555 Cities, One Signal: America's Bike Infrastructure Is Having a Moment

For most of the past decade, the phrase "American cycling infrastructure" has been used mainly as a punchline. But PeopleForBikes' 2026 City Ratings, released this summer, contain a number that deserves genuine attention: 555 US cities scored 50 or higher on the rating scale — more than double the 234 that cleared that threshold just a year ago.

That is not a rounding error. Something meaningful is happening in American bike infrastructure, and the window to lock in those gains — or lose them — is the next 60-90 days.

What the City Ratings Actually Measure

PeopleForBikes' City Ratings score communities on the quality and connectivity of their cycling networks, access to great places to ride, and the safety of conditions for people on bikes. A score of 50 is roughly the threshold at which a city's network becomes functional enough that a meaningful proportion of residents could consider cycling as a genuine transportation option rather than a recreational niche.

Going from 234 to 555 cities above that threshold in a single year reflects accelerating investment in protected bike lanes, trail connectivity, and network coherence — the kind of infrastructure that connects rather than simply existing in isolated pockets. Paris's transformation ahead of the 2024 Olympics is often cited as a model: in two years it became the first truly bikeable Olympic host city and left a permanent legacy of safer, more connected cycling infrastructure. With the 2028 Olympics coming to Los Angeles, PeopleForBikes is explicitly making the case that LA can follow that same playbook.

The Transportation Bill: A Narrow Window

All of this is happening against the backdrop of Congress working on the 2026 surface transportation bill — a five-year funding framework that will shape investment in bike infrastructure, trails, and road safety programs across the country. The bill has advanced but its future remains uncertain, and the bike industry has been explicit: lawmakers need to hear from advocates in the next 60-90 days or the funding priorities could shift away from active transportation.

The Recreational Trails Program (RTP), which funds trail development and bike access across the US, faces particularly critical funding decisions in the current bill negotiations. The broader stakes: outdoor recreation generated $1.3 trillion in economic output in 2024 and supports more than 5.2 million jobs nationwide. Cycling infrastructure is not a niche policy preference — it is an economic development tool that multiple major industry groups have quantified and documented.

PeopleForBikes also recently fought off a Section 232 tariff proposal that would have hit bicycle imports. More than 1,300 public comments were submitted against the tariffs, making the bike sector one of the most active industry respondents in the entire process — and the advocacy worked. That track record of organised, data-driven engagement is being brought to bear on the transportation bill now.

The E-Bike Market Shift: From Recreation to Commuting

One additional data point from PeopleForBikes' recent research deserves attention: the US e-bike market isn't shrinking — it's changing shape, shifting from recreation toward everyday transportation. That shift has infrastructure implications. Recreational cycling tolerates gaps in networks because riders can choose routes. Everyday transportation does not: a single missing protected lane or unsafe intersection eliminates a route entirely for people who are considering replacing car trips.

This is why the current surge in City Ratings matters so much. Cities that are scoring 50+ are building the kind of connected, gap-free networks that can absorb e-bike commuters and convert them from occasional to habitual riders. Cities that stay fragmented lose those potential commuters to cars the moment a route feels unsafe.

2028 and the Olympic Opportunity

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics presents a specific and time-limited opportunity. The World Cup is also coming to multiple US cities in 2026, and PeopleForBikes has published concrete guidance on how host cities from LA to Boston can reduce congestion through quick-build bike lanes, Open Streets events, and expanded bike share. Quick-build infrastructure — temporary protected lanes that can be installed in days rather than months — is increasingly being used to demonstrate demand before permanent investment is committed.

The Paris model worked because there was political will, a deadline, and an organised constituency pushing for change before the games began. Los Angeles has the deadline. The constituency exists. The question is whether the political will materialises before the infrastructure window closes.

What This Means for Your Riding

If you live in or near one of the 555 cities now scoring 50+, the most useful thing you can do is ride the new infrastructure and document where it falls short. PeopleForBikes explicitly encourages local riders to update their data through mapathons and route documentation — because ratings that don't reflect reality can't drive accurate advocacy. Your Strava segments and local knowledge are genuinely useful inputs into the process that decides where the next protected lane gets built.