MARQUETTE — Marquette has been named one of the world’s best cities for bicycling, according to PeopleForBikes’ fourth annual city ratings.

Marquette ranked ninth in the small cities category and 27th overall in this year’s rankings, which were announced this week. The rankings include more than 600 U.S. cities, 107 global cities and 12 countries.

Downstate Alma ranked second in the small cities category and ninth overall, while Traverse City ranked seventh in the small cities category and 21st overall.

The ratings, now in their fourth year, were based on two factors, including the quality of the bicycle network in a region and community perceptions of bicycling, organizers said. Each city received a network score and a community score based on these factors, with the network score sourced from the PeopleForBikes Bicycle Network Analysis, and the community score coming from online surveys about bicycling submitted by area residents and advocates.

This system is a simplified version compared to its first three years, which allowed PeopleForBikes to make comparisons globally and include more cities worldwide.

In a news release, PeopleForBikes states that what each of these cities have in common are strong bicycle networks, which it defines as the systems of interconnected bike lanes, paths, trails and safe streets that make bicycling an enjoyable and effective means of transportation.

“We focused on bicycle networks because research shows that the best cities for bicycling have safe, comfortable, connected bike networks that allow riders to access the places they need to go, like work, school or local businesses,” said Kyle Wagenschutz, vice president of local innovation at PeopleForBikes, in the release. “It really is as simple as, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ Building better bike infrastructure is the key to increasing ridership, improving safety and working towards equitable mobility.”

Marquette, with a population of 20,822, received an overall rating of 62 out of 100, with a network score of 61 and a community score of 66.

Network scores

Network scores were based on six subcategories, including neighborhoods, opportunity, essential services, recreation, retail and transit.

The city’s highest rating came in the recreation category, which is based on access to recreational amenities such as parks and trails. Marquette received 84 out of 100 in this category.

Marquette’s next highest score fell under the opportunity category with 72 out of 100. Opportunity is defined as access to jobs and schools. Neighborhoods, defined as access to parts of the city where residents live, was scored at 70 out of 100. Essential services, defined as access to places that serve basic needs such as hospitals and grocery stores, was scored 67 out of 100. Transit, defined as access to major transit hubs, was scored 51 out of 100, and retail, defined as access to major shopping centers, was the city’s lowest score at 14 out of 100.

Community scores

Community scores were based off of four subcategories, including awareness, network, ridership and safety.

Marquette scored 88 out of 100 in the ridership category, defined as how often people ride bikes in their city for transportation and recreation. Following that was a 69 out of 100 in the awareness category, defined as how familiar people are with local biking resources and their city’s efforts to improve biking.

Network was next at 66 out of 100, defined as how well a city’s bike network connects people to places they want to go. The city scored 40 out of 100 in the safety category, defined as how safe people feel riding a bike in their city.

Overall scores

Marquette exceeded the 2021 average in both network and community scores. The average network score was 26, while the average for community score was 48.

The city of Utrecht in the Netherlands took top overall honors. The city, with a population of 447,130, received an overall rating of 83, a network score of 88 and a community score of 62.

Provincetown, Massachusetts, was the top U.S. city at fifth overall, ranked behind Utrecht and three other cities in the Netherlands. The town of 2,973 scored 81 overall, with a network score of 87 and community score of 55. Provincetown also placed first in the small cities category.

Zwolle, Netherlands, population 127,497, topped the mid-size cities category with an overall rating of 82, network score of 87 and community score of 61. The top mid-sized U.S. city was Berkeley, California, in third. Berkeley has a population of 121,485 and scored 69 overall with a network score of 70 and community score of 64.

Utrecht also ranked first in the large city category, while the only U.S. location to crack the top 10 was the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.

Brooklyn has a population of 2,589,974, and scored 62 overall with a network score of 64 and community score of 54.

The annual ratings are used for PeopleForBikes’ PlacesForBikes program, which “provides measurement tools, guidance, peer networking and storytelling to help U.S. cities plan, build and promote great places to ride.” The program is supported by funding from Trek Bicycle Corporation, along with other bicycle businesses, foundations and individuals.

For the full list of ratings, visit www.cityratings.peopleforbikes.org.

To learn more about PeopleForBikes, visit www.peopleforbikes.org.

Ryan Spitza can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. His email address is rspitza@miningjournal.net.