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Bikeville

The Bikeville Community Iniative is underway. And it's not too late for you to get involved!

Bikeville is the City of Greenville's bicycle friendly community initiative. The goal of Bikeville is to increase ridership, encourage bicycle use, expand bicycling facilities, and provide useful educational resources to cyclists and motorists to share the road.
Download Bicycle Safety Brochure

Background

The City of Greenville’s Bicycle Friendly Community Initiative began is 2006 by a City Council Resolution. The goal of a Bicycle Friendly Greenville is to provide infrastructure, education, and outreach to increase the number of trips made by bicycles. This will be achieved by improving our roads to accommodate bicyclist and the creation of programs that encourage alternative transportation.

Bicycle Greenville Photo Contest

Winners have been announced for the first Bicycle Greenville Photo Contest to promote bicycle awareness and to showcase the many amenities that make Greenville a true bicycle-friendly community. View all the entries at right; and then see the winners!

Bicycle Master Plan
cyclists riding on Greenville streets

The City of Greenville, SC in conjunction with the Greenville Pickens Area Transportation Study (GPATS) is developing a Bicycle Master Plan for the City of Greenville. The plan will include detailed strategies and measurable goals for improving bicyclists' access and safety throughout Greenville.
Learn more at www.bikeville.org/masterplan.

The City of Greenville will host a community workshop on Tuesday, March 15 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hughes Main Library to present preliminary recommendations for its Bicycle Master Plan. Download News Release
Download Workshop Flyer

Bicycle Friendly Community

The League of American Bicyclists has honored Greenville with its prestigious Bicycle Friendly Community award. The League of American Bicyclists’ mission is to promote bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation and work through Bicycle Friendly Community Award Logoadvocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly America. Greenville was granted the bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community designation for four years and the League of American Bicyclists will provide the City with feedback on what it can do to make Greenville even more bicycle-friendly. Announcement of the Bicycle Friendly Community designation comes at an ideal time as the City plans to begin a comprehensive Bicycle Master Plan study in January 2010.

The City submitted its Bicycle Friendly Community application in August 2009. The application was carefully reviewed and scored by a committee, which also consulted with local cyclists in the Greenville community. Communities are judged in five categories, which the League of American Bicyclists refers to as the Five Es: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation & Planning. A community must demonstrate achievements in each of the five categories in order to be considered for an award.

According to Bill Nesper, director of the Bicycle Friendly Community Program for the League of American Bicyclists, the award is presented only to communities with remarkable commitments to bicycling and is a national recognition of the City’s “tremendous efforts to create a truly Bicycle Friendly Community.”

View a slide show of some of the Bikeville initiatives

Bicycle Friendly Business logo
Bicycle Friendly Business Designation

Businesses can apply to the League of American Bicyclists to earn the designation as a "Bicycle Friendly Business" for supporting bicycles in the workplace. Learn More

Bicycle Maps

The following links utilize Google mapping technology and are intended to help guide bicyclists along bicycle friendly routes. The hope is that you will use the interactive maps to discover which network elements are most convenient to your home, work, or frequented destinations. Our goal is to provide a convenient tool that can be used to discover our bicycle friendly community. Each map link will display a specific network type such as Bicycle Lanes, Greenway Trails, Bicycle Routes, and Mountain Bike Trails. Maps can be viewed without a Google account, however if you already have a Google account or decide to create one, you can Manage and "Save" each map in the "My Maps" section of Google Maps. We will be adding to these maps, so check back frequently to get the latest information.

 If you have any problems with the following links or maps, send an email to bikeville@greenvillesc.gov. Please remember to ride safe, wear a helmet and follow the rules of the road.

Current Bicycle Lanes Map
Current Greenway Trails Map
Current Signed Bicycle Routes Map
Current Mountain Bike Trails Map
Overall Bike Network Map
View Greenville County's "signed Bike Route" maps
County Swamp Rabbit Trail Map

Photo of Critical Cruise RideCritical Cruise Bicycle Ride

What: Monthly Ride to Celebrate Bicyclists' Right to the Road
When: Last Friday of Each Month @ 5:30 p.m.
Where: Departs from in-front of the West Washington St. Parking Deck next to Barley's
Who: Anyone with a bicycle

Bikeville is hosting a monthly Critical Cruise Bike Ride on the last Friday of every month. The rides are very casual, respectful, and lawful. We celebrate bicycling and bicyclists' right to the road. This community bike ride is open to all riders, bikes, and skill levels. The ride is typically 1-hour long and features several of Greenville's bicycle friendly streets. We will be riding with and in traffic, so come prepared to follow the rules of the road, have fun, and learn about Greenville's expanding bicycle infrastructure and culture. ***If raining, the ride is cancelled.
Download Critical Cruise Flyer

Celebrate Bike Month LogoMay is Bike Month!

Each May, the City organizes annual events to celebrate National Bike Month. There are so many ways to join the festivities in May.
Download the 2011 Bike Month Informational Flyer | Learn More About Bike Month


Downtown Bike Plan
In 2005, City Staff and members of the Greenville Spinners Bicycle Club collaborated to develop a Master Plan for bicycle infrastructure improvements. This plan was then presented and approved by Greenville City Council in 2006. Although much has changed in the years since the plan was originally developed, it is still used as a framework for a network of on-street bicycle friendly streets.
Bicycle Parking
The City's Bicycle Parking Ordinance is designed to encourage development projects to include alternative parking methods that accommodate bicycle travel. The Ordinance requires that any new development which provides vehicular parking areas, provide bicycle parking at a rate of 10% of the proposed vehicular parking. It also allows projects to substitute a percent of required vehicular parking by providing additional bicycle parking, thereby reducing parking lot areas. This Ordinance ensures that Greenville will continue it's efforts to meet the needs of it's citizens and visitors while protecting the environment.

The City has recently installed Bicycle Racks throughout downtown. See plan for locations. For additional information on types of Bicycle Racks and other Bicycle Parking Guidelines, click here
Photo of Bicycles loaded on a Greenlink busRack n Ride
All GreenLink buses now have the capacity to carry 2 bicycles. Bicycles ride for FREE. Loading the bikes is easy, just follow the directions on the rack, or view an instructional video now.
H3006 Summary of Bicycle Law Revisions
History was made for cyclist’s safety in South Carolina in June 2008. Governor Mark Sanford Signed into law The Bicycle Safety Act, which amended Article 27, Chapter 5, Title 56 of the 1976 Code. The Act is designed to provide greater safety for bicyclists on South Carolina roads and to bring South Carolina statutes into greater conformity with the Uniform Vehicle Code. This effort was spearheaded by the PCC (Palmetto Cycling Coalition) and was supported by cycling advocates statewide. Review a Summary of the H3006 Revisions.
Complete Streets
The new Complete Streets Policy is an important step in the City’s Bicycle Friendly Community campaign. It also reinforces the City’s commitment to improving travel conditions and travel choices for people of all ages & abilities. The City of Greenville is now committed more than ever to providing appropriate accommodations for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders…while promoting safe operation for all users.

Planning for and accommodating all roadway users makes everyone safer, including motorists. Complete Streets have across-the-board benefits like improving air quality and public health while providing transit options. The Complete Streets Coalition cites one study that “found that 43 percent of people with safe places to walk within 10 minutes of home met recommended activity levels, while just 27 percent of those without safe places to walk were active enough.”