City of New Orleans Named a Top City for Bikes in
2020 PeopleForBikes City Ratings
NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans jumped to No. 17 from No. 27 in PeopleForBikes’s recently released third annual ratings of the best cities for bicycling.
“We are making major investments in our infrastructure, and bicycle infrastructure is a key component of that work. That includes an expanded, protected and connected bikeway network for our residents, and we're encouraged that this progress is being acknowledged,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “We recognize that we have made dramatic improvement in accelerating our network and are experiencing a significant increase in ridership. We also recognize there is much work to be done to improve safety for all of those who use the road, but especially for people walking and bicycling.”
"This ranking underscores the commitments we made in 2019 with the release of the Mayor's Transportation Action Plan to improve mobility for residents and expand our bicycle infrastructure," said Laura Bryan, Director, Mayor's Office of Transportation. "The work we began earlier this spring in Algiers will stretch across all of our City Council districts and will improve quality of life. I want to thank our partners, especially District C Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer, who is Chair of the Transportation Committee, and the Complete Streets Coalition, for their work on this project.
“It’s exciting to see how New Orleans stacks up against other cities.”
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), and Acceleration (how fast the community is working to improve biking)
New Orleans placed No. 27 in the 2019 poll, and this year was the eighth-largest city in this year’s Top 20. Across the five scoring criteria, New Orleans received its highest score in acceleration (4.0 on a scale of 0 to 5), and also did well in ridership with a 2.9 score.
“Now in its third year, the City Ratings create a complete picture of bicycling in cities based on measurable factors,” said Rebecca Davies, PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Networks Data Manager. “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.”
Data for the ratings comes 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: https://cityratings.peopleforbikes.org/methodology/.
“City Ratings shows us what works: Places that have built better places to ride are seeing the benefits,” said Kyle Wagenschutz, Director of Local innovation for PeopleForBikes. “Our top scoring cities showcase the diverse ways that bicycling is thriving as a source of transportation, recreation, and inspiration. From San Luis Obispo, Calif., to Washington, D.C. — and all the places in between — city leaders are recognizing bike networks help relieve traffic congestion, increase mobility and opportunity and make our cities healthier.
“Mayor Cantrell’s commitment to rapidly improving safety and connectivity for bikes is truly inspiring and a model for other cities,” Wagenschutz added.“Her continued investment in neighborhoods most in need of infrastructure improvement reflects a genuine commitment to improve transportation and mobility options for all of New Orleans’ residents."
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