Illinois ranked 15th in bike-friendly status
Illinois is 15th in the Bicycle Friendly State rankings, but just what does that mean? How does an entire state improve? These are likely to be among the key questions circulating at the 2022 Illinois Bike Summit Oct. 12-13 in Champaign.
With support from Champaign County Bikes, Ride Illinois, the statewide, nonprofit bike advocacy organization, is hosting the biennial statewide bike summit at Champaign's I Hotel & Conference Center.
Biking champions across Illinois - transportation planners, advocates, shop owners, engineers, lawyers and everyday cyclists - are invited to share ideas, collaborate and inspire one another. More importantly, they can wrestle with the shared challenge of making Illinois more bike friendly.
Ride Illinois is tackling this challenge head on. A top five U.S. ranking is what “we're aiming for within the next 5-10 years,” said Dave Simmons, executive director of Ride Illinois.
Since 2008, the League of American Bicyclists has ranked Illinois as high as eighth and as low as 22nd.
While the 2020 summit was entirely virtual due to the pandemic, this year's Illinois Bike Summit registration offers both in-person and virtual participation rates. Ride Illinois members receive a $40 discount. Twelve plenary and breakout sessions are available for those unable to attend in person, while several others are also available to in-person attendees.
More than a ranking
LAB's Bicycle Friendly America program will be featured at three summit panel sessions Oct. 12. More than just assessing “bike friendliness,” the BFA program provides direction and assistance to help businesses, universities, communities and states become safer and more connected for people who ride bikes for transportation and recreation.
Besides a ranking system, the BFA program “provides a practical blueprint, hands-on assistance and resources to help make places better for bicycling,” per LAB's website. LAB staff provide customized feedback to every entity that applies for bike friendly status, whether they achieve bronze level or not. Those that do also benefit from suggestions on achieving higher levels.
Among bike-friendly businesses, for example, a smaller organization like Elgin Community Bikes receives different advice than Chicago's Milhouse Engineering and Construction, Inc., with over 180 employees. Both businesses earned bike friendly status this past May 16 when LAB announced BFA business results - Elgin gold and Milhouse bronze.
Terry Witt, former ride leader and advocacy director for Bartlett's Spin Doctor Cyclewerks, submitted that bike shop's first application in 2009, a year after the BFA program launched for businesses.
“Every business can be recognized for its bicycle-friendly efforts. It could be a park, school, village department, library, church. The first step is apply. The league will help everyone in the process,” said Witt.
Spin Doctor Cyclewerks achieved bronze level in 2009, silver in 2011 and gold status in May.
Witt adds, “Once we applied, the league's feedback was invaluable in guiding our growth.”
Illinois is home to 17 communities that have already earned bike friendly status, 10 in the Chicago area. In addition, 25 Illinois businesses (13 Chicago area) and 11 universities (5 Chicago area) have qualified.
State report card
At the state level, BFA focuses on all aspects of a state's bicycle programs, from advocacy groups to law enforcement to the department of transportation. The Bicycle Friendly State Report Card for Illinois shows its overall ranking, plus scores in five categories: Legislation/enforcement; policies/programs; infrastructure/funding; education/encouragement; and evaluation/planning.
Boosting its overall ranking, Illinois demonstrated progress in five bike-friendly actions. These include a Complete Streets policy, safe passing law, statewide bike plan, spending 2% or more of federal transportation money on biking/walking, and a bicycle safety emphasis area.
Amelia Neptune, Bicycle Friendly America program director and former University of Illinois campus biking coordinator, notes BFA's four components expanding over the years: Bicycle Friendly Community in 1995, Bicycle Friendly Business in 2008, and both Bicycle Friendly University and State in 2011.
At the Illinois Bike Summit, LAB Program Specialist Anna Tang will overview the BFA initiative along with Gabe Lewis, transportation planner with the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission.
In a later session, Tang, Simmons and Cynthia Hoyle, Ride Illinois board president, will examine other states biking efforts and what Illinois needs to do to become more bike friendly.
Tang, Lewis and Bill Brown, chair of Urbana's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, will present a workshop on how residents, business owners, elected officials, and municipal staff play a role in developing a bicycle friendly community.
'Pedaling forward together'
Simmons and Jeff Yockey, board vice-chair of Champaign County Bikes, will kick off the summit with its theme of “Pedaling Forward Together.” Like other biking advocates, Simmons believes “bikes are so much more than toys. They must be included in discussions about mitigating climate change, improving public health, and our suitable infrastructure.
“Progress will require cooperation and collaboration,” he said. “We'll be appealing to individuals, businesses, community organizations, municipalities, elected officials and others for a concerted, focused effort on behavior change, using bikes more for short trips and transportation, and societal attitude change as well.”
Other summit topics reinforce that need for collaboration: education for bicyclists and motorists, bikeway design, community involvement, e-bikes future, transportation equity, and lessons learned from biking policies abroad.
The second day, requiring separate registration, offers professional training for planners and engineers with a focus on bikeway, roadway and Complete Streets design. Professional development credits will be available Oct. 13 for qualified individuals and for specific sessions Oct. 12.
Join the ride. Contact Ralph Banasiak at alongfortheridemail@gmail.com.