Big news for Washington State! It was named America’s most Bicycle Friendly State for the third year in a row!
The award is based on a state’s legislation; policies and programs; infrastructure; education and encouragement; evaluation and planning; and enforcement. Here’s a link to the numbers if you wanted to see how Washington’s scores stacked up.
I'm glad I live here in Washington and not #50 Alabama. But I hope we can improve our 27th place ranking in enforcement, so our infrastructure doesn't go to waste.
– Ventura
While the recognition is nice, we really do have a long way to go towards being genuinly 'bicycle friendly.' Enforcement is a huge piece of the puzzle and in Spokane I think attitude is even bigger. It's an 'us versus them' mentality on the part of both drivers and a lot of bicyclists, and we've got to work to get rid of that perception.