How UK bike maker Brompton is riding the wave of more cyclist-friendly US cities

Making US roads welcoming and safe for cyclists has been an uphill climb in a country that loves cars.

A new report from PeopleForBikes, an organization dedicated to making the US a better place for cycling, highlights progress in cities across the country in the last several years. The ranking uses a scale of zero to 100 to score thousands of cities on “the ease in which people can safely get from where they live to where they want to go via low-stress bike routes.”

This year’s report found that 234 US cities scored at least 50—what PeopleForBikes considers a “tipping point”—up from 33 cities in 2019.

“It was great to see the shift, which has been driven both by people’s mindsets in wanting to live a healthier life, but also the improvements that have been made to things like cycling infrastructure in those cities,” Juliet Scott-Croxford, president of North America for UK bike maker Brompton, told Tech Brew.

Progress report: PeopleForBikes’ 2025 analysis—which takes into account factors like protected bike lanes and safe speeds—included more than 2,500 cities.

• Brooklyn became the best large US city for biking, with a score of 73, after PeopleForBikes started ranking New York City’s boroughs separately.
• Minneapolis, which ranked first last year, came in second, with at 72, followed by Seattle at 66.
• Washington, DC, saw the most improvement, jumping from a score of 46 in 2024 to 52.
• Davis, California, ranked first among medium-sized cities, with a score of 81.
• Among small cities, Mackinac Island, Michigan, which forbids cars, scored 100.
• PeopleForBikes noted that seven of the top 10 small cities are in heartland states, “indicating increasing momentum toward bike-friendly communities in the middle of the country.”
• Since 2020, four-fifths of US cities have improved their scores.
• All of the top 10 large US cities scored above 50.

The results “continue to show positive trends towards better biking across the US,” the report concluded, “but a continued focus on bike-friendly policies and infrastructure investment will go a long way toward safer streets and more connected bike networks,” the report concluded.

Bike tech trends: Brompton, which specializes in foldable bikes, aims to take advantage of trends like the rising popularity of e-bikes and more bike-friendly urban environments in the US.

The brand is using an omnichannel strategy to expand its US distribution footprint, including two retail stores, in New York City and Washington, DC. Brompton organizes more than 200 meetups across the country every year to help foster a stronger cycling community.

In October, the company is slated to introduce the electric version of its G-line bike series, which features larger wheels, in the US.

“We’ve seen a huge growth in popularity for electric,” Scott-Croxford said. Bikeshare programs and e-bikes in particular have been growing in popularity in the US in recent years.

“Whilst it’s fantastic to see the improvements from the PeopleForBikes data, there is still a long way to go,” she added. “And I think there are a lot of international markets that have demonstrated the cost benefit of improving active transportation infrastructure, and the health and economic returns that you see on that.”

And though the demonstrated mental and physical health benefits seemingly would align with US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, Scott-Croxford noted “contradictions” like the elimination of a bicycle commuting incentive in the tax and budget bill Trump just signed into law.

“I think sometimes we get caught up in cycling being this green, hippie-dippie way of traveling, whereas actually there are some really clear economic benefits and health benefits to it,” she said, “which I think speak directly to some of the goals of making America healthy again.”