Cities with populations of more than 100,000 can apply for an international grant of US$1million to help pay for bike lanes and make local streets safer for bike riders.
The grant, which will be won by 10 cities worldwide, is being offered by the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI). Applications will be accepted from 10 November 2022 to 3 February 2023.
“Innovative, interconnected bicycle lanes in, around and between our cities will help to reduce dependency on cars and make our streets cleaner and safer,” says Bicycle Network CEO Alison McCormack.
“We would love to see an Australian city win one of these grants and showcase our leading ideas in healthy, sustainable, life-changing solutions that encourage more people to ride bikes.”
The BICI is being operated in partnership with the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) and the selected cities will receive technical assistance with project implementation, data collection, resident engagement and design.
“We think Australian cities could become leading models for best-practice bike infrastructure that makes riding bikes safer, more popular and more accessible.”
Such infrastructure would be warmly invited by the public. A recent poll commissioned by Climate Council found that more two-thirds (67%) of Australians surveyed think governments should invest more in footpaths and bike lanes.
GDCI has helped local governments in more than 30 cities implement projects and track their progress by training city leaders on industry best practices and connecting them with a global network of peers. It is offering webinars to support cities to submit their applications.
Expressions of interest and sign-up for application webinars can be made here. Winners will be announced in mid-2023.