Although our initiatives don’t directly relate to bike infrastructure, it is still an important topic in our office. As we’ve visited other cities, we have studied their bike cultures, admired their bike lanes, and participated in their bike share programs. We even had a couple of special i-team rides while we were in Minneapolis.
Syracuse is making great strides to become a more bike friendly city. In fact, today it was announced that Syracuse was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as an Honorable Mention Bicycle Friendly Community! In celebration of this accomplishment and in honor of the fact that in addition to Infrastructure Week, it is also Bicycle Week, we have decided to share some fun facts about cycling and bike infrastructure in Syracuse.
There are 2.8 miles of off-street bicycling paths in the City of Syracuse
There are 16.5 miles of on-street bike lanes in the City of Syracuse
Twenty-three percent of Syracuse’s Bike Plan has been implemented.
According to the Syracuse Bike Plan 65 additional miles of bike lanes are planned for the City.
Over the past five years, Syracuse has increased its bike network by over 16% a year
There are plans to increase the number of bike lanes by an additional 45% over the next few years.
Syracuse was rated as one of the Top 20 Northeast Cycling Cities, and has a higher per capita percentage of cycling commuters than Rochester or Buffalo.
Groups within Syracuse have set up a variety of events to celebrate Bike Month and Bike Week. You can learn more about these events here.
The City of Syracuse will continue to grow its bicycle infrastructure, and hopefully in a few years we will move from Honorable Mention to a Bronze Level city. In the meantime, here is our report card from the League of American Cyclists which provides us with some concrete steps to improve our bike infrastructure and culture.