In the fall of 2004, nonprofit groups, government agencies, the Mary Black Foundation and local cyclists joined together to launch Bike Town Spartanburg. The overarching goal of the program was to earn the designation as a Bicycle-Friendly Community from the Leagu e of American Bicyclists.
How is the designation earned?
The bike friendly designation is determined based on a community’s efforts and successes in five key areas: Education, Encouragement, Engineering, Enforcement, and Evaluation.Lead organizers of the Bike Town initiative work to ensure that significant steps are being made in EACH of the focus areas. Though events like the annual professional cycling race, Bike Month, etc are most well-known, the Bike Town partners constantly work behind-the-scenes to:
- Improve and increase bike safety education opportunities;
- Improve the number and types of people reached through our encouragement programs and events;
- Improve engineering of bike facilities and increase bike infrastructure;
- Improve enforcement of local and state laws related to bicyclists;
- Improve evaluation of bicycling needs and future needs among all of our local governing bodies.
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Bike Town Spartanburg Today
The bronze level designation will be held by Spartanburg for four years until August 2011, at which point the community will be reassessed and may earn the right to retain the title or may be demoted. We are in the process of reevaluating and reapplying for the designation for this coming year!
Can Spartanburg reach the Silver or Gold level status next year? We will keep you posted!
Thanks to the City of Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, the Spartanburg Area Transportation Study, South Carolina Department of Transportation, Partners for Active Living, the Freewheelers of Spartanburg, the Foothills Cyclists, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, the Palmetto Cycling Coalition, Safe Kids, our local bike shops and everyone else who helped to make this important award possible!
