Bike-Friendly-BusinessBillings TrailNet has applied to the League of American Bicyclists in hopes of being awarded the distinction of being a “Bicycle Friendly Business.”  As the nonprofit organization officially founded in 2002 to build bicycle infrastructure in Billings, we have come a long way in promoting bicycling and physical activity within our city.  

In addition to raising more than $400,000 through our major fundraiser, Ales for Trails, in the past three years we have added bicycle racks, bought maintenance equipment for Parks & Recreation to maintain our trails, provided bicycles to low-income children, and facilitated bicycle riding through classes and an etiquette campaign.

The League of American Bicyclists identifies four areas of excellence when evaluating a business as bicycle-friendly: Engineering, Encouragement, Education and Evaluation.  

What we have done for Engineering:

In addition to providing the city of Billings with more than $350,000 to build biking and walking facilities, we have also provided bicycle staples to the Parks and Recreation department to put the FIRST EVER bike racks in our parks.  You will see them in Pioneer Park, by the Zimmerman Center, and we hope to get more staples in more parks in the near future.  In addition, we provided bicycle staples and racks at Metra Park in summer of 2015, and a bike corral at the Farmers Market this summer, 2016!

We do our best to encourage bicycling through smart engineering of our city streets and trails to provide bicycle facilities, and for our own office, would love to have a bike rack directly in front of the entrance (at this time, there is a bike staple across the street, where staff and visitors arriving by bicycle have to walk several hundred yards to a cross walk in either direction to cross the street “legally.” 

What we have done for Encouragement:

Employees (all two of us) at Billings TrailNet have a $200 stipend to maintain our bikes when we ride at least 80% of the time. We also have a loaner bike plus a helmet and tire pump in the office, where anyone can come in and borrow them as long as they bring a refundable deposit or can provide their credit card information. We promote bicycling every day by being role models riding to work, through social media posts, and informing the public about bicycling events. We have our own ride events, too: like the Tour de Fleur, and sometimes a trail ride. We celebrate Bike to Work Day and participate in organizing the month-long Billings Commuter Challenge, where residents are encouraged to ride, walk or take the bus to work and errands.

What we have done for Education:   

We promote road sharing etiquette through our Take the Hi Road campaign: (https://www.billingstrailnet.org/take-the-hi-road/) which includes this 2-minute video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2PE25PJJbc, public service announcements which we encourage all the local stations to broadcast between June and October, through multiple presentations to both cyclist groups and to driver-dominated groups such as service organizations and senior citizen lunch groups; we distribute informational brochures, stickers and car air fresheners to hang on a rear view mirrors; and last year, we worked with the City to add an insert in the city’s water bill and to install Take the Hi Road signs on certain roads. This year and with our new Program Coordinator, we will submit articles to our local newspaper each month this summer, to feature a different aspect of bicycle-driver etiquette and skills.

What we have done for Evaluation and Planning:

The executive director is a member of the steering committee for the updated Billings Area Bikeway and Trail Master Plan. Within this plan, there is a wikimap for the public to provide input about needed facilities; and we have a benchmark report to which we refer as we move forward with the 2016 plan. Billings TrailNet collects and maintains data throughout the year when a member of the public notifies us of an issue. The executive director is also the vice-chairperson for the Billings Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee. She has requested that the city have a program to record all public comments/complaints about bicycle infrastructure needs at City Council meetings, BPAC meetings, and calls in to our Public Works and Planning departments.  

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