To benchmark progress toward making Georgia a better place to bike, walk, and roll, we documented the bike-/walk-friendliness of our state's six largest cities. After researching each criterion extensively, we reached out to each community to ground-truth our findings (an asterisk next to the city name indicates a lack of response). Check out our comparison matrix above to see where each of them stack up!
These criteria provide a snapshot of each community’s bike-/ped-friendliness, with a focus on the planning, policy, and education building blocks necessary to create safe active transportation and recreation networks. We look forward to expanding this pilot project to more communities and more criteria in the future. Whether or not your community is on this list, reach out to us if you want our help improving bike/walk conditions near you!
Key criteria definitions:
- Complete Streets Plan – A formal policy or plan that commits a community to designing streets that safely accommodate all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and motorists of all ages and abilities.
- Bike/Ped Committee – A citizen-led or advisory group that advises their local government on matters related to walking and biking, including safe infrastructure improvements.
- Bike/Ped Road Safety Plan – A strategic document that identifies local safety challenges, high-injury corridors, and priority interventions to improve safety and user experience for people walking and biking. These are usually developed in close collaboration with local residents and bicycle/pedestrian advocates.
- Bike/Ped Coordinator – A designated staff position within a city or county government responsible for planning, coordinating, and implementing bicycle and pedestrian programs, projects, and policies. In some municipalities this person may serve multiple roles or have a different title such as “vision zero manager.”
- LAB Bicycle Friendly Community – A designation from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) recognizing communities that meet criteria for safe and accessible cycling.
- Active Bike/Ped Advocacy Group – A nonprofit or grassroots organization that advocates for better conditions for walking and biking by engaging in activities such as advocacy campaigns, safety education, and community events.
- Bike/Ped POST Training – Law enforcement has participated in specialized training offered by Go Georgia to educate officers on bicycle and pedestrian laws, crash response, and enforcement best practices.
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