Washington has reclaimed its high spot among the many most bicycle-friendly states, based on the League of American Bicyclists’ 2024 rankings. In line with the rankings, Washington leads the nation in fostering bicycling and associated assist programs.
“Making it easier for more people to cycle safely to work, school or for fun has been an important part of our transportation planning,” Gov. Jay Inslee stated in a press launch Thursday.
The rating program evaluates states primarily based on commitments to bicycling throughout 5 classes: infrastructure and funding, training and encouragement, visitors legal guidelines and practices, insurance policies and packages, and analysis and planning.
“Many of these efforts are supported by our Climate Commitment Act which is paving the way for more riders and also educating them so they can ride confidently,” Inslee stated. “I appreciate the work of our bicycle friendly communities, businesses and universities that have all contributed to building active, healthy transportation options.”
The state earned high marks for its consideration to points confronted by cyclists, in addition to its long-standing and continued management that strikes bicycling ahead, the discharge stated.
The League of American Bicyclists cited the statewide school-based bicycle training program as a nationwide mannequin for what state and native authorities can accomplish when working collectively. It additionally pointed to the state’s planning work that gives protected bicycle infrastructure and design steering and coaching that helps these plans.
“It’s great to once again lead the nation in recognizing that bicycling is an important part of a multimodal transportation system,” Roger Millar, Washington’s transportation secretary, stated within the launch. “We’re committed to providing transportation choices for all users of the system — including people who bike, walk and roll. We have more work to do, but this ranking affirms that we’re on the right path.”
The league stated Washington has an in depth historical past of assist for cyclists, placing it on the high of its rankings for all however one 12 months since launching in 2008. Washington was in third place in 2022, ending its 14-year run within the No. 1 spot. Rankings weren’t awarded in 2023.