Colorado launches $100m cycling scheme

Colorado has launched a $100 million cycling scheme and is aiming to become the “best state for biking” in the United States with heavy investment in cycling infrastructure.

State Governor John Hickenlooper unveiled the ambitious public-private project at the Interbike convention in Las Vegas —the largest annual trade event for the bike industry in the U.S  - and at least $100 million will be invested over the next four years to promote bike usage.

Hickenlooper highlighted the economic and environmental benefits that improved programmes and infrastructure for cycling could bring to Colorado.

Hickenlooper said: “Biking can be such a positive force, and I think being the best biking state is going to fuel economic growth and tourism… It’s going to lead us toward a cleaner environment, and it’s going to help us be the healthiest state in America.”

The Colorado Pedals Project will enable local communities more control over transit schemes covering cycling, walking, and motorised transportation.

Initial missions for the project include documenting all the cycling pathways  in the state of Colorado, whether natural, paved, or dedicated to bicycle usage, as well as a marketing campaign to boost support for the programme locally and promote the state’s cycling infrastructure and the improved access to the natural environment it provides to tourists.

The plan outlines as much as $60 million in spending on bike and pedestrian infrastructure, to be funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation, the federal government’s Transportation Alternatives Program, and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

A remaining $30 million will be provided courtesy of the Great Outdoors Colorado initiative and its drive to improve the connectivity of outdoor trails, while roughly $10 million will be spent on the maintenance and expansion of Colorado’s Safe Routes to School programme.

Hickenlooper highlighted Denmark as an outstanding example of successful investment in cycling infrastructure.

Over half of all Danish citizens commute to work using bicycles, while a quarter of all transportation outlays in the capital of Copenhagen are directed at cycling infrastructure.

Hickenlooper said: “Denmark clearly shows the benefits of making these long-term investments within narrow, achievable plans… [Denmark] creates bicycle-friendly communities and infrastructure that far outweighs the costs.”