our efforts unite the voices of people who bike.

Summit Big Idea: A Digital Advocacy Network

January 18, 2015

For Mychal Tetteh, the old adage proved true: Necessity is the mother of invention. Portland may be his hometown, but when he started as the Executive Director of the Community Cycling Center in 2013, he felt like he was working from a disjointed map, an incomplete playbook on how to make streets safer in his community. “As soon as I got the job, I wanted to know everything,” he recalled. “From a regional standpoint, I wanted more complete information. I wanted to know who all the stakeholders were, a categorical list of all the advocacy organizations and agencies and neighborhood institutions.” He quickly discovered he wasn’t alone.

Summit Preview: Vision Zero

January 16, 2015

Leah Shahum had a jarring realization in 2013. In the wake of a particularly fatal year for bicyclists and pedestrians in San Francisco, it became clear to her that the slow, piecemeal approach to create safer streets wasn’t moving nearly fast enough. It was time to redraw the lines of the debate, shift the cultural compass for the city, the public and advocates to no longer accept traffic deaths as tragedies out of their control. So, at the start of 2014, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition launched a Vision Zero campaign, calling for a reduction of all traffic deaths to zero in 10 years.

Summit: Crowdfunding Big Ideas

January 5, 2015

If we know anything about bicycling advocates, it’s that they’re an innovative bunch. At the National Bike Summit this year we are putting the spotlight on exciting new ideas for advocacy – our theme is Big Ideas. One of the ways we doing that is by collaborating with our partners at the crowdfunding platform ioby. ioby is a nation-wide, nonprofit crowdfunding platform that helps local leaders raise cash, in-kind donations, and volunteer power from their own communities.

Capitol Hill Update: Next Steps on Bike/Ped Safety

October 22, 2014

Last week, the Congressional Bike Caucus hosted a briefing for Congressional staffers to discuss what’s next for bicycling and walking safety — and the event was standing room only. Many Congressional staffers were supportive of HR 3494, The Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act, and are interested in learning what’s coming next.