05.08.2009 6:04 pm
Illinois drops, Missouri rises in bike friendliness
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Missouri is moving up, and Illinois is losing ground, in the eyes of the League of American Bicyclists.
The organization today released its ranking of bicycle friendly states. Missouri placed 17th, after coming in 28th last year. Illinois, widely known for its progressive bicycle policies, fared better than Missouri, coming in at 11th. However, it ranked eighth last year.
The league bases its rankings on areas like enforcement, infrastructure, education and public policy.
The five most bicycle friendly states this year: Washington, Wisconsin, Maine, Oregon and Minnesota. At the bottom of the list are New Mexico, Alaska, Oklahoma, Montana and Alabama.
It’s hard to believe that Missouri is in the top twenty, what with the anti-bike attitude of most drivers I see on these forums and out on the road!
Jennifer- You can see from the post that “mentality of local drivers” is not a qualification used in the rankings, so I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe.