Sunset and Springdale are among the 10 most bikeable cities in America, according to a new ranking.

Why it matters: PeopleForBikes annually ranks cities around the globe and tracks whether people can realistically use bikes for everyday transportation, not just recreation.

State of play: Both cities earned high marks for bike access to neighborhoods, jobs, schools, recreational amenities, and essential services such as hospitals and grocery stores.

The intrigue: Communities with fewer than 16,000 residents claimed all 10 spots on the 2026 list of the nation's best places to bike, despite having tougher national scoring standards.

• Sunset has a population of about 5,400 residents, while Springdale is home to just over 500 people.
• Utah and Michigan were the only states with two cities in the top 10.

Zoom out: Moroni, Orderville and Parowan — all towns with populations under 3,000 people — rounded out the top five Utah cities.

Zoom in: Salt Lake City, however, received a score of 54 out of 100 points, slightly ahead of Park City and Santaquin. Salt Lake ranked No. 302 nationally and eighth in Utah.

• The city scored lowest for bike access to major transit hubs and basic necessities, while earning its highest marks for access to recreation and retail.

How it works: This year's rankings used a stricter methodology tied to the 2025 NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, with tighter expectations for speed limits, lane design and network connectivity, PeopleForBikes said.

• The scores measure the quality of a city's bike network, including protected bike lanes, off-street paths, slow shared streets and safe crossings that let people comfortably get around by bike.

Between the lines: The rankings differ greatly from a 2022 analysis by a real estate company, which ranked Salt Lake City ninth in bike friendliness among the nation's 50 most-populous cities.

• That report found that less than 1% of Salt Lakers commute to work via bike.

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Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say Utah and Michigan (not just Utah) had two cities in the top 10 most bikeable.

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This will be the busiest July 4 week for travel since at least 2019, AAA predicts.

Why it matters: The right departure time could save you hours stuck in traffic.

State of play: Mornings are your best bet to avoid the heaviest traffic, per INRIX, a transportation data firm that works with AAA to calculate travel times.

• One exception: On the 4th of July, roads will be quietest after 3pm.

By the numbers: AAA expects 72.2 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles this week.

• That's up from 71.8 million travelers last year but a smaller jump than in recent years.

Zoom in: Most July 4 travelers — 85% — are forecasted to drive this year, despite high gas prices, according to AAA.

What we're watching: For motorists renting cars, AAA partner Hertz also expects today to be the busiest pickup day.

Ahead of the nation's 250th, we checked in with an expert on customs for displaying the American flag.

Why it matters: Never, perhaps, has the flag meant more things to more people than it does now.

The big picture: Aaron Bacon, a flag expert at the American Legion — a veterans organization that originally helped draft the U.S. Flag Code — says there's been a recent uptick in both American flag purchases and etiquette questions. He answered ours, and offered these flag-hanging tips.

1. The stars go in the top left — even when the flag hangs vertically.

• "Think of it as how we read: Top down, left to right," says Bacon. The stars belong in "the highest place of honor, and so that's going to be your top left."

2. Display the flag only from sunrise to sunset — or 24/7 if it's lit.

3. You don't need to retire a flag just because it touches the ground.

• That's a myth, Bacon says. Flags are to be retired only if they're actually damaged or badly faded.

What he's saying: "To veterans, it means so much more than just a representation of our country," says Bacon, an Army infantry veteran who served in Iraq. "[The flag symbolizes] what we fought and bled and died for."

The other side: Some Americans have flown the flag upside down — historically a symbol of distress — including as a pro-Trump signal during the Biden years.

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