Vision Statement by the Annapolis Bicycle Transportation Committee. April, 2008.
The City of Annapolis recognizes the many environmental, economic and health benefits of
walking and bicycling for both transportation, recreation and tourism in our city. Foremost among
these benefits are reduced traffic and parking pressure, stronger communities and neighborhoods,
and enhanced mobility for all residents and visitors. Therefore, it shall be the policy of the City of
Annapolis to invite, welcome and encourage more bicycling by planning, developing and
continually improving safe and accessible streets through programs like Safe Routes to School and
off-road networks and amenities such as bicycle storage, signage, education, enforcement and
maps.
As the capital city of Maryland and the heart of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Annapolis should
promote bicycle use in order to reduce automobile congestion as a part of its clean air strategy in a
region that has been determined by the Environmental Protection Agency to be a non-attainment
area because of high ozone levels directly related to automobile exhaust, and where highway
funding is tied directly to specific actions undertaken by local governments to promote alternative
forms of transportation.
To demonstrate this commitment, the City will hire or designate a bicycle/pedestrian planner
whose short term goals will be to procure grants, enlist state support, coordinate bicycle initiatives
with the county, build partnerships with bicycle and pedestrian groups, and promote safety and
education programs to enhance bicycling. The planner's long term goals will be to develop a
bicycling master plan that will result in Annapolis’ becoming a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly
Community as determined by the League of American Bicyclists by June 1, 2011 and to continue to
improve thereafter and become a Silver-level Community by 2016.
As the only municipal hub in the United States where two national trails (the East Coast
Greenway Trail and the American Discovery Trail) converge, and as the finish line for the Race
Across America, and as a key link to international destinations via the B&A Trail, the BWI Trail,
BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, AMTRAK, and Greyhound/Trailways, Annapolis will be a world renowned
bicycle destination where safe bicycling is an accepted form of transportation
From Building a New Comprehensive Plan
Main page: http://www.ci.annapolis.md.us/info.asp?page=8953
Public Review Draft: http://www.ci.annapolis.md.us/info.asp?page=13214
Chapter 4: Transportation (bike stuff) http://www.ci.annapolis.md.us/upload/images/government/depts/pl_zon/compplan/Chapter%204%20Dec08.pdf