Bicycle Friendly Community

Saint Paul, MN | Bronze Level

Community Highlights: Saint Paul has done much to publicly signify that it supports cycling. From longstanding actions like hosting Minnesota's largest cycling event, the Saint Paul Classic Bike Tour, to recent innovations like hiring the City's first Sustainable Transportation Planner, Saint Paul is committed to cycling. That commitment is reflected in its adopted plans and policies, and in grants and awards it has received, like the competitive DOT Tiger II Planning grant to create a Complete Street Plan, which will help further establish processes for a balanced transportation system with an eye on cycling. Saint Paul is a national leader in quality off-road miles of scenically beautiful in-city bike trails. Saint Paul leads the Twin Cities metro area in paved, bike-walk friendly trails. With miles of Mississippi River waterfront trails and connected regional park trails, it is possible to bike through many parts of the city with few motorist crossings. And, it is not resting on its laurels. The trail system is planned and funded to expand substantially over the next few years across many more parts of the city. These trails provide miles of safe biking for Saint Paul residents to sharpen their bike riding skills before expanding their biking to city street bike lanes and safe streets. In June 2011, Nice Ride Minnesota (NRMN) expanded from Minneapolis into Saint Paul. NRMN's unique structure as a non-profit and the help of passionate partners, have defined a new way to do bike share. With plans for over 40 new stations in the next year, bringing the system total to over 130, NRMN will continue to grow into St Paul and maintain its status as a world-class bike share operation.

Most Signicifant Recent Accomplishment: Even more than significant investment in infrastructure, Saint Paul's appointment of a full-time Sustainable Transportation Planner, who is the Bicycle Program Coordinator, has been the most significant step in the past year. While various City departments have made progress with bicycle planning up to now, this new position provides the coordination lacking in the past. Priorities and timetables have been set. Key initiatives have been realized, such as the arrival of Nice Ride bike share in Saint Paul. Moreover, work has begun on the drafting of a comprehensive bicycle plan to be adopted by the Planning Commission, Mayor, and City Council.

Most Compelling Community Fact: NRMN integrates bike sharing and social media so well that the Copenhagen Bicycle Program director, Andreas Rohl, visited the Twin Cities to see how NRMN operates.