Richmond Ranks 2nd among Best Places to Bike in the Commonwealth

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City to hold virtual meetings for input on new bike infrastructure


Richmond’s ever increasing system of bicycle infrastructure has paved the way for the city to improve its standing among Virginia cities recognized for cycling. 

The organization People for Bikes has released its 2020 rankings of America’s Best Places for Bikes. With an overall score of 2.7 Richmond came in second among the 17 cities listed in Virginia, bested only by the 3.0 score of Arlington, Virginia’s bellwether city for bike infrastructure.

The criteria used for scoring included data based on: ridership, safety, network, reach and acceleration. In addition to boosting its overall score from previous years, Richmond has shown year over year improvements for people who bike, compared to a score of 1.6 in 2018 and 1.7 in 2019.   

2020 Ratings for the City of Richmond

Category

Description

Score

Ridership

How many people are riding bikes

2.0

Safety

How safe is it to ride bikes

2.7

Network

How easily can people get to where they need to go by bike

1.4

Reach

How well does the bike network serve the entire community

1.4

Acceleration

How quickly is the community working to make biking better

3.7

 

With over 15 miles of dedicated bike infrastructure under construction in 2020, Richmond’s network and reach scores will continue to climb in 2021, positioning the city to be an even greater contender to unseat Arlington.   

 

2020 Best Places for Bikes in Virginia – Overall Scores

 

Rank

Jurisdiction

Overall Score

1

Arlington

3.0

2

Richmond

2.7

3

Roanoke

2.6

4

Blacksburg

2.1

5

Vienna

2.0

6

Alexandria

1.9

7

Williamsburg

1.9

8

Charlottesville

1.8

9

Lynchburg

1.5

10

Newport News

1.4

11

Norfolk

1.4

12

Chesapeake

1.3

13

Virginia Beach

1.3

14

Burke

1.2

15

Springfield

1.2

16

Stafford

1.0

17

Yorktown

1.0

 

With excellent partners on the Safe and Healthy Streets Commission, Bike Walk RVA, PlanRVA, Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, Virginia Department of Transportation, and Federal Highway Administration, Richmond has plenty of room to grow for people who bike to enjoy all the city has to offer.

 

Meantime, the Department of Public Works is preparing to install bicycle routes along nine corridors across the city. These projects will enhance our transportation infrastructure and better serve all who use our roadways and support Richmond’s Vision Zero Action Plan using our Better Streets multimodal approach by implementing measures such as high-visibility crosswalks for people who walk, reconfiguring roadways to add space for people who bike and installing accessible curb ramps for people who roll. Because public input is essential to the success of these projects there will be virtual community meeting platforms beginning June 11, and running for two weeks through June 25. Please visit the online forum at the link below to view the design alternatives and submit the survey form to provide your thoughts and preferred designs. https://richmond-bike-lanes.metroquest.com/.

 

For more information on City services please visit www.Richmondgov.com.


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