Illinois ranked the 11th most bike-friendly state

The League of American Bicyclists Bicyclists has released its annual state report cards, and Illinois comes in as the 11th most bike-friendly state, down from ninth last year.

The league assesses each state on five metrics: legislation, programs, infrastructure funding, education and planning. Illinois tallied 53.1 points, up from last year’s 51.9.

The Illinois chapter of the nonprofit group attributes the state’s drop in ranking not because of a decrease in quality here at home, but a result of major progress made by other states.

The report card urges Illinois to better incorporate bicycling into driver’s education programs, implement better data collection by law enforcement in incidents involving bicycles, and increase infrastructure spending.

Washington (66.8), Minnesota (62.0) and Wisconsin (56.9) fill out the top three states, while Kentucky (19.1), Montana (17.9) and Alabama (17.4) round out the bottom of the list.

Illinois’ full report card can be viewed here (PDF). Full state ranking are available here.

The League of American Bicyclists is a nonprofit organization founded in 1880 to promote cycling advocacy and education.