Bicycle Friendly Community Program

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. Read the BFA 2009 report.

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 2009 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

1) After a brief review of your general community profile, you will be allowed to continue to the audit portion of the application.

2) The majority of the application is an audit of the engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation efforts in your municipality. 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. Assistance in completing this part is available on our resources page.

You and other bicyclists in the community can bring this program, particularly the application, to your mayor or county council to initiate positive change in your neighborhood.

Award Determination

A committee reviews and scores the application and consults with local cyclists in your community. An award of platinum, gold, silver or bronze status is designated for four years. Every community that applies awarded or not receives feedback on how to improve the community for cycling. BFC staff will continue to work with awardees and those communities that do not yet meet the criteria to encourage continual improvements.

The League of American Bicyclists recognizes newly designated Bicycle Friendly Communities with an awards ceremony, a Bicycle-Friendly Community road sign, and a formal press announcement.

Renewing the Designation

You will complete a simple renewal form to compliment your original application so that the League of American Bicyclists can continue to recognize your progress. Renewals are due every four years after a community is designated or receives their renewal notice. The League also requires a short annual update. Award levels may change based on the renewal feedback.