Only the bike-friendliest cities across America earn the League of American Bicyclists “Gold” designation. Currently Santa Fe has a “Silver” designation and appears to be slipping on many accounts.  In the People for Bikes ratings, Santa Fe currently rates D+.  Ask a friend who doesn’t ride- “Why not?”

So although Santa Fe has made progress adding paths, bike lanes, great local mountain bike trails, promoting education to school kids, etc. we still have mega room for improvements. The feedback from the League’s review and selection panel cites Law Enforcement and Education as Santa Fe’s foundational areas needing improvement.  Want to lend a hand to improving Santa Fe’s standing?  Let’s get city staff and educators out for some bicyclist’s eye view of navigating our fair city.

The LAB Gold designation is a demanding objective. But first we have to cycle our way up to a “C” with People for Bikes. These are not fluffy public relations awards, but an exacting requirement that shows a community has made the necessary commitment to developing safe cycling and is fully prepared to invest the resources to making it happen. It requires commitment to a long view of the role of bicycling in Santa Fe, coordination and buy-in from traffic engineering, law enforcement, schools, local businesses and multiple other local interests.

Along with many other official and volunteer groups, Bike Santa Fe is highly involved and committed to doing whatever is necessary to reach the required standards. Should we ever reach those standards then Bike Santa Fe will also have met most of our objectives and we can all go biking instead. But we still have a very long way to go and progress is uncertain.