Missouri 28th in 2010 Bicycle Friendly State rankings

 

Today the League of American Bicyclists announced the third annual Bicycle Friendly State (BFS) rankings--just in time for Bike to Work Week, May 17-21.

• Full list of state rankings for the past three years (PDF)
• Full state rankings by category

"The good news is that Missouri earned high rankings in legislation, education, and enforcement but low rankings in bicycling infrastructure and policy," said Brent Hugh, Executive Director of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. 

"The even better news is that the leading indicators are moving in the right direction.  Those include efforts to improve legislation, education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation, and planning related to bicycling."

In all of those areas, Missouri ranks in the top 15 states.

"That indicates groups and individuals across the state who are working to create a bicycle friendly state are starting to move things forward very effectively," said Hugh.  "Infrastructure and policy, where we ranked in the bottom ten states, are much harder and slower to change.  In basic bicycling infrastructure, such as bicycle routes, bicycle lanes, and trails, Missouri has been so far behind other states for so long that it is going to take us a while to catch up."

"We call on elected officials and public works departments across the state to put real emphasis on making our communities and our streets safe and inviting for bicycling," said Hugh.

Announcement of several new bicycle/pedestrian river crossings, a planned improvement in MoDOT's bicycle policy, and the recent program created by MoDOT Interim Director Kevin Keith to ask bicycle and pedestrian user groups to identify their highest priority bicycle and pedestrian projects across the state will help remedy these problems in the next several years.

Missouri has the 15th highest childhood obesity rate in the nation, and Missourians currently pay the second highest per capita amount for obesity-related medical care--an amount that is set to increase fourfold in the next ten years unless Missouri does something to change the situation.

Improving Missouri's infrastructure to make communities safer and more inviting for bicycling, and changing policies so that bicycling is included routinely in road and street projects are among the most cost effective solutions to those problems.

MISSOURI'S RANKINGS

Overall, Missouri ranked 28th out of the 50 states for 2010.

By category (out of the 50 states), Missouri ranked:

 - 6th in Legislation

 - 43rd in Policies & Programs

 - 40th in Infrastructure

 - 15th in Education & Encouragement

 - 15th in Evaluation & Planning

 - 1st in Enforcement

ABOUT THE BICYCLE FRIENDLY STATE RANKINGS

The state rankings were first conducted in 2008 and are conducted annually, with all questions and methodology remaining consistent to track states' progress. The BFS rankings are based on a 95-item questionnaire that evaluates a state's commitment to bicycling and covers six key areas: legislation, policies and programs, infrastructure, education and encouragement, evaluation and planning, and enforcement. The League offers feedback and technical assistance to states in an effort to improve their ranking as well as overall conditions for bicycling. The rankings are used to create momentum amongst states and communities to continue to become more bicycle friendly. 

To learn more about the League's Bicycle Friendly State program visit bicyclefriendlystate.org. View the 2010 BFS Rankings list, complete with BFS awards, and a breakdown of how the states fared in each evaluation category.