Travel and Leisure magazine has named Minneapolis one of the world’s top biking cities. The magazine chose ten cities worldwide for its list, with just three in the United States. Minneapolis was listed among the elite group of bike-friendly cities in the world because it has built an infrastructure that promotes bicycling for both transportation and recreation.
Travel and Leisure refers to Minneapolis as “a case study in policy promoting bicycling as a viable means to get around.” The magazine notes designated street lanes, bike lockers, recreational trails, and winter plowing of bike trails as reasons it placed Minneapolis on its list. Minneapolis has 83 miles of off-street bicycle paths and 40 miles of streets with dedicated bicycle lanes. Minneapolis has also been awarded the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Community Award.
The U.S. Census bureau ranks Minneapolis as the number two bicycling city in the country, just behind Portland, in its comparison of how many people bike to work in the nation’s 50 biggest cities. Bicycle commuters help keep down traffic congestion in Minneapolis. Bicycling is a great workout and an environmentally friendly alternative to driving, reducing our dependence on oil and our creation of greenhouse gases. To learn more about bicycling in Minneapolis, visit the City’s bicycling Web page.
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Ryblog 
Now that we are the number two bicycling city, how will the city address the increasing number of bicycle/car accidents that occurring within the city limits? What is being done to promote greater understanding of the existing traffic regulations by both motorists and cyclists?
Until the city is prepared to develop, promote, and deliver a concerted education campaign that focuses on safely sharing the road, for cyclists and drivers alike-which should be made mandatory as soon as possible.
The city should be especially careful to tout the benefits of biking and commuting to work- which could (and has) resulted in great bodily injury and death.
Thanks for the comment, bikecommuterinstitute. I couldn’t agree more about the need for education and awareness for safer biking. This is exactly why we worked with Bike + Walk TC to start our bike ambassador program, which does exaclty what you propose. Check it out at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles or http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/ntp-bikewalk-ambassadors.asp or call Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson at 612-333-2450.