Bicycle Friendly Community

Arlington, VA | Silver Level

Community Highlights: Bicycling is an integral part of Arlington's transportation and recreation systems. In recent years, the community has increased population without increasing traffic. Furthermore, representatives from the Department of Public Works and the Police Department worked with each school in the county to assess conditions for walking and biking to school. Funding for solutions to problems identified by this process is included in the county's capital improvement program. In addition, Arlington's automated bike counting program has become one of the most robust in the nation.

Most Significant Recent Accomplishment: In 2010, Arlington administered a Request for Proposals for a bikeshare operator, which led to a contract with Alta Bicycle Share. The District of Columbia Department of Transportation piggybacked on that contract, and Capital Bikeshare was born as a regional partnership between Arlington and the District. In 2011, there were 16,000 annual Capital Bikeshare members, and over 1,000,000 bikeshare trips had been made. The addition of two other jurisdictions and expansions within the District and Arlington will enlarge the network to a total of 278 stations and 2,700 bikes by the end of 2012.

Most Compelling Community Statistic: Arlington has an integrated network of facilities that puts more than 90 percent of households in Arlington within 0.25 miles of a designated bike facility.