Communities can encourage walking and bicycling in many ways - adding sidewalks, bike lanes and trails, starting educational and encouragement programs, creating incentives for businesses and individuals, enforcing bike-friendly traffic laws and planning to improve walking and bicycling conditions in the future.

Below are a few examples of great communities for Active Transportation. Nominate your community to be recognized for its efforts in promoting walking and bicycling. You can also contact your local government and encourgae them to apply for a Bicycle Friendly Community designation from the League of American Bicyclists. Learn more at www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org

http://www.ci.boulder.co.us

Boulder, Colorado received the gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community Award in May of 2004 and has enjoyed both political and financial support for bicycling infrastructure and promotion. Their public outreach campaign, "Courtesy is Contagious," launched in June 2002, has been a tremendous success. The campaign employs print media and a team of ambassadors to exchange ideas and information with the community. The program's goals are to reduce the number of bike and pedestrian-related injuries, and to create more active and livable neighborhoods by increasing bicycle and pedestrian trips More...

http://www.sbbike.org/region/region.html

Santa Barbara, California received the silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community Award in August of 2003. The city conducted a $200 per day giveaway to all downtown employees who bicycled to work or used an alternative mode of transportation during a six-month period. Space permitting, Santa Barbara installs safe bicycle parking facilities in front of any local business that request it and provides materials on traffic laws, safety at night, and employer assistance opportunities. Santa Barbara was a partner in a Safe Routes to School planning project to increase the safety of bicycling and walking to school. More...

http://outdoortravels.com/files

Orlando, Florida received the bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community Award in October of 2004, a huge improvement since being named one of the nation's worst cities for cycling in 1990. Orlando has recently focused on bicycle education efforts aimed at making bicycling safer and more enjoyable in the city. Last June, a League Cycling Instructor offered a training program for local schoolteachers designed to improve bike safety education in their schools and taught a course in bicycle use and safety to Walt Disney World employees. Orlando has surpassed its 200-mile benchmark for bikeways ahead of schedule.More...

www.northcarolinatravels.com/carrboro

Carrboro, North Carolina was granted the League's bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community Award in May of 2004. The Town of Carrboro has made an ongoing commitment to bicycle facility planning since the mid-1970s. Over the past 25 years, the town has utilized its bonding authority to develop bike lanes and bike paths, has worked cooperatively to include bike lanes in all state road improvement projects, and has amended its street standards to include bike lanes as a requirement on all collector roads. The Town now has bike lanes along 12 miles of streets. According to the 2000 Census, 5.2 percent of residents in Carrboro bike to work More...