Oh, The Shame!

The 2009 rankings for Bike Friendly States are out from the League of American Bicyclists and North Carolina ranked number 20.  In the top half but a plummeting drop of seven from last years ranking.  Looking at the summary sheet we can tell the tale of the tape that was generated from the linked questionnaire.

• Legislation--NC is tied at 19 with Minnesota, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Kentucky and Florida.
  
• Policies and Programs--NC shined here tied for 7 with Arizona, California, Michigan and Vermont.
  
• Infrastructure--Tied at 14 with Minnesota.  I wonder about this one--I have ridden in several states ranked much lower (like NY at 42 and Ohio at 35) where the roads in general were much more conducive to bicycle travel.  I suspect there is a separate-path bias in the LAB formulas.
  
• Education--Another shining star at 11 tied with New Hampshire and Missouri.
  
• Evaluation--Here is one of the two ranks were NC gets hammered: 46, tied with Tennessee and Alaska.
  
• Enforcement--My pet peeve and where NC is ranked worst, dead last, albeit with lots of company.  Tennessee, Virginia, Connecticut, Montana, New York, Alabama, California, Oklahoma and Arkansas all join North Carolina in the cellar.  It doesn't matter how good the legislation is if their is no enforcement.
  

On Yer Bike!