BikeLA launches a new Metro Bike Hub

Earlier this summer, BikeLA was joined by Los Angeles Walks, the Willowbrook Inclusion Network (WIN), and Metro to activate the Los Angeles Metro Willowbrook Station community space. Through this partnership, the site will serve as a hub offering bicycle safety education, bike repairs, and valuable community resources at one of Metro’s busiest transit centers. The event also featured a portrait exhibit honoring longtime mobility justice leaders in Los Angeles, photographed by Samantha Ramirez through the Las Fotos Project Digital Promotores program.

Bike East Bay celebrates cutting the ribbon on the latest 1/2 mile of the planned 30-mile East Bay Greenway trail in Oakland

This project includes an off-street bike/walk trail north of the Coliseum BART train station in a historically disinvested part of East Oakland. New pathway lighting, 70 new street trees, pedestrian crossing and traffic signal upgrades were included. This is part of Bike East Bay’s campaign for a planned 30-mile East Bay Greenway connecting Oakland to Fremont with a series of trails and protected bikeways between BART stations. More segments are in development and coming soon.

BikePGH helps Pittsburgh build joyful, active transportation into everyday school trips

BikePGH is seeing momentum after creating a Bike Bus Guide to help communities start and sustain bike buses and walking school buses. As of Pittsburgh’s May 2026 Walk & Roll to School Day, at least twelve Pittsburgh Public Schools have participated in some form of walk- or bike-to-school initiative. BikePGH also helped five Pittsburgh schools apply for Outride’s Riding for Focus program, supported implementation at four schools, and donated approximately 600 bike lights and helmets. 

BikeWalkKC successfully advocates for Kansas City, Missouri’s New Ordinance to Ban Right Turn on Red in School Zones

Following several high-profile crashes involving young children, Kansas City, Missouri adopted an ordinance banning right turns on red in school zones. BikeWalkKC advocated for stronger language that aligns with its efforts to make streets safer for e-bike and scooter users. A child who participated in BikeWalkKC’s Community Transportation Academy testified in support of the ordinance; Russell, who is visually impaired, shared how unsafe streets prevent him and many classmates from walking to school despite living nearby.

Ride Illinois celebrates “Stop Super Speeders” bill signed into law in Illinois

Speeding contributes to one-third of fatal crashes in the United States and a small number of “super speeders” are responsible for a disproportionate share of those fatal crashes. Ride Illinois partnered with Families for Safe Streets, the Illinois Secretary of State, and law enforcement to pass HB 4948, which Governor Pritzker signed into law on June 26, 2026. The organization’s goal was to educate elected officials during the spring legislative session. Interest in the bill exceeded expectations, and it passed during the first legislative session in which it was introduced, a rarity in Illinois politics. Families for Safe Streets was an invaluable partner throughout the campaign.

Hawai’i Bicycling League achieves bicycling wins at the Capitol

There were dozens of active transportation safety measures considered by the Hawai‘i Legislature in the 2026 session. Hawai‘i Bicycling League met with legislators, submitted testimony, and rallied supporters. Together, Hawaiian advocates and lawmakers achieved important wins, including a statewide e-bike law that will set a foundation for safer streets and support a framework for more affordable transportation choices.

Check out our Local Wins Dashboard for more details about these success stories!

Tell us about your local wins

Submit your stories here for a chance to be featured in our next Local Wins roundup.  We’d love to hear what’s happening in your community and celebrate the progress you’re helping make possible!

The post The Long Ride to Safer Streets: Celebrating Local Wins appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

If I knew nothing else about the Trump administration’s efforts related to traffic safety, it would be a very good sign that they chose to publish a new National Roadway Safety Strategy, a document that is not required by any law but rather based on precedent. When the Biden administration published its NRSS in 2022, it was a first-of-its-kind publication from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and brought a new perspective to how USDOT approaches traffic safety. Specifically, it focused on two new ideas: 1) a federal commitment to zero traffic deaths, and 2) “a Department-wide adoption of the Safe System Approach.” 

The Trump administration’s choice to publish a new NRSS that carries over some of the objectives of the previous NRSS, including “DOT’s commitment to drive fatalities toward zero,” shows that the Trump administration realizes the importance of the NRSS and reinforces that a NRSS should be an ongoing effort of USDOT. Though, it may be establishing a new precedent for publishing and producing the bare minimum.

A Safe System Approach: Mission Accomplished?

The Biden administration’s NRSS had a clear strategy centered around the adoption and promotion of the Safe System Approach. The Safe System Approach was explicitly recognized by USDOT as differing “significantly from a conventional safety approach in that it acknowledges both human mistakes and human vulnerability, and designs a redundant system to protect everyone.” Its difference from the typical American approach meant that significant time and resources were used to explain it, to identify six principles for it, and to create products and programs for the transportation community to drive alignment with it. 

If you look at the recommendations of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, John Hopkins School of Public Health, FIA Foundation, and two dozen experts participating in the Safe System Consortium, you’ll find an emphasis on policies and programs that drive culture change towards a Safe System Approach.

The Trump administration’s new NRSS says it will “continue to embrace a holistic approach … [that] draws from established practices in the transportation sector such as the Safe System Approach.” It is not an explicit change in strategy, but does reduce the Safe System Approach, which experts believe is still in its early adoption, to a footnote that needs no more nurturing. 

Safety without Speed Management

While it is not discussed, the new NRSS makes a substantial change in approach by eliminating the Safer Speeds objective present in the previous NRSS. While Post-Crash Care is also eliminated as an objective, it can be found in several of the key activities. Safer Speeds are missing as an objective, missing in key activities, and attacked by actions of the administration that are not discussed in the NRSS. In July, the Trump administration removed five countermeasures from its Proven Safety Countermeasures program. While the League of American Bicyclists, and media coverage, has focused on the elimination of bike lanes from that program, the greater change for safety is likely the elimination of all three Speed Management countermeasures.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, “[t]he management of speed through appropriate speed limits is an essential element of highway safety.” By eliminating speed management countermeasures and safer speeds from its NRSS, the Trump administration is expressing that it does not see speed management as essential. 

The case for speed management being essential is pretty straightforward based on the idea that “[h]uman injury tolerance has limits and Safe System strategies control the energy of moving vehicles.” Essentially, it’s basic physics. Whether a crash involves a person walking, biking, or in a vehicle, the force of a crash impacts the severity of the injury that occurs and whether a person survives. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has illustrated this concept with a “bright yellow, 54-foot ladder” at events because “[a]t just 40 mph, a pedestrian struck by a car experiences the same force” as someone falling off the top of that ladder. The League of American Bicyclists’ Slow Roads Save Lives campaign centered on the importance of slower speeds in traffic safety, and the role of speed limits in creating safer streets and roads.

The Trump administration, at least, has not made a case against speed management. In its NRSS, it recognizes that “[o]f the 39,254 fatalities on our roads in 2024, about one-third involved speeding.” One of the pathways in its Pathways to Safer Streets initiative is to “reduce excessive speeding” by promoting “the smart use of technology to augment traditional law enforcement.” The Trump administration has correctly identified high-speed arterials as a place where “over half of all traffic deaths occur.” For people biking and walking, the most common speed limit on the roads where they are killed is 45 miles per hour, with speeding reported in less than 10 percent of deaths. While speeding is deadly, it is the high speeds themselves that are foundational to the problem.

If speeding is bad and high-speed arterials are a priority, why has speed management disappeared? Why wouldn’t speed safety cameras, variable speed limits, and appropriate speed limits for all road users—the Proven Safety Countermeasures removed last month—be a part of the smart use of technology that reduces excessive speeding? The physics of crashes have not changed, the limits of human injury tolerance have not changed, and the effectiveness of these countermeasures have not changed. Based on the Trump administration’s NRSS, we are only left to wonder why speed management has been demoted from essential to unworthy of promotion. It’s hard to disagree with one summary that the “department also treats safer roads as faster roads” despite established science pointing toward the need to manage speeds.

Safety without People Biking and Walking

Also missing without explanation is any strategy for the safety of vulnerable road users—people who bike and walk, use wheelchairs and scooters, or who otherwise are endangered while navigating roads outside of vehicles. While people walking get two mentions—one about the importance of safety for a child walking to school and one about the inclusion of pedestrian safety in Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) technology—other vulnerable road users are absent.

In 2024, bicyclists and pedestrians accounted for more than 21% of traffic fatalities in the United States with over 8,000 people killed. In each of the most recent three years of available data, bicyclist deaths have been over 1,000—higher than at any time since 1975. While the Trump administration does not mention its strategy to save the lives of bicyclists in its NRSS, its actions have focused on eliminating support for bicycle lanes, urging Congress to restrict funding for bicycle lanes, and attempting to remove specific bicycle lanes on federally-administered property. Those are not actions that reflect a commitment to “drive fatalities toward zero.”

Even in the one singular mention of a concrete action to improve pedestrian safety, the deployment of AEB, the Trump administration chose to not address ongoing litigation related to the deployment of pedestrian-AEB and an announced but not yet published amendment to the rule that requires the deployment of pedestrian-AEB that would extend the compliance date for that rule until 2031.

Safety without Previously Announced Initiatives

Much of the new NRSS, like the initial one under the Biden administration, is a rehash of activities that the administration has done, is required to do based on laws passed by Congress, or activities that will occur during the normal administration of established programs. It may be notable that some administration efforts previously announced, in addition to the pedestrian-AEB amendment, are missing, such as:

• The SAFE ROADS initiative intended to address arterial safety and to target “political messages” of art on and along roadways. Under this initiative, states like Texas forced the removal of a crosswalk featuring a depiction of Buddy Holly’s glasses and Florida forced the removal of art on nearly 300 sidewalk panels depicting moments, scenes and figures important to Sarasota’s history. In 2024, Florida had the most bicyclists killed of any state, its fifth straight year with that distinction, while Texas infamously has had at least one traffic death every single day since November 7, 2000.
• This May, USDOT proudly announced that the Tesla Model Y was the first vehicle model to pass the agency’s new benchmark for vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems through new tests added to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). No mention of that positive result or the existence of NCAP appears in the NRSS, despite a 10-year roadmap required by Congress that anticipates eight new tests during the Trump administration.
• In September 2025, the USDOT Office of Inspector General published an audit of the Biden administration’s NRSS, calling on USDOT to establish “methods for measuring the impact of individual actions [that] would allow DOT’s Action Team to better target future priority actions to achieve effective results in substantially reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries.” In the newly published NRSS, the key activities provided appear to be less easy to measure. An activity like “encouraging the deployment of effective countermeasures to promote family safety” is certainly a worthy activity, but without knowing what countermeasures will be deployed, the baseline for current family safety, or how the impact on family safety will be measured, the Trump administration missed an opportunity to contrast its approach with the Biden administration and follow the recommendation of its Inspector General.
• Several of the key activities in the new NRSS involve some form of law enforcement, education, and outreach campaigns, the type of work typically funded by Highway Safety Grants. In the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress required a public website reporting on the use of those grants under 23 USC 402(n)(2). The Biden administration failed to produce the website required by Congress and the Trump administration missed an opportunity to show that it can deliver on this law that also would meaningfully improve transparency around whether or not its goals related education, outreach, and support for law enforcement are being realized.

At a high level, it is noteworthy and promising that the Trump administration’s NRSS draws inspiration from the Safe System Approach and reaffirms that “[z]ero is the only acceptable number of deaths on our highways, roads, and streets.” It is a good thing that having a National Roadway Safety Strategy is now expected and traffic safety is addressed as a cross-cutting priority for all administrations within USDOT. 

But at most other levels, I’m left wanting to hear more about how they hope to accomplish their goals, the specific actions that they will take, and how they will update the public on their progress. If they have a theory for how removing speed management practices and bicycle lanes will improve safety, then it would be interesting to hear it. Without more substance, this NRSS fulfills the goal of replacing the one of the Biden administration but has notable blind spots as it ventures forth on the road ahead.

The post A New National Roadway Safety Strategy…but Without the Bike Safety? appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Today, we’re shining that light on Ecology Action. Since 2022, this Santa Cruz-based organization has hosted an LCI seminar almost every year, steadily growing a community of certified cycling educators right in their own backyard.

Tell us a little about Ecology Action and the communities you serve. What role does cycling education play in your broader mission?

Ecology Action is a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit that advances equitable community climate solutions. We have deep roots in the Central Coast and work closely with local governments, schools, community-based organizations, regional agencies, businesses, and residents.

Transportation has been an important part of our work since we launched Santa Cruz County’s first Bike to Work Day in 1987. Today, our active transportation programs include bike and pedestrian safety education, Safe Routes to School activities, community rides, encouragement campaigns, planning, and infrastructure initiatives.

Cycling education connects directly to our broader mission because people are more likely to choose biking when they have the skills, confidence, and knowledge to do it safely. Education helps make active transportation more accessible while supporting healthier communities, cleaner air, lower emissions, and more connected neighborhoods.

What inspired Ecology Action to start hosting LCI seminars, and what has it meant to make that a yearly goal since 2022?

We saw a need to build a stronger local network of highly trained cycling educators. Our programs reach people of many ages, backgrounds, languages, and levels of riding experience, so the people leading those programs must have consistent, nationally recognized training. This training benchmark aligns with our drive to provide consistent and high-quality programming for our community.

Hosting an LCI seminar locally removes some of the travel and logistical barriers that can make certification difficult to pursue. It also allows us to strengthen not only our own team, but the larger community of educators, advocates, and transportation professionals working throughout the region. Making the seminar an annual commitment since 2022 reflects our belief that cycling education is not a one-time investment. Staff change, programs grow, and community needs evolve. Hosting each year helps us continually develop new leaders and keep that knowledge rooted in our community.

What have you been able to achieve by consistently developing new LCIs year after year? Are there outcomes or moments that stand out?

Consistently developing new LCIs has given us a deeper and more resilient bench of cycling educators. We are better able to staff programs, respond to new opportunities, and provide high-quality instruction across school, workplace, and community settings. It also creates a positive ripple effect. Newly certified instructors bring their own experiences, languages, relationships, and perspectives to the work. They can support youth safety programs, community rides, bike rodeos, learn-to-ride activities, adult workshops, and other events designed to help people feel more comfortable walking and rolling.

Because our instructors bring current best practices, new perspectives, and real-world teaching experience, we have been able to develop entirely new curriculum offerings, including e-bike safety education, to address emerging transportation trends and needs. We have also completely redesigned our bicycle rodeo course, grounding it in League Cycling Instructor principles, proven instructional methods, and hands-on learning strategies that help participants build skills and confidence over time. One of our intentional goals is to create a continuum of learning that supports people at every stage with elementary school students learning the foundational biking skills, to teens developing independent transportation habits, to adults using the knowledge and confidence to ride safely in their communities.

How has having multiple LCIs on staff shaped your organization’s culture and capacity?

Having multiple LCIs on staff has helped create a strong culture of safety, shared learning, and leadership. Cycling knowledge is not concentrated in one person; it is distributed across a team that can learn from one another, reinforce best practices, and step into different instructional roles as needed. That strengthens our organizational capacity in very practical ways. We can deliver more programs, support a wider range of participants, mentor newer instructors, and adapt our teaching to different settings and community needs. It also gives our staff a shared vocabulary and approach to cycling safety.

More broadly, LCI certification helps connect our program delivery with our values. We want people to feel welcomed, respected, and empowered—not simply told what to do. Having a team of trained instructors helps us create learning experiences that are supportive, inclusive, and grounded in real-world riding.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about Ecology Action’s work or your vision for cycling education in Santa Cruz?

Our vision is a Santa Cruz County where people of all ages, abilities, backgrounds, and income levels can safely and comfortably choose to bike for everyday trips. Education is a critical part of that vision, but it must work alongside thoughtful infrastructure, community engagement, encouragement, and strong partnerships.

Through our Complete Streets Initiative work, we are collaborating with local leaders and transportation professionals to advance streets that are safer and more accessible for everyone. Our cycling educators play an important role in that greater effort by helping people understand how to navigate their communities today while also building support for a more people-centered transportation future.

Ultimately, we want cycling education to do more than teach technical skills. We want it to help people experience greater freedom, confidence, health, connection, and joy—and to see themselves as part of creating safer streets for the entire community.

The post Celebrating Ecology Action: LCI Seminar Super Hosts appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

This round includes 10 new Bicycle Friendly Businesses and 20 renewing awardees. Six renewing businesses moved up an award level, while 12 renewed at the same level and three moved down. National Geographic Society is among those moving up, earning a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Business award after making significant improvements since their last application in 2018.

Find the full list of current BFBs here, and the latest round of awards and Honorable Mentions here.

“When businesses support biking, they strengthen the communities they serve,” said Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “Across industries, from nonprofits cultivating more active workplaces to transportation planning firms designing inclusive streetscapes, Bicycle Friendly Businesses are building a healthier, more connected America.”

This round highlights a growing trend: when businesses invest in better biking, they inspire others to do the same. Rather than isolated success stories, many of this year’s awardees are part of broader local efforts where businesses, schools, nonprofits, and government agencies alike are working together to build stronger bike cultures.

That momentum is visible in communities of all sizes. In Fitchburg, Wisconsin, local advocates have used the Bicycle Friendly Business program to bring dozens of businesses together around better biking, resulting in four renewing Fitchburg-based BFBs in this round alone.

The same pattern shows up in Arkansas, where business leaders are forming coalitions across the state to encourage more BFBs. Their efforts are paying off, with Arkansas ranking second among states with the most Bicycle Friendly Businesses. Florida remains at the top of that list, with local advocates and groups like the Downtown Tampa Partnership (renewing Platinum BFB) helping build and sustain momentum.

Below, hear directly from some of this round’s Bicycle Friendly Businesses about the programs, partnerships, and people helping create stronger communities through biking:

“We want to be a positive force in a city that has not always prioritized bicycle transportation. We partner with a local non-profit bike shop (Queen City Bicycle Collective) which holds many gatherings at our brewery. We want our bike rack to be always full!” — Republic Brewing Co., new Bronze-level BFB in Manchester, NH

“To further support a diverse cycling community, we offer free Capital Bikeshare memberships, maintain a Bicycle Commuter Subsidy, and host city cycling classes in partnership with local organizations. Additionally, we serve as an official pit stop for Bike to Work Day to encourage new riders across the organization. — National Geographic Society, newly promoted Gold-level BFB in Washington, DC

“Tampa has come to expect and depend on our organization for thought leadership and action related to cycling for transportation… Advocacy‑centered feedback loops ensure our bicycle programs evolve based on real community needs. Our free bike valet program and event‑based outreach provide low‑pressure opportunities for community members to learn about safe riding and parking practices.” — Tampa Downtown Partnership, renewing Platinum BFB in Tampa, FL

“After engineers and elected officials have attended [our] professional development trainings, they have had a mind reset about active transportation and its importance in the inclusion into the transportation network. For example, elected officials have said they now e-bike to their council meetings, and a state DOT engineer has gone back to 60% plans and redesigned the project to make it more friendly for all ages and abilities.” — Crafton Tull, newly promoted Gold-level BFB in Rogers, AK

Want to join the movement and become a Bicycle Friendly Business? Applications for the next round are due October 28, 2026, at 11:59pm PT. Learn more and apply here.

About the League Of American Bicyclists

Since 1880, the League of American Bicyclists has been people-powered, with a goal to make bicycling safer and easier as a means of transportation and recreation. Today, the League continues to improve lives and strengthen communities through bicycling. We are more than 200,000 members and supporters strong with more than 1,000 state and local advocacy groups and bike clubs as well as thousands of businesses, universities, and communities together leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.

About the Bicycle Friendly Business Program

Bicycle Friendly Business awards reflect local leaders’ ongoing work to build better places to bike and evaluate those efforts as part of a national movement. Each of the five levels of the Bicycle Friendly Business award – diamond, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze, plus an honorable mention category – provides a clear path for businesses to continuously improve. Visit bikeleague.org/business to learn more about the BFB program.

The post League of American Bicyclists Recognizes 30 New and Renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

In the League of American Bicyclists’ webinar, “E-bikes, E-motos, Oh My: Navigating New Devices and Laws for E-Bikes”, we welcomed advocates from Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Jersey to discuss how they have been navigating state legislation that regulates the safety of small electric vehicles. The webinar attendance and response was tremendous, with over 50 questions showing a great need for more clarity and communication on these issues. I encourage you to watch the webinar and download the slides to learn more about each state’s experience, but this blog will share some of the key information and insights.

Addressing E-bikes is Not Optional

E-bikes are bicycles with an electric assist triggered either by pedaling or by a throttle. At the federal level, low-speed electric bicycles cannot exceed 20 mph when powered solely by their motor with less than 750 watts of power, but can exceed 20 mph when motor power is combined with pedaling. Most states—at least 40—have adopted a 3-class system of regulation for e-bikes that is consistent with the federal definition and differentiates e-bikes based on top speed and how assistance is provided.

Each of the presenters talked about the large public interest in e-bikes; the increasing public concerns related to e-bikes, e-motos, and other devices; and ongoing efforts to create a durable and understandable regulatory framework. Engaging with legislators, motor vehicle administrators, law enforcement, medical professionals, and other interested groups early and often were keys to crafting better legislation, where it happened. Bicycle Colorado shared an analysis that showed e-bike related news articles increased from 588 articles in 2021 to 3,050 in 2026, with 23.1% of articles in 2026 having a negative sentiment towards e-bikes. In Massachusetts, legislators chose to pursue that engagement through a formal commission, which led to a holistic framework for all micromobility devices focused on top speeds as the primary means of differentiation. In contrast, New Jersey legislators quickly passed a restrictive bill with little consultation, with an outgoing governor signing it on their last day in office, avoiding political accountability.

While there is no guarantee that advocacy will lead to a good outcome, it is clear from the experience of each state that e-bikes must continue to be addressed by advocacy efforts as public concerns and confusion persist.

Differentiating E-bikes and E-motos is the primary battleground

E-bikes are defined and regulated. E-motos are not. E-motos, a term coined by PeopleforBikes last year, are any bike-shaped device with or without pedals that is advertised, sold, or otherwise presents itself as an e-bike despite not complying with e-bike laws. E-motos tend to be higher power than allowed under federal or state laws, with higher top speeds than allowed under federal or state laws, and often intentionally skirt regulation by saying they are for use on off-road areas or private property despite marketing their on-road use. In a more rational world, e-motos would be regulated and treated like mopeds or motorcycles but federal regulators, Congress, and state and local governments continue to conflate these faster unregulated vehicles with e-bikes rather than regulating them.

Governments and advocates are currently working hard, if unevenly, to define e-motos and differentiate them from e-bikes. At the federal level, the SAFE Speeds Act (HR 7839) would prohibit the sale of e-motos marketed as e-bikes and require a label for e-motos and e-bikes with relevant information to differentiate them. At the state level, Washington, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, and Colorado have adopted laws differentiating e-bikes and e-motos, often including restrictions on e-motos misrepresenting themselves as e-bikes. California is in the midst of strengthening its differentiation, but is already leading with its Attorney General issuing a consumer alert about e-motos. Advocates from Bike Colorado hope that when their labeling law goes into effect next year their Attorney General will similarly go after e-motos in violation of that law. Massachusetts chose to expand the 3-class system into four proposed tiers that would include motorcycles, providing a clearer differentiation of e-bikes and e-motos as part of a more expansive framework. Unfortunately, New Jersey’s law scrapped the 3-class system without fully addressing e-motos, providing strict regulation of low-speed electric bicycles while leaving e-motos without fully operable pedals unaddressed by regulation.

In questions from our webinar, most people appear to support differentiation but there are often disagreements about where differentiation should occur. Some people believe that anything above a Class 1 e-bike, with a top speed of 20 mph available only when pedaling, should be treated differently. Others see Class 2 e-bikes, with a top speed of 20 mph with a throttle, as important for people with disabilities or who use cargo e-bikes. And Class 3 e-bikes, with a top speed of 28 mph available only when pedaling, are often appreciated by people who have to use higher speed roads with limited bicycle infrastructure. 

At the very least, there is broad agreement that higher power and higher speed devices deserve more regulation and differentiation. The New Jersey Bike+ Walk Coalition showed advertisements for “e-bikes” with 3,000 or more watts of power and top speeds of 40 mph or more. Those e-motos are clearly not compliant with the federal definition of a low-speed electric bicycle and are often the “e-bikes” involved in highly reported crashes and deaths. Unfortunately, despite those facts, legislators in New Jersey chose to conflate e-bikes and e-motos, giving consumers little to no incentive to pick the slower and safer e-bike over the faster and more dangerous e-moto. Failing to differentiate does a disservice to people using low-speed e-bikes responsibly and, counterproductively, may encourage the use of e-motos.

Now Do Cars

In the moral panic about e-bikes it may be easy to get lost in the importance of differentiating between a 20 mph Class 2 e-bike and a 30 mph e-moto that weighs over 100 pounds. There are significant differences in how those devices operate, the regulations that govern their safety equipment, and the danger they pose to their riders. However, our streets are filled with vehicles of wide-ranging weights, horsepower, and top speeds. There is no class system for cars and trucks that differentiates between a Fiat 500e that weighs less than 3,000 pounds, has 118 horsepower, and a top speed of as low as 84 mph and a Tesla Cybertruck that weighs just under 7,000 pounds, has up to 845 horsepower, and a top speed of 130 mph. 

According to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which regulates e-bikes, since 2017 there have been 310 e-bike-related deaths. During that same time period, 315,900 people were killed in crashes involving a car or truck—1000 times more. Of the 310 e-bike-related deaths, a majority (170) were due to a crash with a motor vehicle.

Bike advocates want to engage productively in differentiating e-bikes and e-motos and ensuring that e-bikes are safe. But, regulation of e-bikes and e-motos alone cannot accomplish that goal. Too often, legislators are looking to restrict e-bikes rather than investing in safer streets or pursuing regulation of increasingly large, increasingly powerful, and increasingly fast cars and trucks. For legislators and safety advocates who are panicked about e-bikes, at some point they will have to confront the elephant-sized Cybertruck in the room or safety gains will remain elusive.

The post Webinar Recap: E-bikes, E-motos, Oh My: Navigating New Devices and Laws for E-Bikes appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

No, they can’t. Despite the administration’s current war on bike lanes, it is Congress’ job to write the law. The current transportation law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, includes significant funding for bicycling and walking thanks to the bike advocates who worked to secure those funds. 

How to Find Funding for Bike Projects

Here’s a link to the table showing which transportation programs fund which types of projects.

• If you are looking to build a bike lane, install bike parking, or fund bicycle education, you can search by type of project. 
• If your state or metropolitan planning organization just announced it is accepting applications for a specific program, you can search by type of project. 
• Here’s a link to the footnotes and program eligibility notes. 

Wondering what all those acronyms or terms mean? Explore these resources to find out:

• Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding Program Glossary 
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding Programs: Cross-Cutting Notes

A word on this data

This data is taken from the Federal Highway Administration’s website, and may be available here. As part of the administration’s mistaken belief that bike lanes cause congestion, the administration has removed data about bicycling and bike infrastructure from its website. The League is reproducing that data here, just in case it disappears from the official website. 

Turn around is fair play.

The first chart of this type was created by the League over a decade ago. At that time, staff at FHWA decided they should host something like this. We supported that and relied on their detailed data. Under current circumstances however, we thought we’d once again incorporate the data to our site.

The post Federal Funding for Bike Lanes (and other bike/ped infrastructure) appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Actions speak louder than words. We’ve written about Duffy saying he’s defunding “DEI bike lanes” and the priorities his department has put out for the next transportation bill: no funding for bike lanes, unless it’s to tear them out.  

US Department of Transportation officials say the issue isn’t bikes, it’s congestion. In a recent letter to Congress, Secretary Duffy asked legislators to restrict federal funding from bike lanes because he said they cause congestion. That doesn’t square with USDOT actions, since most of the RAISE grants cancelled in 2025 were trail projects!

Side note: I’d also just challenge the idea that bike lanes cause congestion. When advocates sued the Trump administration to stop their removal of the 15th Street bike lane in DC, they used a DC DOT before-and-after study showing that travel times and congestion decreased after the bike lanes were installed. (The Washington Area Bicycle Association won the lawsuit and the bike lane remains in place.)

The administration doesn’t care about our safety. Last month, we highlighted how the USDOT removed bike lanes from their list of proven safety countermeasures (including language that confirms bike lanes don’t cause congestion), and this month they deleted all mention of bicyclists from the USDOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy (which also went from 98 pages to 12) and not one mention of the fact that over 80% of bicyclist fatalities occur on federal aid highways. 

But maybe it’s just “DEI Bike lanes” the administration hates. First… what? Second, bike lanes improve safety for everyone: people biking, walking and driving. The League is here to defend bike lanes that increase safety and access—and transportation equity—for everyone.

What’s coming next?

The League isn’t 100% sure what the administration will do, but here’s what we are doing: 

• More bicycle safety, planning and best practice resources are likely to disappear from the FHWA website. The League is downloading and archiving important resources and will make them available, starting with a resource showing which federal programs can fund different types of bike infrastructure. 

• The administration will lean on congressional Republicans to limit eligibility for bicycle facilities on major roads like urban arterials and collector roads. Their argument is that these roads should be focused on commerce and evacuations and adding bicycle facilities will slow traffic. The League will fight this. Before-and-after studies and other data shows the addition of bike lanes does not cause congestion. 

• The League will continue to work with Congress to ensure federal legislation maintains broad eligibility for bicycling and walking in transportation law. The House already produced a bipartisan transportation reauthorization bill that did just that. We will also offer technical assistance to communities interested in building places better for bicycling who may want some help navigating federal regulations. 

You can act by: 

• Speaking up. Use our action alerts to contact your senators and your representative about the war on bikes. Then, reach out to their district office to set up a local meeting
  • Two ways to engage with your member of Congress:
    • Consider scheduling a district meeting with your member of Congress while they’re working from their home district.
    • Try hosting a “Show Congress” event to help your elected officials see the importance of bicycling and understand local priorities. We even have funding to help you organize Show Congress events: apply here!

• Advocating for bicycling in your community and state through your local bicycle advocacy organization. You can find them on our Local Resources map. 

• Riding your bike! The more of us out there, the harder we are to ignore.   

The post The War on Bike Lanes!  appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

To participate, simply click on this survey link and follow the step-by-step instructions. As with any survey, more feedback helps produce more powerful insights, so we encourage you to use this toolkit to share the BFS survey with others! You can even fill it out for different states, based on your experience biking there. Public survey data will be considered as part of our discretionary scoring, which makes up 10% of each state’s potential score.

We realize that it is difficult to collect data about bicycling statewide. Experiences may vary wildly from one side of a state to another, and it’s often difficult to disentangle choices and assign accountability among cities, counties, and the state DOT. States like Rhode Island can be ridden across in a day, while riding across a state like Texas may be more than a week-long endeavor. Because we know that detailed data is impossible, our survey is very high-level. Every question is based on a 1–to–5 thumbs-up scale, except for the question asking, “What one thing would you like to see your state do to improve bicycling?”

The Bicycle Friendly State survey will be open until September 1st September 14th (we extended the deadline!). Your participation is vital in helping us create a Bicycle Friendly America. We believe when more people ride bikes, life gets better for everyone. Thank you in advance for your time and input—together, we can build a future where bicycling is safe, enjoyable, and accessible for all. 

The post We Want You… To Tell Us About Biking In Your State appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

Since 2025, we’ve hosted five LCA Workshops from coast to coast and certified over 130 advocates. Each city puts a unique spin on their workshop with local speakers and place-based insights, and each workshop is structured to provide expertly curated resources, networking opportunities, and practical skills. 

“The magic of the LCA workshop is that we got to meet with a wide range of people that are actively involved in successful advocacy. We’ve learned today we’ll be able to connect in the future. And we met people across the country, so we can learn from each other. We can lift each other up. And when we are tired, we can help each other so that we can stay in the fight and achieve our goals.” — LCA Workshop participant

Demand is growing, and we’ve answered the call in the Midwest with our next LCA Workshop in Chicago on September 17.

Registration closes on August 14th, and seats are going fast, so sign up before tickets are sold out!

Learn from the most recent LCA Workshop

With the background of social justice woven into the culture and history of the Bay Area, the most recent workshop in Oakland, CA, set the stage for one of the most robust and radical LCA Workshops yet.

Hosted this past April with our friends at Bike East Bay, the Oakland workshop brought together thirty-five advocates from across the country to hone their skills around policy, organizing, and effective communication. Attendees heard from six expert guest speakers and got real-world experience biking around Oakland, exploring the on-the-ground advocacy that locals have successfully implemented. Read Bike East Bay’s recap blog about it and then watch their video below to hear from attendees themselves!

“There’s just a wealth of knowledge in this group. The speakers were excellent. I wish I could have them on speed dial personally. Great networking. It’s also humbling being around all these very inspiring people doing incredible things. And it’s uplifting, too, to meet other like-minded folks who are trying to make their communities better.” — Oakland LCA workshop participant

“For me, having not been in this space very long, I was mostly looking to fill in knowledge gaps that I have because it’s not like I went through any formal training in advocacy or policy or finance and budgeting or government, and so this was really effective for me… I’m coming out of this with a lot of information to process, and it’s a lot to think about and apply.” — LCA Workshop participant

Register Today and Level Up Your Advocacy

Registration for the upcoming LCA Workshop in Chicago closes on August 14th. We hope to see you there! Email anna@bikeleague.org with any questions.

The post Ready to Take Your Bike Advocacy to the Next Level? Join Us in Chicago appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.

I’d like to be able to point to the Federal Highway Administration’s proven safety countermeasure on bike lanes. That resource notes, “[s]tudies have found that roadways did not experience an increase in crashes or congestion when travel lane widths were decreased to add a bicycle lane.”

I can’t link to that Proven Safety Countermeasure though, because the administration has removed it from their website. 

In addition to bike lanes, the administration’s priorities also include removing transit from the Highway Trust Fund, which guarantees longer-term funding certainty for transit, ending complete streets funding in planning, not increasing advanced safety technology in cars, etc. It also includes priorities such as preserving daylight savings time permanently and renaming Penn Station in New York City. 

Duffy’s letter, which reads more like a messaging document than a serious set of policy recommendations, comes very late in the process. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the committee in charge of writing the bill, asked for priorities by May 2025. It also comes at a time when it’s clear the actual transportation reauthorization bill will be extended until December, and then almost definitely extended again into the next Congress. 

But it is still a threat. 

I read the priorities memo, not as a list of serious policy proposals the administration hopes to work with Congress to include in the next reauthorization bill, but rather a statement of their plans and purpose. This feels especially true when we know the administration is planning on implementing new rules on federal grants (all grants, not just transportation) starting October 1. 

Those new rules will put extreme burdens on grantees, remove the certainty that typically comes with grant funding, and allow the administration to cancel grants at any stage of the process if they are deemed outside of the administration’s priorities–like bike lanes. We’ve already heard that the administration may use these new rules to cancel a number of grants awarded under the Biden administration. 

A continuing war on bike lanes 

As many of you know, this is just the most recent escalation of the administration’s war on bike lanes. This fight dates back to Project 2025 and has been underway since the first day of the Trump administration when the president froze all federal grants. 

In 2025, multiple bike/ped grants were cancelled and even more grantees were directed to remove bike facilities from their grant proposals in order to secure funding. The FHWA human environment team, which housed many of their biking and walking experts, was dispersed, with several leaving and others reassigned, and guidance on requirements to include biking and walking access were removed from the website. 

This year, we saw the administration go after the 15th Street bike lane in Washington, DC. It was their first step in their plan to ban new bike lanes, and encourage the removal of existing bike lanes, on National Highway System (NHS) roads. NHS roads all have national importance for trade and during disasters, but many also serve as main streets in rural communities, as well as streets commonly used in downtown cities by people using all modes of transportation. The administration lost the court case, but I suspect the idea of disallowing bike lanes on NHS roads is still alive. 

For example, the administration released its Freedom to Drive initiative this summer, a tweet from Secretary Duffy about defunding “DEI bike lanes”, the removal of the Proven Safety Countermeasures and now this. 

What do we do

What we do is focus on Congress. It is Congress’s job to be a check on the administration, and they have a very powerful tool to do so: the next reauthorization bill. 

We must ensure Congress knows how important biking infrastructure is to their constituents (you) and ask them to ensure the USDOT follows the law. That means allowing the funding Congress intended for bicycling and walking to go to local priorities and local governments.

Congress is working from home in August and then again in October. This is a great time to meet with them in their district office, invite them for a bike ride or infrastructure tour, etc.  And we have resources to help you do that.

The post The real threat behind the Administration’s Transportation reauthorization recommendations appeared first on League of American Bicyclists.