Bicycle Friendly Community

About the BFC Program

The Bicycle Friendly Community Program provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. A Bicycle Friendly Community welcomes cyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation. View an overview presentation of the program.

Benefits

Encouraging bicycling is a simple way towards improving public health. With more people bicycling, communities experience reduced traffic demands, improved air quality and greater physical fitness. In addition, Bicycle Friendly Communities are places with a high quality of life, where people want to live, work, and visit. Building such a community can translate into a more connected, physically active, and environmentally sustainable community that enjoys increased property values, business growth, increased tourism, and more transportation choices for citizens.

Please see the 2011 Bicycle Friendly America Yearbook to see the positive transformation happening across the nation and how this program is being used as a tool for businesses, communities, and states.

How to Apply

To be included in the next review cycle and possibly join those communities earning the award, submit the Bicycle Friendly Community application by February 17, 2011. There are two application deadlines per year, one in February and the other in July. Renewals are due every four years after a community is designated so that the League of American Bicyclists can continue to recognize your progress. Please note that award levels may change after each application.

1) Click here to access the application portal. If you are a new applicant or you have last applied before 2009, you will need to create a new username and password. Please note that every applicant can only have one username, which will need to be shared among several editors. There is no special form for re-applications and renewals.

2) After a brief review of your general community profile, you will continue to the audit portion of the application, which asks questions about the engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation efforts in your municipality. Please make sure to answer every question completely and correctly. Use the write-in fields to provide more details. This comprehensive inquiry is designed to yield a holistic picture of your community's work to promote bicycling. We refer to these sections as the Five Es. For a more detailed description of the Five Es, click here.

3) You will be able to save the application to continue working on it or submit it at a later date. You will receive a notification once the application has been submitted successfully.

4) If you would like to submit additional material such as photos, maps, ordinances or master plans, please email them to bfa@bikeleague.org.

Award Determination

A judging panel of national bicycle experts reviews and scores the application and consults with local cyclists in your community. You will be informed about the results of your application approximately six weeks after the submission deadline. The League of American Bicyclists awards Bicycle Friendly Community designations at the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum level and acknowledges communities that are close to becoming bicycle friendly, but still have some room to grow, with an Honorable Mention. The names of the communities that do not achieve an award or an Honorable Mention will not be publicized.

An award is designated for four years. The League of American Bicyclists recognizes newly designated Bicycle Friendly Communities with two purple Bicycle Friendly Community road signs, an award certificate, a digital award seal for online and printed publications, and a profile and a formal press announcement on the BFA website.

Every applicant will receive detailed feedback on how to improve the community for cycling within four months after the submission deadline. BFC staff will continue to work with you to encourage continual improvements.

national Advisory Group

The BFA National Advisory Group provides guidance on BFC program development and priorities. Members include:

Tim Blumenthal, Bikes Belong Coalition
Tom Huber, Toole Design Group
Rob Sadowsky, Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Jeff Olson, Alta Planning+Design
Robert Ping, Safe Routes to School National Partnership
Tim Potter, Michigan State University
Jim Sebastian, DC Office of Transportation Planning
Sarah Strunk, Active Living By Design
Jennifer Toole, Toole Design Group
Zoe Kircos, Bikes Belong Coalition
Alan Turnbull, National Park Service
Jill Van Winkle, International Mountain Bike Association
Ariadne Delon Scott, Stanford University
Robbie Webber, Bike Walk Madison
Charlie Zegeer, Pedestrian & Bicycle Information Center
Ed Barsotti, League of Illinois Bicyclists