Local bike infrastructure lacking, but progress underway
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Columbus' biking infrastructure is average at best and below average in Ohio, per a bicycle advocacy group's new study.
Why it matters: The city and region are at a mobility inflection point — spending tens of millions to improve and expand paths, changing bike-share vendors and trying to incentivize ridership.
Pedaling the news: Each year, nonprofit PeopleForBikes rates thousands of U.S. cities in its Best Places to Bike rankings.
How it works: Cities are scored on a scale of 0-100 based on "low-stress" access to residential areas, jobs and schools, basic needs, recreation, shopping and major transit hubs.
Zoom in: Columbus earned just a 36, which is also the average of the entire country.
- Our decent scores for access to shopping (50) and areas where other residents live (40) are weighed down by awful access to transit hubs (8) and core services like hospitals and grocery stores (22).
The good news: We're up from an abysmal score of 25 last year.
Zoom out: Columbus lands at No. 56 out of 87 ranked cities in Ohio.
- Our suburbs fared better, with Worthington (No. 4), Dublin (7), Grandview (12) and Gahanna (16) in the state's top 20.
Yes, but: As a whole, Ohio cities are lacking — none scored an 80 or higher, which PeopleForBikes considers a "high" rating.
- Our best is the small city of St. Mary's near the Indiana border, No. 31 in the country.
- Just five Ohio cities are ranked in the top 300.
The big picture: Nationwide, people want to bike more, and communities are beginning to listen.
- Central Ohio leaders know that, too, and are starting to divert funds and make more intentional plans to embrace cycling.
The bottom line: Bike infrastructure can't be fixed overnight, and a more bikeable Columbus will require continued investment and prioritization before our score drastically improves.