PeopleForBikes has released its third annual ratings of the best cities for bicycling in the United States: the 2020 PlacesForBikes City Ratings. Lawrence has been recognized as a top-performing city in the 2020 Ratings, ranking 3rd in the individual "safety" scoring category.
The PeopleForBikes City Ratings program is a data-driven analysis that evaluates more than 550 cities and towns and shows city leaders how they can invest to make bicycling better for all residents and visitors. City Ratings are scored across five key indicators:
- Ridership (how many people are riding bikes)
- Safety (how safe is it to ride bikes)
- Network (how easy is it for people to bike where they want to go)
- Reach (how well the network serves all parts of the community)
- Acceleration (how fast the community is working to improve biking).
Lawrence had a safety score of 3.9, which was the third-best score in the category nationwide. The full ratings are available at: cityratings.peopleforbikes.org.
"This recognition shows that we should take pride in the work we are doing to improve bicycling in Lawrence and to calm our streets for all users," said Jessica Mortinger, Transportation Planning Manager, City of Lawrence.
Data for the ratings come from existing sources (including the U.S. Census American Community Survey and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System), as well as sources developed by the PeopleForBikes team to capture city-specific data based on mapping, city planning information and survey responses from community members. This year, individuals submitted a record-breaking 68,000 surveys. From these sources, 184 calculations are performed per city to determine the five category scores, as well as a city or town’s overall score. Read more about the methodology here.
“Now in its third year, the City Ratings create a complete picture of bicycling in cities based on measurable factors,” says Rebecca Davies, bicycle networks data manager for PeopleForBikes. “Top scorers are cities of all types and geographies who have succeeded in different ways, including cities that have made strong historical investments in active transportation as well as cities pursuing ambitious plans to rapidly implement high-quality bicycle networks on their streets.”
City Ratings is a key component of the PlacesForBikes program, which provides measurement tools, guidance, peer networking, and storytelling to help U.S. cities quickly plan, build and promote great places to ride of all kinds. PlacesForBikes is supported by a generous grant from Trek Bicycle Corporation, as well as contributions from other bike businesses, foundations, and individuals.
