Virginia 10th Overall in Bicycle Friendly State Rankings, 1st in Southern Region

admin October 25, 2017 @vabike

For the first time, Virginia is one of the top ten Bicycle Friendly States in the League of American Bicyclists’ rankings. The new 10th place is way up from 23rd in 2008, and hovering in the teens since 2010. Virginia ranks first among the League’s Southern Region states.

Rank is based on the following factors:

Infrastructure & Funding — 20%
Education & Encouragement — 15%
Legislation & Enforcement — 15%
Policies & Programs — 20%
Evaluation & Planning — 20%
Discretionary Scoring — 10%

Virginia scored a full, 15/15 points for advocacy — a nice compliment about our work here at the Virginia Bicycling Federation, especially in the state legislature, and being engaged with VDOT. From the Report Card:

“Virginia has taken numerous steps through its legislature
and through its Department of Transportation to take action
on some past key feedback points. These steps, in some
cases, have addressed long-standing complaints from bicycle
and pedestrian advocates, particularly Virginia’s former law
that punished communities that implemented road diets.
Hopefully, these steps are emblematic of a broader embrace
of bicycling and walking as part of Virginia’s transportation
system.”

Download the 2017 Bicycle Friendly State Report Card (PDF, 3 pages), and the accompanying guide (PDF, 13 pages).