Kansas City, MO, forms citizens bike/ped committee

One of the first and most important steps in creating a Bicycle Friendly Community is to create a citizens committee in the city to work with staff and elected officials in the city to move bicycle and pedestrian issues and policy forward.

Today Kansas City, Missouri, took that important step by adopting an ordinance that creates a citizen's bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee. The committee will work with a group of city staff from various departments to keep tabs on the bicycle, pedestrian, and trails initiatives across the city and advise the city council on bicycle and pedestrian matters.

The ordinance was sponsored by Kansas City Council Member Russ Johnson, the chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The measure was passed unanimously by the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council today.

Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser, spurred on by Johnson and KCMO Bike/Ped Coordinator Deb Ridgway, has declared that Kansas City is working towards Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Community status by 2020.

That means that the city will need to work through the Bicycle Friendly Community levels (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum) at a regular rate. The Bicycle Friendly Community program is designed to encourage communities to do exactly that.

Encouraging Missouri cities to become Bicycle Friendly Communities is one of the most important goals in MoBikeFed's Vision of Active Transportation in Missouri. Right now Missouri has no officially recognized Bicycle Friendly Communities and the race is on to see which city will be first.