Cycling for transportation is only an attractive option when it is safe where you live.

One carbon-free means of transportation within reach of most adults is cycling, for health, recreation, and other transportation to work or shop. In many cities and towns, it can also pair with public transit to extend the reach of the cyclist.

As a practical matter, of course, cycling for transportation is only an attractive option when it is safe where you live. Fortunately, the means to make cycling safer in a community are known and implementable. However, interested local citizens usually must take the lead in advocating for those solutions.

That’s why the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Livable Communities project and the League of American Bicyclists have teamed up to produce a Bike Audit Tool Kit “that can be used by cycling advocates and local leaders to assess and improve the safety and accessibility of a community’s streets and paths for all users, including cyclists. The bicycling tool kit provides a step-by-step approach to observing and documenting the safe or unsafe bike-ability of a location. The results of a community bike audit can educate local decision-makers and provide them with the needed data, solutions and strategies for achieving change.” BikeWalkNC October Newsletter.

Sign up for an October 25 webinar on how to use the AARP Bike Audit Tool Kit here.