Flagstaff Biking Organization attended the 2025 Arizona Bicycling Summit organized by the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists on April 4, 2025 in Mesa, Arizona. The summit featured presentations from the City of Mesa, Rails to Trails Conservancy, the League of American Bicyclists, the City of Phoenix, Arizona State University, and others. Keynote speaker Anna Zivarts shared insights into the needs of non-drivers based on her 2024 book When Driving is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency.

A major topic of discussion at the summit was the issue of federal support for bicycle infrastructure, given a March 2025 policy memo circulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) directing agencies to undertake a project-by-project review of proposals “whose primary purpose is bicycle infrastructure” as well as grants which address climate and equity concerns for potential removal. The Biden-era RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant program has been terminated and replaced with USDOT’s BUILD (Better Utility Investments to Leverage Development) program. As reported by the Arizona Daily Sun, this new policy direction could impact planned safety and multimodal improvements in the City of Flagstaff, included a RAISE-supported project along Butler Avenue and Fourth Street. 

Elle Segal from Rails to Trails shared her insights into recent executive actions that impact active transportation, USDOT’s new priorities and guidance, and how to successfully navigate federal uncertainty to advocate for bicycle infrastructure projects. Segal noted that USDOT’s current transportation priorities include quality of life improvements, family and child safety, access to employment opportunities, economic development, and connectivity. Further, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has suggested that financially supporting “local” projects is not the responsibility of the federal government. Segal suggested emphasizing the value of infrastructure improvements at the regional and interstate level instead. Finally, Segal noted that coordinating advocacy efforts with local elected officials, state representatives, members of Congress, chambers of commerce,  business partners, and others will be key for municipalities seeking to retain or obtain funding for trails and bicycle infrastructure.

The presentation on e-bikes and e-scooters from ASU’s Director of Parking and Transportation J.C. Porter may also be of interest to FBO supporters as the City of Flagstaff and MetroPlan are currently assessing the feasibility of a micro-mobility share program.  Porter shared that while ASU saw a massive increase in personally owned bicycles on campus between 2013 and 2020—and a dramatic and sudden spike in electric scooters after multiple electric rideshare programs began operating in Tempe in 2018—the current trend is definitively away from bikes and towards personally owned electric mobility devices, mostly scooters. ASU has repurposed some of its existing bike racks as scooter parking given the steep decline in bicycles on campus. While this trend does not seem as pronounced at NAU, perhaps given the popularity of mountain biking and Flagstaff’s proximity to trails, e-scooters have certainly increased on campus and in the city.

Finally, as Amelia Neptune from the League of American Bicyclists pointed out in her presentation, Arizona’s Bicycle-Friendly State ranking has declined from #3 in 2008 to #37 in 2024. However, Flagstaff is helping the state catch up with its development of a “Complete Streets” policy for the city.

Attended and written by: Sam Meier, Flagstaff Biking Organization (newly appointed) Board Member. Flagstaff Bicycle Advisory Committee member