2016 Accomplishments – 2017 Plans

Greater Cleveland became safer for people on bikes in 2016. New on-street bike facilities, the roll out of the 250 unit UHBike bike share system and adoption of a city-wide safe routes to school travel plan are just some of our accomplishments this year. You can read more about the most recent successes below.

• The launch of UHBikes, the culmination of more than a year’s worth of work. Cleveland now enjoys 250 bike share bikes across 30 stations with more to come!
• Adoption of a formal Safe Routes to School program for all K-8 Cleveland Metropolitan School District schools. We helped train second grade PE teachers to make bike education part of PE curriculum.
• Worked with statewide groups to pass HB154, the states 3ft passing bill that will go in effect March 2017.
• The launch of ciCLEvia, Cleveland’s Open Streets movement. Half-a-mile of West 25th Street was closed to motorized traffic to return the space to the community, promoting active recreation and health.

• Expanded our public awareness campaign which reached millions of people, adding Cleveland Indians All Star Sandy Alomar,
• Bolstered infrastructure in key neighborhoods with 13 new miles of bike lanes plus secure bike parking and repair stations to keep people rolling.
• Trained 60 police officers on cycling and pedestrian safety and management.
• Distributed hundreds of bike lights to people who can’t afford to buy them, keeping them safe and legal while they ride at night.
• Expanded our reach into the suburbs with our chapter program.

While we celebrate this progress, there’s more work to do to support our continuing emergence as an attractive location to live, work and visit. Safe cycling infrastructure is a vital part of this resurgence.

To continue the fight to achieve this goal, we ask you to make a year-end tax deductible donation to Bike Cleveland to sustain the important work of Bike Cleveland’s staff and volunteers.

What are the most pressing needs and goals for 2017?

• Reconvene the City of Cleveland Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee to give people on bikes more input in bikeway projects (No more buffered curbs!)
• Push for the installation of protected bike lanes with a physical separation between bikes and cars (Learn more about our plan at MidwayCLE.org)
• Provide a training manual to police departments on ways to enforce laws to prevent crashes that result in bicyclist and pedestrian injuries (BikeCleveland.org/enforcement)
• Refresh our We’re All Drivers awareness campaign (BikeCleveland.org/AllDrivers)
• Expand our outreach and education efforts to reach more neighborhoods and help people throughout Cleveland use bikes for transportation and recreation
• Expand UHBikes and develop programs to ensure everyone has access to the system
• Continue to monitor all road construction in the region and advocate for safe cycling infrastructure

This is just a snapshot of what we plan to tackle in 2017 to connect our region, improve safety and get more people riding bikes. We can’t do it without your support. Please join our movement by becoming a member or renewing your membership today!