The U.S. Bicycle Route System aims to match the connectivity and length of the 46,876-mile U.S. Highway and Interstate System. With over 13,000 miles of this national bike route network established and numbered, a new way of considering long-distance travel is already well under works. With a collaborative effort between federal agencies, state’s departments of transportation, and a backbone of support by the nonprofit Adventure Cycling Association (ACA), official U.S. Bicycle Routes are signed and numbered with federal designation and established along existing roadways and bicycle paths.

The process is quite dynamic to connect the puzzle pieces to build the U.S. Bicycle Route System. Thankfully, Laura Crawford, the U.S. Bicycle Route System Coordinator at the Adventure Cycling Association, is happy to walk anyone through the process. Speaking from the Adventure Cycling Association headquarters in Missoula, Montana, Crawford told The Clymb where the concept of the U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS) started, where it’s at now and where it will take bicyclists in the future.
The Clymb: How long has the idea of a country-spanning bike route been around?
Laura Crawford: The first routes were designated in 1982 as U.S. Bicycle Route 1 in Virginia and North Carolina and U.S. bicycle route 76, which was roughly the TransAmerica Trail that came out of the BikecCentennial Ride*. In order to legally sign on a road, it has to go through this whole federal transportation process. This process was developed in the late 70s and those first two routes were designated in 1982.
The Bikecentennial Ride of 1976, utilizing the recently established TransAmerica Trail, was a massive cross-country cycling event celebrating America’s bicentennial. The event and corresponding route spawned a new nonprofit by the name of Bikecentennial, better known 40 years later as the Adventure Cycling Association. The TransAmerica Trail still stands as a keystone feature of the Adventure Cycling Route Network.

The Clymb: The USBRS was shelved for nearly 20 years after those first two routes were designated due to decreasing bicycling interest and lack of community funding, what caused the re-interest in building a national network of bike routes? What’s been the progress since then?
Crawford: At the end of the 1990s, the Adventure Cycling then-executive director said, “what would it look like if we gave Adventure Cycling’s routes to the world?” So, there was this conversation that got started and somebody mentioned, “I think this existed before.” There was a task force that was convened, and Adventure Cycling was part of that, to look at what was started in the 70s and 80s and how would that be brought up to current times and current standards.
It took a little while to get all that re-worded and approved, and once it was approved and finalized in 2008, it opened the door for the states to begin designating {bicycling routes}. we are currently at 13½—thousand miles right now and the vast majority of those have happened since 2008. The bulk of the route network is within the last decade.


The Clymb: With over 13,000 miles of the USBRS established, what’s Adventure Cycling Association’s projected progress for the entire 50,000-mile network?
Crawford: Here at Adventure Cycling, we just passed a five-year strategic plan and part of that is looking at the U.S. Bicycle Route System, and where we would like to see that move in the future. As an organization, we would like to hit roughly 25,000 miles of designated routes by 2023. It’s a bit of a stretch goal but I think it’s doable. USBRS goes through two designation periods every year, so there are two application times when routes are officially brought on as part of the system. The next one will be in May and will be the next time we see new routes. I’m hopeful that we will see a lot of new routes come Spring.

The Clymb: The USBRS route outlined by the National Corridor Plan connects urban environments with rural surroundings, giving cyclist an easy pathway to escape the city. What benefits does Adventure Cycling Association see for these rural areas?
Crawford: A lot of communities are coming onboard behind this idea of bike tourism right now. It’s using bicycling as a rural economic development driver, and a lot of communities are supportive of this idea. We see these routes as being an opportunity for communities that may not have other means of drawing people in for whatever reason to reach out to cyclist coming through. Tourism and outdoor recreation are really growing as drivers of our U.S. economy, and that opportunity for small and rural places to plug into the tourism and outdoor recreation economies is powerful.
The Clymb: If someone is interested in assisting the creation of the U.S. Bicycle Route System, how can someone get involved with the process?
Crawford: We do work with several volunteers and we need people who have the time, flexibility, interest and good persuasion skills to talk to different jurisdictions and get them on board. There are certainly other opportunities beyond that, and if someone is interested in creating a route and tying it into USBRS, (Adventure Cycling Association) can walk them through the process. If there are people who know good travel routes, there’s always an opportunity if they want to take that route and bring it up the ladder a little bit, we can help them make those connections.

The Clymb: How about anyone interested in riding on the U.S. Bicycle Route System?
Crawford: The point of the U.S. Bicycle Route System is to create public bike travel routes, so these are available to the public. All the designated routes are all mapped on Ride with GPS and those maps are available for free. People can download those maps on our website and put them on their GPS unit. The idea very much is let’s take bike travel and let’s make it a fundamental part of our U.S. transportation system so that anyone can get out there and ride on a safe route.