Bicycle Friendly Community

Chapel Hill, NC | Bronze Level

Community Highlights: The transportation component of the city’s Comprehensive Plan notes Chapel Hill's ideal conditions for bicycling: a favorable climate, high trip density with a large share of short trips, and a University population. The plan mandates the creation of a series of Mobility Report Cards to ensure the Town is meeting the mobility needs of its citizens. Many Chapel Hill developments are required to participate in the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program, where participants develop policies and programs to encourage their employees to utilize alternate forms of transportation to commute to work. The Town of Chapel Hill sponsors several bicycle education programs in conjunction with the Transportation Demand Management program.
Chapel Hill’s Bike to Work Week this May drew hundreds of residents and included demonstrations of bus bicycle racks, a bicycle commuter breakfast, a children's bicycle rodeo and the 8-mile Chapel Hill-Carrboro bike ride and celebration at the end of the week. The Town of Chapel Hill Planning and Police Departments work with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to sponsor several bicycle safety workshops throughout the year. These workshops teach fundamental principles of bicycle safety, including bicycle safety equipment (importance of helmets, reflectors, etc.), rules of the road (proper signaling, scanning the road, stopping techniques), rules of proper bike maintenance, and injury prevention. Similar workshops are also facilitated for groups affiliated with the University of North Carolina as well as certain special populations residing in the town, such as the elderly or disabled.

Upcoming Plans: Chapel Hill plans to install bicycle detection loops with signal system improvements in the next year. They are also working on a Campus-to-Campus connector path that will link the main University of North Carolina campus to the new satellite campus two miles away. This will consist of a combination of on-road bicycle facilities and off-road greenways.