The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) released their 2009 rankings and Michigan fell 3 spots to 15th.
According to Josh DeBruyn, our MDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, it appears the drop was primarily due to other states improving their scores.
These overall rankings are based on scores in six different areas. Here is how Michigan ranked within those areas:
- Legislative: tie 43rd
- Policies and Programs: tie 7th
- Infrastructure: tie 8th
- Education: tie 9th
- Evaluations: tie 16th
- Enforcement: tie 19th
Obviously Michigan scored most poorly in the legislative area. According to DeBruyn, this is perhaps due to other states having passed Complete Streets Policies; banning cell phones and texting while driving; having 3′ passing laws; and allowing photo enforcement of moving violations.
We did notice the state ranking application asked about mandatory helmet laws. We contacted the LAB and those answers are only for data collection and are not used in the rankings.
Here is the complete state ranking list:
1. Washington – Silver*
2. Wisconsin – Silver*
3. Maine
4. Oregon
5. Minnesota – Bronze*
6. Iowa
7. Arizona – Bronze*
8. New Hampshire
9. Delaware
10. New Jersey
11. Wyoming
12. Illinois
13. Colorado
14. California
15. Michigan
16. Maryland
17. Missouri
18. Utah
19. Massachusetts
20. North Carolina
21. Vermont
22. Hawaii
23. Virginia
24. Mississippi
25. Nevada
26. South Carolina
27. Kentucky
28. South Dakota
29. Indiana
30. Louisiana
31. Georgia
32. Florida
33. Kansas
34. Idaho
35. Rhode Island
36. Texas
37. Nebraska
38. Arkansas
39. Ohio
40. Pennsylvania
41. New York
42. West Virginia
43. Tennessee
44. Connecticut
45. North Dakota
46. New Mexico
47. Alaska
48. Oklahoma
49. Montana
50. Alabama
*These states have recieved recognition through the Bicycle Friendly State award program.
Leave a Reply