Town Of Arlington: Arlington Named A Silver-Level Bicycle Friendly Community By The League Of American Bicyclists

Press release from Town of Arlington:

05/19/2021

The League of American Bicyclists honored the efforts of Arlington to build better places for people to bike with a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) award. Arlington joins 487 communities across the country in the movement for safer streets and better bicycling for everyone. The award recognizes the Town’s commitment to creating transportation and recreational resources that benefit its residents of all ages and abilities while encouraging healthier and more sustainable transportation choices. Arlington is now one of only four communities in Massachusetts designated as a Silver-level BFC.

Arlington was first recognized as a Bicycle Friendly Community at the Bronze level in 2012. In applying for an upgraded award, the Town highlighted significant improvements for bicycling made in the last several years, including: implementing bike lanes on Mystic Street and Lake Street; safety improvements for users of the Minuteman Bikeway in Arlington Center with the Safe Travel Project; expansion of the Bluebikes bike share system into Arlington; updating the bicycle parking zoning ordinance and creating Bicycle Parking Guidelines; lowering the townwide speed limit to 25 mph on most roads; removing the operating hours on the Minuteman Bikeway; and the development of Connect Arlington, the Town’s Sustainable Transportation Plan.

The League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly America program sets the standard for how communities build and benchmark progress toward making biking better. This round of awards includes 37 new and renewing awardees, joining a total of 487 current Bicycle Friendly Communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Silver BFC award recognizes Arlington’s commitment to improving conditions for people who bike through investments in bike education programs, pro-bike policies, and bike infrastructure.

More than 850 communities applied for recognition by the Bicycle Friendly Community program. While the award process considers visible elements such as bike infrastructure, other essential elements include efforts around adult and youth bike education, encouragement through events like Bike to Work Day, evaluation mechanisms, and enforcement all through the lens of equity. The rigorous application process is an educational tool in itself, and includes an opportunity for local bicyclists and active transportation advocates to provide input on their experiences of bicycling in their community.  

The five levels of the BFC award – diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze, plus an honorable mention category – provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve. Awarded communities must renew their status every four years to ensure that they not only maintain existing efforts, but also keep up with changing technology, national safety standards, and community-driven best practices.  

To learn more about the BFC program, visit bikeleague.org/community.

For more information about biking in Arlington and this award, please contact Daniel Amstutz, Senior Transportation Planner in Arlington’s Department of Planning & Community Development at 781-316-3093 or damstutz@town.arlington.ma.us.

About the League of American Bicyclists

The League of American Bicyclists leads the national movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. With a history dating to 1880, the League is committed to engaging diverse communities and building a powerful, unified voice for change around protecting and promoting bicyclists’ rights. Learn more at www.bikeleague.org.

This press release was produced by Town of Arlington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.