Washington, DC—Communities as diverse as Milwaukee, Wis., Carrboro, N.C. and Longmont, Colo. now share an achievement—they are all Bicycle Friendly Communities, as designated by the League of American Bicyclists. This program analyzes bicycle friendliness in five areas: education, enforcement, encouragement, engineering and evaluation. Communities are rated platinum, gold, silver or bronze. Fifteen cities earned or renewed the designation in April 2006, and four communities earned an Honorable Mention.

Eight cities are awarded the BFC designation for the first time:

Gold

• Madison, Wis.

• San Francisco, Calif.

• Tucson/Pima Eastern Region, Ariz. *

Silver

• Bellingham, Wash.

Bronze

• Flagstaff, Ariz.

• Milwaukee, Wis.

• Sunnyvale, Calif.

• South Sioux City, Neb.

* Includes Tucson, Pima County, South Tucson, Tohono O'Odham, Pasqua Yaqui, Oro Valley, Marana, Sahuarita, and the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Seven communities successfully renewed their designation.

Silver

• Gainesville, Fla.

Bronze

• Ashland, Ore.

• Brentwood, Calif.

• Carrboro, N.C.

• Longmont, Colo.

• Mountain View, Calif.

• Presidio of San Francisco, Calif.

Four communities were given honorable mentions.

• Philadelphia, Pa.
• Portage, Mich. (formerly bronze)

• Rochester, Minn.

• Rockville, Md. (formerly bronze)

“We salute these communities for their tremendous commitment to improving conditions for bicyclists,” said Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “They are making the streets safer for bicycling, educating bicyclists and motorists to share the road, promoting a wide range of bicycling activities and even stepping up the enforcement of traffic laws to protect bicyclists.”

Notable features of this round of applications include:

Despite brutal winters, Madison, Wis. is setting the gold standard, with exceptional signage for bicyclists and a cutting-edge share the road program. San Francisco, Calif. , despite its famous hills, has a large and active bicycling population, and the city has an intricate network of signage, lanes, and public transportation to support and encourage bicycling. The Tucson/Pima Eastern Region, Ariz area has been working very hard to move up from silver to gold, with some impressive achievements in engineering.

Bellingham, Wash. impressed League reviewers with its trail projects and education program. Longmont, Colo.'s renewal was very strong, because the city completed three major projects in the past year: two underpasses at arterial roadways and one bridge over a river.

Flagstaff, Ariz. offers great bicycling encouragement, and has an aggressive bike plan they are working hard to implement. Milwaukee, Wis. is creating a great bicycling community in a place where it isn't necessarily expected—recently the city suspended a bike-pedestrian bridge from an existing bridge. In Sunnyvale, Calif. , traffic signal bicycle loop detection has been installed comprehensively. South Sioux City, Neb. is a small community that is entirely accessible to bicycles, due to share the road signs and low traffic volume.

The League's Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign is a national grassroots effort to increase the number of trips made by bike, promote physical fitness, and help make communities more livable. The Campaign works in the most effective way possible-town by town, city by city-to encourage bicycling and achieve a bicycle-friendly America. The Campaign is supported by a generous grant from the Bikes Belong Coalition ( www.bikesbelong.org ).

The League of American Bicyclists promotes bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation, and works through advocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly America. The League represents the interests of America's 57 million bicyclists, including its 300,000 members and affiliates. For more information or to support the League, visit www.bikeleague.org and www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org .