Ranking of States' Bike Friendliness

[kfergos]

The League of American Bicyclists has released a listing of how bike-friendly each state is (http://www.bikeleague.org/news/090508bfs.php). The top and bottom rankings:

Top 5

1. Washington
2. Wisconsin
3. Arizona
4. Oregon
5. Minnesota

Bottom 5

46. North Dakota
47. Mississippi
48. Alabama
49. Georgia
50. West Virginia

They also provide an explanation for each ranking (http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/index.php) in a somewhat cool interactive map.

[sundial]

I'm impressed that Arkansas didn't rank in the lowest 5. This state does not accommodate road cyclists with good roads or traffic.

[Thorn]

As a Wisconsin-ite, I find the ranking both surprising and not so surprising. Areas of the state are extremely bike friendly, we have a lot of paved rural roads and a very active bike federation that has made new and existing roads better for cycling.

As a resident of the metro-Milwaukee area, however, it is surprising. Were the stats to be gathered today would we fare so well? This summer we've had 4 hit and run fatalities in the 5-county area. Obviously, that midwestern politeness is wearing off.

[pardes]

How sad that the "First State," Delaware came in 31st in the rankings. Delaware IS more bike-friendly than it used to be but we have a long way to go yet.

Caesar Rodney made his famous ride from Dover to Philadelphia in order to sign the Declaration of Independence. It took him a very long time for the ride through rainstorms and fighting his ilness of disfiguring face cancer.

Given the horrible state of some of the roads for bikes in Delaware, it would be a long and death-defying ride to do the same trip by bike.

I'm surprised that the local bicycle advocates haven't staged a repeat of Rodney's ride to advertise the need for safer roads for bikes.

Hmmmmmm........(the wheels are turning......)

[OakLeaf]

I was astounded to see Florida ranked in the top half.

It appears the rankings may have been largely bestowed based on attitudes expressed in legislation and government initiatives, without any regard to what it's actually like to cycle in those states.

[OakLeaf]

I'm surprised that the local bicycle advocates haven't staged a repeat of Rodney's ride to advertise the need for safer roads for bikes.

Hmmmmmm........(the wheels are turning......)

Wow, that's a great idea, Pardes.

... are you turning into a (gasp) COMMUNITY ORGANIZER? :p

[mods: okay okay I'll stop]

[Becky]

Truthfully, I don't really understand how they calculated Delaware's score (or any of the others, for that matter). The rumble strip thing just confuses me, seeing as none of "my" roads have them, and DE has had a 0.08 BAC level for a few years now. How old is this data?

That said, 31 sounds about right to me. I would love to share my ride to work with our gubernatorial candidates. I think that it would open some eyes...it certainly did when we escorted our division director to work via bike.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

Pardes I'll do it with you. As long as I don't have to ride down Rt 13 or 40, I'll be okay. Hmmm...or 141 or the Kirkwood Hwy. There used to be a Jack in the Box on Kirkwood Hwy across from Prices Corner, but I digress. I remember talking into the clown head. Ah...the good ol days...

[kfergos]

Thinking about this more and reading your comments, it occurs to me that it would be interesting to have CYCLISTS rate their state, say on a scale of 1 to 10, on biking quality factors:

1. Road quality (paving, cleanliness/debris, shoulder width)
2. Driver behavior & education re: cycling
3. Cycling amenities (bike lanes, stoplights that recognize cyclists, etc.)
4. Quality of bike paths (bathroom/water stops at regular intervals, quality of paving, width, debris, maintenance)
5. What else? What other factors contribute to your thinking of a ride as good rather than bad?

Factoring that in with what the LAB people looked at might give a more accurate overall bike friendliness rating. Then again, all states can't be in the bottom five, even though most of us probably feel our state belongs there!

[pardes]

Wow, that's a great idea, Pardes.

... are you turning into a (gasp) COMMUNITY ORGANIZER? :p

[mods: okay okay I'll stop]

Oakleaf--Well thanks to "The 5 Minute Manager" idea of handling an idea immediately, I have already sent an email volunteering this idea to the Delaware Bicycle Council. (http://www.deldot.gov/information/community_programs_and_services/bike/about/membership.shtml)

It's the baby boomer hippie in me. I can see it now.....everyone dressed in "Pale Rider" (http://www.amazon.com/pale-rider-Caesar-immortal-affectionate/dp/B0007HBG7C) costumes like Rodney.....film at 11.

Tahoey, I remember Jack in the Box! Where is a good clown head now to talk into now.....sigh.....

Becky, I'd be happy if I could get a safer way to cross the interstate on 273 so I could more easily get to University Plaza to do grocery shopping. Every car attempts to flatten you on a bike as they take the right lane to get onto I-95. I haven't been brave enough to try it yet so I go the long way round via Churchman's road whic has its own problems on the narrow bridge crossing I-95. I have a video in the works now on that subject titled "Road Kill."

[roadie gal]

I don't know how they can do those rankings. It's so variable from community to community.

[mimitabby]

no kidding, Roadie Girl. We have entire counties that we don't like to ride in!

[Becky]

Becky, I'd be happy if I could get a safer way to cross the interstate on 273 so I could more easily get to University Plaza to do grocery shopping. Every car attempts to flatten you on a bike as they take the right lane to get onto I-95. I haven't been brave enough to try it yet so I go the long way round via Churchman's road whic has its own problems on the narrow bridge crossing I-95. I have a video in the works now on that subject titled "Road Kill."

Staring at the ADC map, the only thing I see that looks promising is Chapman Road via Salem Church Road. I sure as heck wouldn't use 273, at least not near that interchange. PM me with a better idea of where you're coming from, and I might have some other ideas....though it's been awhile since we've lived in Newark.are concerned.

Which bridge over 95? The one near DelTech Stanton? :confused:

BTW, I wouldn't rely on the DelDOT bike maps...we just got our new ones and, IMHO, they've taken a step backwards.

[pardes]

That's what I am doing. Salem Church road to Chapman Road. It's the bridge on Chapman Road that crosses I-95. Actually all of Chapman Road is quite pleasant and wide from Christiana High School to University Plaza EXCEPT for the bridge which narrows significantly and the cars travel very VERY fast over the bridge. I walk the bridge on the eight inch "sidewalk" but even that gets sticky when a truck comes along.

[Becky]

That's what I am doing. Salem Church road to Chapman Road. It's the bridge on Chapman Road that crosses I-95. Actually all of Chapman Road is quite pleasant and wide from Christiana High School to University Plaza EXCEPT for the bridge which narrows significantly and the cars travel very VERY fast over the bridge. I walk the bridge on the eight inch "sidewalk" but even that gets sticky when a truck comes along.

Oooooooooooooh! Ok, now I get it. My apologies....I didn't realize that's where you were referring to. Yikes! I don't see anything better than that on the map :(

This has been one of my long-standing DE bicycle beefs: not enough safe ways over 95.

[Aggie_Ama]

no kidding, Roadie Girl. We have entire counties that we don't like to ride in!

Exactly! Travis County (home of Austin) is no treat to ride in. The people are down right evil half the time, impatient and just fiesty. Bike lanes start and stop with no rhyme or reason. Williamson County, my home equally awful. Every Bubba in a Ford has an opinion of you and it isn't usually nice. All the people barrelling to soccer practice or wherever are oblivious, drive on shoulders, etc. There are a couple bike lanes I have seen but they are random and seem to not safely take you to another bike lane, they also stop and start like they were an after thought. Very few paths and they are all just short MUTs, usually leading in a circle. There is talks of a path to run the width of the county but I will not hold my breath on that! The only plus is the northern part of the county is sparsely populated and you can get room to roam on the county roads out there.

But Burnet County, next door neighbors are super nice. Roads are spotty on repair and mostly small county roads with no shoulder but the pace of life is quieter and the people just a bit nicer. Jeff Davis County (middle of no where, TX) very nice, courteous drivers and really nice roads probably due to lack of traffic. Whatever county Leakey/Concan (hill country), friendly folk there too, even some small shoulders on the farm roads.

And the 6ft rumble policy? Ha! That is a load of BS. I am happy to not get buzzed most days. If you base it off Austin area, we deserved to be in the bottom half for sure.

[Thorn]

5. What else? What other factors contribute to your thinking of a ride as good rather than bad?
there!

Law enforcement behavior to cyclists. Do the cops understand the cycling laws? Locally, we have cops that don't give us the required 3 feet on the road and in one city we have cops that state we have no right to be on the road if we can't ride the speed limit. (yes, that is in #2 ranked Wisconsin).

I think the survey that drove the rankings did cover things like having a vehicular homicide law, but what about the response of the DA's on a bicycle/car collision? Hand slap? Or reasonable charges? Again, we had a rider doored in Madison and the cyclist was charged with failure to yield 3 feet, but the car was not charged with obstructing traffic.

[pardes]

This has been one of my long-standing DE bicycle beefs: not enough safe ways over 95.

Good point! Now it's YOUR turn to email the Delaware Bicycle Council. I'm not sure they are ready for Becky and Pardes.

[Becky]

Good point! Now it's YOUR turn to email the Delaware Bicycle Council. I'm not sure they are ready for Becky and Pardes.

Just fired off an email to report a traffic signal that won't detect bikes, and to thank them for sweeping Rogers Road (without me asking this time :)).

Generally, I have better reponses from the maintenance division than the DBC....their hands appear to be politically-tied on an awful lot of issues.

I would suggest that you email both the DBC and the maintenance division re: the Chapman Road bridge. Sooner or later, that bridge will be re-done....and maybe they'll widen it if they're aware of the problem. That's exactly what happened with the Churchman's Road bridge over 95.

BTW: http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/member/delaware. They meet tonight. If I didn't have another meeting to go to already, I'd consider going.

[PscyclePath]

I'm impressed that Arkansas didn't rank in the lowest 5. This state does not accommodate road cyclists with good roads or traffic.


The questionnaires were all filled out online by the state bicycle coordinators, based on a pretty generic outline. I helped out a little with ours in several of the areas, since Bud is fairly new...

Arkansas ranked 39th, which is a lot higher than I would have expected. Most of our points came from the fact that there are no statewide laws that restrict cyclists' rights or activities, and in that we've quadrupled the number of LCIs we have in the past calendar year, as well as gotten busy with teaching the BikeEd courses here and there.

There were no question regarding road-raged cagers or road surface quality.

Having ridden a lot in Georgia, I didn't think they were all that bad, and maybe a little more enlightened than back here at home. But the League was apparently looking elsewhere.

The next round of questionnaires is supposed to get tougher, though...

Tom

[sundial]

There were no question regarding road-raged cagers or road surface quality.


You know what's interesting is that when I looked at touring maps for cyclists there were few, if any, roads recommended in Arkansas. But if your are a mtb'er, you have some really nice trails to enjoy. Syllamo Trail in Mountain View is ranked in the top 10 nationally.

[TrekTheKaty]

Missouri finished 28th. Tied for 1st in enforcement, but 42nd in infrastructure. I guess that means if I get hit on a crappy road, they'll write the crazy driver a ticket!

Thanks to MoBikeFed for being out there and improving our ranking! Keep up the good work!

[tab123]

I take all of these surveys with a grain of salt. I live in Chicago, which is supposedly one of America's most bike friendly cities. If this is friendly, I would hate to see unfriendly. Maybe once we have real bike lanes on the major routes into downtown, I'll believe it.

[GraysonKelly]

Thinking about this more and reading your comments, it occurs to me that it would be interesting to have CYCLISTS rate their state, say on a scale of 1 to 10, on biking quality factors:

1. Road quality (paving, cleanliness/debris, shoulder width)
2. Driver behavior & education re: cycling
3. Cycling amenities (bike lanes, stoplights that recognize cyclists, etc.)
4. Quality of bike paths (bathroom/water stops at regular intervals, quality of paving, width, debris, maintenance)
5. What else? What other factors contribute to your thinking of a ride as good rather than bad?

Factoring that in with what the LAB people looked at might give a more accurate overall bike friendliness rating. Then again, all states can't be in the bottom five, even though most of us probably feel our state belongs there!

As a representative of WV and having lived, worked, or played over almost every square inch of the state I can say that WV for the most part belongs at the bottom of that list.
As for the criteria to rank the state:
1. Roads are forever being "worked on" and shoulders are nonexistent except for the outer areas of Charleston.
2. Driver education? If you aren't a cyclist then you don't know anything about cycling or cycling rules and you heckle or intimidate every chance you get. (a sweeping generalization perhaps, but accurate from my experiences)
3. Yeah, no. (Charleston the slight exception)
4. Rail trail is the only thing we've got that could be considered a bike path. No amenities unless you happen to ride by a "city" (20-30 miles of just you) and they are crushed limestone paths.
5. What we need in this state for cyclists is a list I won't go into here.
*If you are into mountain biking then it's a nice area to do that. Trails are usually very well maintained, marked etc from what I understand.

[TrekTheKaty]

I'm in Athens, Ga on business today--funny how towns think that if they throw up a "bike friendly" sign, they are good to go! No way I would have ridden my bike on the 4-lane, no shoulder, busy street--just because there is a sign! Guess they are trying to raise awareness, but I only see repaving shoulders as they way to get me out there:mad: