Mayors Around The U.S. Make Their Cities Safer For Bicycling

Mayors around the country routinely identify bicycling as an issue. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently rolled out the city's new bicycle safety campaign -- posters reminding drivers to give cyclists a three-foot buffer. The campaign will also include TV commercials and it's part of his efforts to implement bike-safety measures after he held a bike summit in mid-August.

It took me only five minutes to find other typical examples around the country:

-- Former St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker extended the Pinellas Trail three miles to his city's downtown waterfront and had a mayor's bicycle advisory committee. I was there for the trail extension opening and saw Baker leading the pack.


-- Boston Mayor Thomas Menino hired a bicycle czar a few years ago and vowed to make his city more bicycle friendly. Check out this story. In fact, the Boston mayor even has a "Mayor Menino's Boston Bikes" Facebook page.

-- Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz endorsed a Bicycle Action Plan in 2008 to kickstart that city's bicycle turnaround.

Bicycling Magazine said Miami was one of the best 5 bicycle turn-around cities in the country. It's because a mayor helped make it happen.

-- Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced major bicycle infrastructure improvements.

This is just a sampling I found in a few minutes. Why not Tampa too?