Week 1
In 2011, the League of American Bicyclists named Athens-Clarke County a bronze-level Bike Friendly Community. The award made Athens only the third Georgia community to receive the award. We wrote at the time: “Athens-Clarke County was selected as a Bicycle Friendly Community at the bronze level, recognizing a strong commitment to cycling, responsive to the needs of cyclists, and with bicycle usage above average for U.S. communities. When it is time to reapply for BFC status, Athens-Clarke County will have the chance to become the first silver, gold or platinum community in Georgia.” What went unremarked is that BFC designations only last four years. 2015 is the time for ACC to reapply.
Over the next 42 weeks, we’ll be blogging here at Bike Friendly Friday to highlight the progress Athens has made in the last four years; and perhaps more importantly, begin to sketch out a road map to advance Athens to a Silver or Gold Bike Friendly Community. So bookmark this page! As next week as we’ll update from the National Bike Summit, and place Athens bike advocacy in the context of the national movement.