City named Honorable Mention Bicycle Friendly Community

THE COLONY, Texas — Last week, the League of American Bicyclists recognized the City of The Colony as an Honorable Mention Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC).

The Colony joins a group of 47 other Honorable Mention communities who are working to improve conditions for people who bike. This spring, the League is proud to announce that there are 13 communities who earned an Honorable Mention in addition to 15 new and 22 renewing BFC awarded communities. Six of the 15 new BFC awarded communities recognized this spring improved from an Honorable Mention to join the 416 communities currently recognized with a Bronze level or better for their efforts to make biking better with a BFC award.

Since 2002, over 100 communities that first earned an Honorable Mention have gone on to earn an award of Bronze or better.

“Earning an Honorable Mention as a Bicycle Friendly Community is a big step forward in our efforts to make The Colony a welcoming place for cyclists,” said Pam Nelson, Director of Community Services for the City of The Colony. “The League has strict requirements. We’re proud that recent initiatives, such as updating the Trail & Bike Master Plan, forming the Fun Time Bike Riders group, and expanding our public outreach regarding cycling and cycling safety, have resulted in this honor.”

An Honorable Mention recognizes The Colony’s efforts to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies. The BFC program provides a benchmark for communities to evaluate these conditions and policies, while highlighting areas for improvement.

The national scope of the program also promotes competition and comparison between communities. Roughly a quarter of currently recognized BFCs began with an Honorable Mention designation.

The BFC program provides a roadmap to building a Bicycle Friendly Community and the application itself has become a rigorous and an educational tool in itself. Since its inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied and the five levels of the award — diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze — provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.

Each community that applies for a BFC award receives a report card. The report cards for communities that receive an award are available in our award database and communities that receive an Honorable Mention have their report card available for one year after its award. Explanations of each award level and key data from each report card are available here.

“Honorable Mention communities often have some of the most exciting and interesting applications,” says Ken McLeod, Policy Director of the League of American Bicyclists. “Often these communities have amazing events, ambitious and unique projects, or are communities taking strong steps to address a history of automotive-based planning. The Honorable Mention is not just an entry point into making improvements for bicycling, but a stepping stone toward larger progress.”

“We applaud these communities for making improvements for people who bike in a ways that build upon their existing strengths and are based upon their particular needs, whether that is infrastructure, education, or encouragement,” said Bill Nesper, Executive Director at the League of American Bicyclists. “We are encouraged by the way that communities are using bicycling as a part of their solution to issues of health, job access, traffic safety, and the environment and using our program to make progress in those issues. We look forward to continuing to work with these communities as part of our mission to build a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.”

To apply or learn more about the BFC program, visit bikeleague.org/community.

About the Bicycle Friendly America Program

The Bicycle Friendly Community, Bicycle Friendly State, Bicycle Friendly Business, and Bicycle Friendly University programs are generously supported by program partner Planet Bike. The Bicycle Friendly Community program was created in 1995 and has processed more than 1,200 applications since 2002. To learn more about building a Bicycle Friendly America, visit www.bikeleague.org/bfa.