San Luis Obispo Goes for the Gold

San Luis Obispo wins Gold Level Status

UPDATE: Join us at 11 a.m. on Friday April 15th, 2016 on the steps of SLO City Hall (map) for a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark and celebrate San Luis Obispo’s distinction as a Gold Bike Friendly Community. 

Today when the League of American Bicyclists updated their list of Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) there was great news for the people of SLO. The City of San Luis Obispo, which was previously designated as a Silver level BFC, has earning the next highest designation, that of Gold.

“Bike SLO County couldn’t be more excited to hear the news that SLO was designated as a Gold Bike Friendly Community this morning.” said Dan Rivoire, Executive Director of Bike SLO County. “As we join three other Gold Level cities in California and twenty-three Gold Level cities throughout the US, people in our City and County are starting to really realize how awesome it is that our community is building safer streets for everyone. Today, we’re feeling especially proud of our hard work and evermore thankful to local residents, supporters, and city staff that are getting new bike friendly projects on every passing month.”

According to Rivoire “California has 55 Bicycle Friendly Communities, 4 of which are in San Luis Obispo County. This means that a little over 7% of the Bicycle Friendly Communities in California are in SLO County. That is great news for SLO County and we hope to see the numbers grow in the coming years. We already have The City of SLO (Gold), Paso Robles (Bronze), Arroyo Grande (Bronze) and Morro Bay (Bronze). We look forward to continued work with other cities throughout the County to make SLO County even more bike friendly.”

“Winning a Bicycle Friendly Community designation shows a community’s dedication to creating safer and better places to ride your bike.” said Alex Doty, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists.

What is a Bicycle Friendly Community?

A BFC welcomes bicyclists by providing safe accommodations for bicycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation. Making bicycling safe and convenient are keys to improving public health, reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality and improving quality of life.

The BFC program provides a roadmap for building a Bicycle Friendly Community. Since the program’s inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied and the five levels of the award – Diamond*, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze – provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve. Communities complete a 100+ question application, which is then reviewed by national experts as well as members of their local cycling community. All applicants receive extensive feedback. Communities must renew their designation every four years. (*There are currently no communities at the Diamond level.)

To apply or learn more about the BFC program, visit bikeleague.org/community.