Minneapolis ranked top US city for cycling

Minneapolis has been ranked as the best large US city for cycling, according to advocacy group PeopleForBikes’ 2024 City Ratings.

The city was followed by Seattle, San Francisco, Saint Paul and Portland in the ‘large city’ category, which ranks municipalities of over 300,000 across six metrics – safe speed limits, protected bike lanes, space for biking and walking, intersection safety, connections among bike paths and trusted data use.

“While hundreds of US cities are committed to improving the efficiency and safety of their transportation systems through policy statements and plans, City Ratings leaders are those that follow through on those aspirations by redesigning their streets to make bicycling safer and more accessible to people of all ages and abilities,” said Rebecca Davies, City Ratings programme director.

The city rankings evaluate more than 2,500 cities globally on how bicycle friendly they are and ranking them by population on a 0-100 scale.

Minneapolis achieved a 71, and scored highly on its bike infrastructure and safety initiatives.

The city has 25 kilometres of on-street protected bikeways, along with 157 kilometres of on-street bike lanes and 162 kilometres of off-street bikeways and trails.

In 2020, it lowered the default speed limit from 48 to 32 kmph on residential streets and 40 kmph on arterial streets.

In the US medium cities category (50,000-300,000 population), Davis, California took the top spot, followed by Cambridge, Massachusetts and Berkeley, California.

International

Looking globally, the top ten spots were all taken by European cities from just four countries – the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium.

The Hague (89) was ranked number one, followed by Brussels, Paris (87) Lyon and Utrecht (86).

In the UK, 83 locations were rated – up from 53 last year.

London scored the highest in the large city category with a cross-borough average rating of 69, followed by Greater Manchester on 49 and the West Midlands city region on 46.

Overall Cambridge was ranked highest scoring city with 84.

“The data for England clearly shows not only a divide between London and other cities but between England and other European countries,” said Jenn Dice, PeopleForBikes President and CEO.

“We’re hopeful that the data surfaces valuable lessons for local authorities, campaigners, and everyone who wants to see more and better cycling infrastructure.

‘’These ratings highlight the incredible progress and ongoing challenges for cycling infrastructure across the UK.

“Cambridge’s top ranking and the strong performance of several London boroughs demonstrate what is possible with committed leadership and investment in safe, accessible cycling. Our aim with this data is to celebrate these successes and provide actionable steps for city leaders and campaigners to improve cycling infrastructure in their communities.”

Image: PeopleForBikes