Through our annual VoteForBikes campaign, PeopleForBikes champions pro-bike ballot measures that can unlock substantial new funding for bike infrastructure in communities across the country. Since 2019, PeopleForBikes has helped secure nearly $50 billion in state and local funding for bikes. Our goal is to generate another $77 billion for bike projects between 2025 and 2028.

In the 2025 general election, we supported three critical bike-related measures on local ballots. Those that were on the ballot won, and they won big! Voters in Portland, OR; Spokane, WA; and Boise, ID, all voted YES for more funding for parks, trails, and connectivity to sustain and grow access to recreational biking. In total, voters approved $707 million in new funding, $50 million of which will go directly to improve biking. Earlier this year, voters in King County, WA; Anchorage, AK; Durango, CO, and others also approved $1.67 billion for biking, bringing new 2025 funding to of total of $1,718,515,000.

Portland voters passed Measure 26-260 with 75% approval, authorizing the city to increase its parks levy by 75%. The estimated $84 million raised by this measure will go to keeping parks facilities and programs running smoothly.

Voters in Spokane passed Proposition 1, also known as the Together Spokane initiative, with 55% approval. Prop 1 authorizes the city to invest a portion of $240 million in parks and recreation, creating and maintaining safe places to recreate, such as parks and trails.

Boise voters passed their Open Space Levy with 80% approval, an astonishing victory that authorizes the city to spend portions of $11 million over two years to enhance open spaces for recreation throughout the city. This includes key initiatives like responsible land management, buying and developing new parks, preserving open space, and building new pathways to connect the city.

Anchorage voters passed Propositions 2 and 3, generating $11,550,000 total over 20 years.

Proposition 2, the Roads and Storm Drainage Bond, provides $3,300,000 million to fund bike and pedestrian safety upgrades on roads across Anchorage. This funding will improve safety for all road users and promote increased active transportation opportunities.

Proposition 3, the Parks and Recreation Service Area Capital Improvement Bond, provides $8,250,000 in funding for 17 improvement projects to parks and trails. This funding will keep outdoor recreation opportunities safe, accessible, and available.

Durango voters passed Ballot Issue 2A, generating $180,000,000 over 30 years. Ballot Issue 2A renews a half-cent sales tax, first approved by voters in 2005, at the same rate until December 2056. This generates approximately $6,000,000 annually with half of revenue allocated to open space acquisition, parks, and trail development and maintenance in accordance with the city’s Parks, Open Space, Trail, and Recreation Master Plan. This will continue Durango's world-class investment in infrastructure that facilitates more opportunities to get outside and ride a bike.

Plano voters approved Proposition G, creating $40,795,000 in new funding. As part of the largest bond referendum in city history, Proposition G will fund open space land acquisition and development of the city's recreational trail system in accordance with the Parks, Recreation, Trails, and Open Space Master Plan and Bicycle Transportation Map to increase opportunities to ride a bike around Plano.

Thanks to voters like you making your voice heard, we showed that Americans across the country value access to more safe and connected places to ride a bike. Thank you for joining us in voting to support vibrant communities where people and the environment are happier and healthier and everyone can access affordable and safe modes of transportation and recreation.

Know a ballot measure that should be on our radar for 2026? Email PeopleForBikes Senior Manager of State and Local Policy Noah Miterko at noah@peopleforbikes.org.

Looking for even more ways to get involved and make a difference? Explore PeopleForBikes’ infrastructure work to support more great places to ride in your backyard and become a PeopleForBikes Foundation member to support better biking in your community and hundreds of others across the U.S.

Voters Approve Nearly $2 Billion to Support Better Biking in 2025

Trailnet’s vision for a connected bike network linking neighborhoods, jobs, parks, and other destinations is becoming a reality as projects like the Tower Grove Connector break ground across the city. (Image courtesy of Trailnet). 

In 2018, PeopleForBikes invested $10,000 in a citywide campaign to build a safe, connected bike network for people of all ages and abilities in St. Louis, Missouri. Led by Trailnet — a St. Louis-based nonprofit working to make walking and biking a way of life through better infrastructure, education, and advocacy — the effort is now transforming how residents and visitors move around the city.

St. Louis is one of dozens of U.S. cities using PeopleForBikes’ resources to guide investments that make biking safer and more efficient for everyday travel.

Trailnet’s Connecting St. Louis Plan created a bold, community-driven vision for a connected, low-stress bikeway network linking neighborhoods, jobs, parks, transit, and other key destinations. Today, that vision is shifting from advocacy to on-the-ground change.

“When we released the Connecting St. Louis Plan in 2019, we wanted to spark momentum,” said Chantal Incandela, Trailnet’s director of marketing and communications. “We’re now seeing that momentum turn into concrete, protected infrastructure that truly changes people’s everyday experience of moving through the city.”

Expanding St. Louis’ Low-Stress Bike Network Downtown

Construction recently began on the Tucker Boulevard Cycle Track, a two-way protected bike lane stretching nearly one mile through downtown St. Louis from Washington Avenue to Chouteau Avenue. More than just a bikeway, the redesign organizes the corridor to be safer and more comfortable for people walking, biking, taking transit, and driving.

Projects like Tucker Boulevard play an important role in expanding and connecting St. Louis’s low-stress bike network. Progress in St. Louis and thousands of other communities is tracked through PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA), the data tool that powers our City Ratings program and measures how easy it is for people to get where they need to go by bike.

The City of St. Louis is implementing the project using federal Transportation Alternatives Program funding, with design, community engagement, and advocacy support from Trailnet. Once completed in spring 2026, the Tucker corridor will connect seamlessly to the Chestnut Street bike lanes, improvements on Chouteau Avenue, and the emerging Brickline Greenway, which has at least 30 segments in various stages of planning and construction, forming a critical spine of the growing citywide bike network.

“These projects are visible proof that St. Louis is prioritizing people over speed,” said Incandela. “They show residents and visitors that our streets are meant for connection — not chaos.”

MoDOT’s First Protected Bike Lane Expands St. Louis’ Bike Network

The momentum for safer biking extends beyond city streets. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is constructing its first-ever protected bike lane on Chouteau Avenue/Route 100, identified as a high-priority corridor in Trailnet’s Connecting St. Louis Plan.

Spanning six miles between Broadway and the city limits, the $7 million project addresses significant safety concerns: more than 1,500 crashes have occurred on this stretch in the past five years. It also connects to other projects like Tucker Boulevard and the Tower Grove Connector — a 1.8-mile protected cycle track that will connect Tower Grove Park with a redevelopment project that is turning underutilized land into a 200-acre innovation district.

The redesign includes narrower driving lanes to reduce speeding, upgraded pedestrian crossings, new medians, and protected bike lanes separated from traffic by curbs and parking.

Building Community, Confidence, and Connection

Community response has been overwhelmingly positive. Residents shared that safe, protected routes are what they’ve been waiting for— a reason to choose biking for everyday trips. Local businesses, engaged throughout the planning process, see calmer, people-friendly streets as good for local businesses and neighborhoods.

“We’ve heard from residents that the lack of safe bike infrastructure has been the biggest barrier to biking downtown,” said Incandela. “These projects are a game-changer. They create real, comfortable choices for getting around.”

Importantly, the growing network is connecting communities harmed or divided by past roadway decisions. Combined with neighborhood-scale efforts like Louisiana Calm Street, Safe Routes to School programs, and the 20th Street Project Connect, these projects are expanding access to opportunity for all across the city.

“Students, downtown workers, and families will now have safer ways to get to school, to work, to transit, or simply to enjoy the city together,” said Incandela. “This is about joy and freedom as much as infrastructure.”

As construction continues, Trailnet is partnering with city agencies to support maintenance efforts like “Archie,” the city’s new bike-lane cleaning vehicle dedicated to keeping protected lanes safe and usable year-round, and public engagement campaigns to help community members learn how the growing network benefits everyone, including drivers.

“We’re building not just infrastructure, but a multimodal culture,” Incandela emphasized. “We’re working toward a St. Louis where choosing to walk, ride, or roll feels normal, intuitive, and joyful.”

What began as a grassroots campaign with early support from PeopleForBikes is now shaping the future of transportation in St. Louis — influencing city departments, state agencies, funding priorities, and long-term planning to ensure that St. Louis is a city where people can move safely and confidently, no matter how they travel.

Want to learn about similar projects near you? Check out PeopleForBikes’ Bike Project Tracker to explore bike lane and trail projects making biking safer and more connected in communities nationwide.

A $10,000 Investment is Transforming the Way St. Louis Moves

Slow Streets put people first by creating low-traffic, community-focused routes where biking, walking, and rolling are safe and accessible options for everyone to get around. With support from PeopleForBikes, California's statewide bicycle advocacy coalition CalBike recently developed “Implementing Successful Slow Streets: A Community Toolkit,” a practical, step-by-step guide to help communities plan, launch, and sustain their own Slow Streets programs.

Slow Streets are residential streets designed to reduce cut-through traffic while remaining accessible to all transportation modes. Features like bollards, cones, and street bulbouts help slow traffic down and make streets safer for people biking, walking, and spending time outdoors. 

Slow Streets and Low-Stress Bike Networks

PeopleForBikes’ annual City Ratings evaluates thousands of communities on the quality of their low-stress bike networks. One key factor in the ratings is traffic speed. When streets are slower, people riding bikes and driving cars can safely share the road. However, as speeds and traffic volumes increase, each travel mode requires its own designated space to prevent crashes and injuries.

Communities can boost their City Ratings score by creating more connected networks of protected bike lanes and off-street paths, lowering residential speed limits to 25 mph or less, adding traffic calming features that encourage safe driving, and implementing Slow Streets programs that prioritize people biking, walking, and rolling.

In May, CalBike hosted a webinar to highlight lessons learned from Slow Streets programs in several California communities. 

According to CalBike, San Francisco has seen some of the most significant Slow Streets victories in recent years. Local advocates secured a car-free JFK Drive through Golden Gate Park — then defended it successfully at the ballot box — and helped transform the Great Highway near Ocean Beach into a permanent park and promenade. The city’s Slow Streets program, launched in spring 2020 as a response to the pandemic, quickly evolved into a lasting model for safer, low-traffic corridors. After pilot phases with temporary signs and barriers, the city made four post-pandemic Slow Streets permanent in 2022. By 2023, 14 out of 18 Slow Streets carried fewer than 1,000 vehicles per day and traffic collisions dropped 48%.

Nearby, Oakland and Berkeley have also used Slow Streets to make their neighborhoods safer and more bike friendly. Oakland launched its program in 2020, creating 21 miles of low-stress routes guided by its 2019 bike plan. Though the routes were later removed, continued advocacy led to a 2021 design guide and the passage of Measure U in 2022, ensuring that bike and pedestrian improvements are integrated into every street repaving project. The city now plans to build 50 miles of neighborhood traffic-calming upgrades.  In Berkeley, the “Healthy Streets” initiative expanded the city’s bike boulevard network and helped inspire Measure FF in 2024, which requires the implementation of bike and walk plans. Community input is a key focus, as shown by a one-day Slow Streets pop-up on Ninth Street — supported by PeopleForBikes and Bayer — that collected resident feedback to guide future policies.

With new investments and updated plans underway, both cities are proving how community-driven advocacy and smart policy can deliver safer, more connected streets.

How CalBike’s Toolkit Can Help Your Community

CalBike’s “Slow Streets Toolkit” is designed for advocates, planners, and residents looking to make Slow Streets a reality. It provides practical guidance on:

Gaining support from city officials and community members

Connecting with existing bike infrastructure

Designing safe and effective street layouts

Engaging the community and collecting feedback

Following these principles helps communities build streets that are safer, easier to navigate, and more welcoming for everyone, while also strengthening connected, low-stress bike networks. When your city invests in low-stress bike networks, it not only makes streets better for the people who live there, it also boosts your City Ratings score, signaling real progress in creating great places to ride.

Check out the CalBike Slow Streets Toolkit for practical guidance, case studies, and actionable steps.

How Slow Streets Programs Strengthen Low-Stress Bike Networks

PeopleForBikes is leading the charge to better understand and grow the base of people who ride bikes in America. In support of this work, our new blog series explores what the latest research tells us about who’s riding, how often, and why it matters for the future of bicycling and the bike industry.

Why Bicycling Participation Matters and What’s Next

Engaging Casual Participants to Grow Bicycling

Supporting Youth Participation to Grow Bicycling

In the second blog of this series, we shared data suggesting that creating more great places to ride, close to home, is one of the most important things we can do to grow participation. It turns out that getting more people on bikes isn’t the only benefit of building great places to ride. In fact, connected bike networks also lead to increased sales at local bike shops.

PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) measures how easily people of all ages and abilities can get to the places they want to go by bike, safely and comfortably. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating that the local bike network functions similar to the road network.

In 2019, Georger Data Services (GDS) provided PeopleForBikes with estimates of total bike shop revenue in more than 500 cities across the country. To test the theory that better bike networks lead to increased bike shop sales, we compared these estimates against the BNA scores for the given cities.

Consider Boulder, Colorado, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, as examples. Both cities are college towns and about the same size. In 2019, Boulder’s BNA score was 62, whereas Ann Arbor’s was 35, and average IBD sales in Boulder were 9 times higher than those in Ann Arbor.

This pattern held true across the 500+ cities we analyzed. Communities with BNA scores of 50 or higher had average IBD sales that were 3 times higher than communities with BNA scores under 50.

The actual experience of bike shops in communities that have invested in great places to ride aligns with our analysis.

Justin Brown, owner of Revolution Bicycles in Arcata, California, called the Humboldt Bay Trail a “game changer” for his shop. When the trail was completed in July of 2025, connecting Arcata to Eureka (12 miles), he saw a boost in families and children riding as well as more people commuting to work. This increase in ridership translated into higher service and e-bike sales.

“I looked at our quarterly Ascend report and though most shops were down in Q3 2025, we were up, and that is directly related to the Humboldt Bay Trail,” says Brown.

Brown has also seen sales growth thanks to a new purpose-built mountain bike trail nearby. “Because of that trail we are seeing younger riders in the shop. Dirt jump bike sales have increased and parents are coming into the shop to buy bikes for their kids to ride at the Community Forest Trails.”

Chad Pickard from Spoke-N-Sport in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, reported a similar pattern.

“I owned Spoke-n-Sport in Sioux Falls for 20 years, and I can say without question that bike infrastructure made a real difference for us,” he says. “Sioux Falls has a 20-mile paved trail that circles the city, with only a couple of traffic crossings. That trail brought countless new riders into our shop. People felt safer and more confident exploring by bike, and that translated into sales and long-term customers.”

There aren’t many investments that deliver as many positive impacts as building better places to ride: more livable communities, healthier people, safer transportation options, and stronger local economies. If that’s not enough, here’s one more reason: connected bike networks lead to a better bottom line for the bike industry.

A special thanks to Justin Brown and Chad Pickard for sharing their experiences. Their stories are powerful reminders that when communities invest in safe, connected places to ride, ridership grows — and so does retail.

Where People Ride Bikes, People Buy Bikes

A new report from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) — Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2024 Preliminary Data — shows that pedestrian deaths in the U.S. declined for the second straight year, but the findings still deliver a stark reminder: there is still work to be done to make streets safer for everyone in communities nationwide.

Drivers struck and killed 7,148 people in the United States last year, enough to fill 31 Boeing 737s. While fatalities were down 4.3% compared to 2023, they were up 19.2% over 2016 and reached a 40-year high in 2022.

Pedestrian deaths are increasing at a rate far faster than overall traffic fatalities. Between 2009 and 2023, pedestrian deaths rose a staggering 80%, while all other traffic fatalities increased 13%.

More than three-quarters of pedestrian fatalities occur after dark. The share of nighttime deaths has skyrocketed recently. Fatal pedestrian crashes at night rose 84% between 2010 and 2023, compared to a 28% increase in daytime fatalities.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of pedestrian deaths occurred in locations without a sidewalk in 2023. Sidewalks (and other infrastructure like multi-use paths and protected bike lanes) can help protect people walking and biking by providing a physical separation between them and motor vehicle traffic, but they are missing or in poor condition in many parts of the country.

While this recent modest decline in pedestrian fatalities is positive news, deaths are still up nearly 20% over 2016 and urgent action is needed to keep all people safe — no matter how they choose to travel. In order to make our vision for zero pedestrian fatalities a reality, the GHSA suggests doubling down on proven practices: Improved education efforts, effective law enforcement practices, and expanded infrastructure improvements.

PeopleForBikes is working to give everyone safe, fun, and connected places to ride a bike, and improved road safety for people walking and biking goes hand in hand:

Streets with protected bike lanes experience up to 90% fewer injuries per mile compared to those without bike infrastructure

Cities with protected bike lanes see 44% fewer fatalities for all road users and 50% fewer serious injuries

Adding bike lanes to streets can reduce crashes by as much as 49%.

Our annual City Ratings program ranks cities on the safety and connectivity of their bike networks and gives local leaders and advocates the tools and resources to identify areas for improvement and make dedicated investments in safer places to ride. New this year, City Ratings also features an interactive map and database of thousands of planned and proposed bike projects across the U.S., growing support for infrastructure projects that will make a big difference in improving safety for all road users, not just people riding bikes. 

PeopleForBikes also works at all levels of government advocating for policies and legislation that increase funding for bike and pedestrian infrastructure, create laws that make biking safer, and allow more people to choose alternative transportation for their daily travel needs.  

Check out your community’s City Ratings score and use our Bicycle Network Analysis map to see where improvements can be made.

Find bike projects to support in your community that will make walking and biking easier and safer.

Sign up for PeopleForBikes’ advocacy alerts to learn how you can take action for safer streets by supporting new funding opportunities, policy changes, and infrastructure investments.

New Study Highlights Recent Decline in Pedestrian Deaths, But More Work to Be Done

The White Line’s AI-powered platform maps two decades of crash data for people walking and biking, helping communities pinpoint the most dangerous streets and intersections and take action for safer, more connected streets.

In many states, detailed crash data for people walking and biking is scattered, hard to access, or hidden deep within complex government databases. That’s changing with The White Line’s first-of-its-kind, AI-powered platform — a powerful tool for making U.S. streets safer. Using artificial intelligence, the platform compiles decades of fragmented crash records, news coverage, and demographic information, then cleans and analyzes it to reveal powerful insights and patterns that were once out of reach.

Search and download detailed bike and pedestrian crash data from 2001 to 2024.

Pinpoint the most dangerous streets and intersections for people biking and walking.

Track what happens after a crash, including local news coverage, charges filed, and accountability outcomes. 

Drawing from more than two decades of national crash data, state records, census information, and news reports, the platform offers an unprecedented, exportable, state-by-state view of road safety across all 50 states.

Reliable, high-quality bike safety data is essential for transforming local advocacy efforts into real improvements. This new platform can help pinpoint where changes are most needed, from protected bike lanes and safer intersections to effective traffic-calming measures. Armed with accurate information, community members can encourage local leaders to take action and make streets safer for everyone.

See how your community stacks up, then take action:

Check your City Ratings score. Start with PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings to see how your community scores for safe, connected, and comfortable places to ride. Use City Ratings to identify gaps in your local bike network and where improvements will have the most significant impact on connectivity and rider safety.

Explore crash data. Use The White Line’s interactive crash data mapper to identify the most dangerous streets and intersections in your community.

Review local planned bike projects. Combine crash insights with PeopleForBikes’ database of planned bike infrastructure projects to build an evidence-based roadmap for change.

Develop strong talking points. Use insights from PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings and The White Line’s crash mapping tool to create clear, actionable messaging for conversations with local elected officials and decision-makers.

Engage local leaders. Talk to city and county officials about the data you’ve collected and push for safer, more connected bike networks in your community.

Stay informed. Sign up for PeopleForBikes’ news and advocacy alerts so you can take action on opportunities to improve bike safety in your area.

Together, we can make the case for better bike infrastructure and save lives.

New Tool Highlights America’s Most Dangerous Streets for People Riding Bikes

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Bike Networks