Alameda Residents Asked To Weigh In On City's Bike-Friendliness

ALAMEDA, CA – Those who ride or plan to ride their bikes in Alameda have the opportunity to share their thoughts on just how ‘friendly’ pedaling around the island is.

Nearly 100 cities submitted applications to the League of American Bicyclists’ “Bicycle Friendly Community” program this year – and one of them is Alameda.

To help determine if Alameda will be selected for the program, the league is asking those who are familiar with biking, or are interested in biking, in Alameda to complete a survey.

Locals’ input via the survey “will help the league and applicant communities to better understand current bicycling conditions and potential areas for improvement,” according to League of American Bicycle members.

The league first recognized Alameda as a bronze-level “Bicycle Friendly Community” in 2012 and renewed its bronze status in 2016. In 2021, Alameda attained silver-level status.

Judges use the “5 Es” criteria — equity and accessibility; engineering; education; encouragement; and evaluation and planning — for each Bicycle Friendly Community application. They then decide on the award level of platinum, gold, silver or bronze.

The Bicycle Friendly Community awards are given for a four-year period, according to the league. Cities like Alameda need to re-apply every four years to maintain their “BFC” award status.

Survey participants will respond to close-ended questions such as “How satisfied are you with how this community is designed for making bike riding safe?” and “What are the top 1-3 changes you would most like to see the local government make in this community for bicyclists?” Answer options will be provided.

Open-ended prompts include “What specifically should this community do to become more bicycle-friendly?” and “Please share up to 3 current community efforts that are deserving of praise.”

The survey, which takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, is available here. It will be open until October 5, with Bicycle Friendly Community award results released sometime in December.