Schaumburg Receives Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community Designation

The Village of Schaumburg has been named a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) Designation from the League of American Bicyclists for its continued commitment to improve bicycling through policies, infrastructure and programs.

Schaumburg was the first community in Illinois recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a Bicycle Friendly Community in 1999. Schaumburg's recertification as a Bronze level community includes the village in a leading group of communities across the U.S. that is transforming neighborhoods to make bicycling a safe and convenient option for transportation and recreation.

"The village is pleased to receive this distinction once again for our continued investment and commitment to provide safe bicycling options throughout Schaumburg," said Director of Transportation Karyn Robles. "The village has always been a champion of bicycling, and this designation allows us to further evaluate areas where we can continue to improve."

The Bronze BFC award recognizes Schaumburg's commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies. The BFC program provides a benchmark for communities to evaluate these conditions and policies, while highlighting areas for improvement. The national scope of the program also promotes competition and comparison between communities.

"Since the village's major growth spurt in the 1960s and 70s, Schaumburg has always incorporated multimodal transportation into our planning with emphasis on biking as a key component in building a more livable community," said Schaumburg Village President Al Larson.

Schaumburg has 90 miles of bike path and 1,000 bike parking racks and locker spaces. The village's biking program hosts two annual biking events in May - the Fahrrad Tour von Schaumburg and Bike to Work Week - to encourage biking. The village is also a member of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's Bike and Pedestrian Task Force and the Northwest Municipal Bicycle Committee, both of which focus on advancing bicycle advocacy in the village and neighboring communities. For more information on bicycling in Schaumburg, visit the village's website at http://bit.ly/2ge6b3C.

The BFC program provides a roadmap to building a Bicycle Friendly Community and the application itself has become a rigorous and educational tool. Since its inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied and the five levels of the award - diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze - provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.

There are 404 communities currently recognized with a BFC award for their efforts to improve bicycling. For more information on the American League of Bicyclists and Bicycle Friendly America, visit their website at http://bikeleague.org/community.