Bicycle Friendly Communities

Boulder, CO | Gold Level

Education: In 2005, the Boulder Safe Routes to School pilot program was launched. Three schools implemented non-infrastructure programs to encourage more kids to walk and bike to school. One school reported that 75 percent of their students walked or biked to school — a 620 percent increase from before the pilot.

Encouragement: More than 4,000 people participate in Boulder’s Bike to Work Day. There are contests between employers, and huge community gatherings. Boulder has a clear dedication to installing bike lanes; a bicycle maintenance program available to all citizens during June; and a newly redesigned bike and pedestrian map.

Engineering: Boulder’s bicycle network is second to none. The city employs a Complete Streets approach when considering major transportation facility enhancements, and makes sure that the bicycling facilities are swept even before the roads are. At least 95 percent of arterials have bike lanes or trails on them. They recently completed two major underpasses, and offers online bike mapping. A total of $3.1 million, 15 percent of Boulder’s 2004 transportation budget, was dedicated to support bicycle mode operations/maintenance and enhancement activities.

Evaluation: Tracking numbers is important to Boulder — in 2003, biking accounted for 21 percent of commute trips and 14 percent of all trips in the community. This is up from 10.6 percent and 9.1 percent respectively in 1990. Bike use and other non-automotive modes have limited the growth in vehicle miles of travel in Boulder to about 1 percent annually since 1990.