Five Bicycle Friendly Cities in the U.S.

Five U.S. Cities Where You Can Cycle Safely 

What if you live in a city and want to go for a ride? Where do you go to have a safe, stress free experience without the interference of cars or pedestrians? There are many bicycle friendly cities in the U.S., but as you’ll often find, some are safer than others.

Many never even think that a major city would be a safe place to ride. However, in many major cities, there have been many improvements to neglected bicycle lanes and new parks and trails to primarily accommodate avid bicyclists.

So, if you live in one of these following cities, you may want to get a bike, or get the one sitting in your garage or apartment tuned up and go for a ride.

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city of approximately 584,000 people, and one of the most bicycle friendly places in the country. Portland currently has 319 miles of bicycle pathways, combining up to 180 miles of city lanes and roughly 79 miles of paths that are off the major streets.

Portland is also known for their use of bike boxes; green colored squares that give bicyclists the opportunity to wait at traffic lights in front of cars. These boxes help prevent accidents and increase visibility between bikes and cars, giving bicyclists a slight edge when the light turns green. According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, 6% of Portland’s population commutes by bicycle on a daily basis: roughly 17,000 people.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis is a fun place to ride a bike, and has adopted many innovative measures and bicycle friendly policies to ensure overall safety. Much of this is revolved around community-based organizations, such as the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, that have inspired people to get on their bicycles. Minneapolis offers Nice Ride, a non-profit bicycle sharing system, somewhat similar to the ZipCar, which has given residents the ability to pick up and return bicycles as needed and return them to affiliated stations within the overall system.

Minneapolis has roughly 35 miles worth of bicycle lanes and bicycle freeways, including the Cedar Lake Regional Trail, a 4.5-mile run that starts in downtown Minneapolis and links to numerous trails through the city’s suburban areas.

Seattle, Washington

In addition to being one of our greenest cities, politics have played an important part in enhancing Seattle’s overall bicycle safety. For example, many riders were frustrated by a lack of support from local officials in regards to bicycle safety, so members of the Cascade Bicycle Club started their own political organization and ran for office, with a large number actually winning. This has been seen as crucial in major developments to promote safe bicycling paths and roadways. The two-way cycle path on Broadway is one of Seattle’s major avenues. Cars have their own lanes, while bicyclists have one mile of lanes running in both directions as well as green bike box intersections making it easier to negotiate difficult turns. In addition to the Broadway path, there are also a variety of planned greenways to interconnect with Broadway, giving greater access to bicyclists.

San Francisco, California

San Francisco is considered a safe city to ride in, especially with a plethora of laws and regulations, such as mandatory reflectors and a citywide ban on wearing headphones and using cell phones while riding. Improvements to the city’s infrastructure have allowed for safer overall riding, in an area that oftentimes tends to be incredibly congested. Bicycling has improved dramatically with these additions, and even Twitter, which has its headquarters in Frisco, has mentioned that up to 25% of their employees ride their bicycles to work. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors have implemented a safety plan that will, over the years, help to increase safe bicycle use, and it seems to be working.

Washington, D.C.

Our nation’s capital is, without question, an interesting place to ride. There are roughly 45 miles of lanes throughout the city, as well as two bicycle-sharing services to accommodate all the cyclists in town. D.C. has 975 cycling trails and up to 50 miles of bicycle lanes that often avoids crazy inner city traffic, with a focus on recreational trails and back streets. There are many bicycle clubs in the city which host organized rides throughout the year, so if you think you know D.C., you’ll find there’s much more to see. It’s also a great city to ride through at night, when all the monuments are lit up.