Bicycle Friendly Community

Jackson & Teton County, WY | Gold Level

Community Highlights: The 2008 iWalk-iBike-iBus to School event encouraged more than 500 kids to bike to school last October, the highest participation rate in the event’s five year history. Teton County voters overwhelmingly approved $6 million in an optional 1 cent sales tax for a pathway connection between Wilson and the Town of Jackson. Jackson has developed a Pathway Master Plan that outlines non-motorized modes-shift goals, total number of paths and a complete streets guide for Teton County, Wyoming. The local non-profit, non-motorized advocacy group Friends of Pathways partners with the Wyoming Department of Transportation to organize Bike to Work events during June, including a bike to work day, and partner with the Sheriff's Department to co-sponsor a Kids Bike Rodeo. Over the past seven years, the city has consistently parked more than 400 bicycles each Fourth of July during Music in the Hole, a free concert that attracts about 5,000 participants. Friends of Pathways also sponsors bicycle valet parking during Fourth of July, the valley’s busiest day.

Most Significant Recent Accomplishment: Grand Teton National Park completed phase one of its 42 mile pathway system with an eight mile section between Moose Junction and Jenny Lake. Teton County approved or received grants for more than $9 million in bicycle infrastructure to be constructed in the next 3 years.

Most Compelling Community Statistic: More than 45 miles of shared-use pathways in Teton County and Grand Teton National Park have been constructed since 1995.

Best Result of Designation: The Bicycle Friendly Community designation allows Jackson and Teton County to better promote Jackson Hole and Wyoming as a bicycling destination. Jackson’s large, tourism-based economy relies heavily on recreational tourism. Being a bicycling friendly community provides an additional component to the region's ability to attract tourists. The area was also able to update the obsolete town bicycling ordinances last fall, and the Bicycle Friendly Community designation gave a framework for the legal language they used to make conditions better for cyclists.