The Thunderhead Alliance, the national coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations, has released the report, entitled “Bicycling and Walking in the U.S.” It compares the 50 states and the 50 most-populous U.S. cities on bicycling and walking levels, investment and policies for bicycling and walking, and public health indicators among other things.

The report highlights the great challenges the U.S. faces with increasing bicycling and walking. While national data suggest that 9.6% of all trips are bicycling or walking, 12.9% of all traffic-related fatalities are bicyclists or pedestrians, and only 1.5% of federal transportation dollars are spent on bicycling and walking projects.

The report was released to Thunderhead Alliance’s network of bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations as well as government officials throughout the country. Thunderhead Alliance hopes that these data, much of which have never been collected and made public before, are used by advocates, government officials, and concerned citizens to promote a greater investment in bicycling and walking in their communities.

According to Sue Knaup, Thunderhead’s Executive Director, “State and local governments can determine whether their money goes towards expanding highways or improving their communities for bicycling and walking. In order to make streets safe and accessible for all users and reverse our nation’s obesity epidemic, state and local governments must get serious about investing in bicycling and walking.”

View a copy of the study on the Thunderhead Alliance website: http://www.thunderheadalliance.org/benchmarking.htm