In its latest digital magazine, the League of American Bicyclists profiles our own award-winning Safety Education Program Manager, Nedra Deadwyler, and offers tips for communities who want to move up to Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community status.

Nedra was honored at the 2016 National Bike Summit as one of the League’s 2016 Educators of the Year. We’re so proud of her work to teach safe bicycling to Georgians of all ages and of her tireless efforts to inform law enforecement officers in Georgia of bicyclist rights and responsibilities. The full article is available here. Way to go, Nedra!

The second article offers Arlington, VA as a model case study for commuities who want to improve their ranking from Bronze to Silver (all of Georgia’s designated BFC’s are Bronze…so far!). Top tips:

  • Create low stress networks: A bike route is only as safe as the least safe segment. Do families have to cross busy, high-speed highways to reach their destination? If so, they probably won’t bike.
  • Invest in better bike parking: A lonely, beat-up bike rack hidden behind a fence does not communicate that bicyclists are welcome. There are plenty of great products out there (Dero and Saris to name but two).
  • Get beyond basic bike lanes: 4′ of pavement with a narrow stripe of white paint does not make most people feel safe. Emphasize best practices facilities like protected bike lanes.
  • Count people on bikes! In traffic engineering world, if you’re not counted, you don’t count.