Bicycle Friendly Community

Billings, MT | Bronze Level

Community Highlights: Billings completed the Big Ditch Trail, a crucial east-west connector, to link the trail system to the residential subdivisions. In addition to local ordinances stipulating that any upgrade to existing arterials within city limits must include some form of bike accomodation, Billings recommended that all new major subdivisions within city limits address bike lanes, multi-use paths or trails in their building plans. All buses have been equipped with bike racks, and usage has doubled in recent years. The Billings Public School District oversees a Wheel Safety Program at all public elementary schools. The programs uses a bike and helmet equipped trailer to educates children on how to safely ride bicycles, obey traffic rules and perform minor bike maintenance.

Most Compelling Community Statistic: On the 20 miles of hard surface multi-use trails and an array of soft surface type trails counts have shown a 32 percent increase in use between 2003 to 2007.