Oakland, CA – Oakland now ranks among the nation’s top bicycle-friendly cities. The City’s investments and long-term commitment to bike-friendly infrastructure and services helped win Oakland recognition as one of just 34 U.S. cities designated a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community by Washington D.C.’s League of American Bicyclists (LAB).
The award recognizes the investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure, and pro-bicycling policies by City departments, other public agencies, Oakland bike shops, and the many community-based organizations with bicycle-themed missions.
“Oakland is grateful and humbled to receive this honor from LAB. It reflects the cumulative impact of the diligent work by City staff and community partners,” OakDOT Director Ryan Russo said. “We still have much work to do, and this will help inspire us to continue improving conditions so that more people can choose to travel by bicycle – an affordable, sustainable and fun form of transportation.”
The award reflects continuing, steady progress for Oakland and the Department of Transportation (OakDOT). Oakland first won Bronze status in 2010 and climbed to Silver status in 2014. Oakland’s bike-friendly improvements since 2014 include:
Thirty percent (30%) more bikeway miles, including a seven-fold increase in the length of buffered and protected bike lanes;
- Bike lane mileage increased by 39% while sign-only bikeway miles decreased by 11%;
- A 29% increase in the number of publicly available bike parking spaces – from 7,740 to 9,955, including 130 spaces at the Uptown BART Bike Station (with other bike stations under development);
- Innovative new bikeway designs such as the cycletrack on Broadway and adjacent Lake Merritt and protected bike lanes on Telegraph Avenue
- The successful launch of a regional bikeshare program, including 79 stations and an outreach program and low-cost memberships provided for low-income residents;
- An influx of funding from Measure KK, Oakland’s infrastructure bond, which passed with more than 82% of Oakland voters in support and will allocate $350 million for streets and sidewalks over a 10-year term. Measure KK reflects a tremendous infusion of paving funding that will strongly benefit bicyclists;
- An in-progress bike plan update, emphasizing engagement with and leadership from traditionally underserved communities; and
- The 2017 formation of Oakland’s first-ever Department of Transportation. OakDOT focuses resources on improving mobility options for all Oaklanders.
In addition to new and improved infrastructure and resources, the award acknowledges the increase in the number of people bicycling in Oakland. Based on the US Census’ 2016 American Community Survey, Oakland had the seventh highest proportion of commuters biking to work out of the 70 largest U.S. cities. If these data included people bicycling to BART, Oakland would rank second with a bicyclist mode share of 5%.
According to OakDOT’s recent citywide survey on bicycling (conducted as part of the bike plan update), 29% of Oaklanders report they rode a bicycle in the past month. This high proportion of bicyclists is also reflected across Oakland’s diverse communities. A majority of Oaklanders – across all categories of race and ethnicity – responded that they see people similar to them bicycling in Oakland.
To learn more about the Bicycle Friendly Community program, visit www.bikeleague.org/community.
For information about Oakland’s bicycle programs and services, visit https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/bicycle-programs-and-projects.
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