In 2015, riding a bicycle in downtown Atlanta was an act of optimism. The streets were narrow, cracked, and shared with drivers who did not always welcome the company. Cyclist Oji Wan described the experience directly: "A lot of drivers, they yell at you: 'Get out of the road!'"
But something was shifting. Mayor Kasim Reed appointed Becky Katz as Atlanta's first Chief Bicycle Officer — a position that, by its existence, acknowledged that cycling was a legitimate transportation mode, not a fringe hobby. The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, led by Executive Director Rebecca Serna, was producing events like Atlanta Streets Alive — car-free open street celebrations that gave thousands of Atlantans a glimpse of what the city felt like when bikes and pedestrians had the road to themselves.
The Data
A statewide survey by Georgia Bikes produced a striking finding: 81 percent of respondents said they would cycle more if the infrastructure were safer. The demand existed. The infrastructure did not.
Serna framed the opportunity: "The key is opening up the opportunity for people to bike the quarter to 50% of trips" — short trips to work, errands, restaurants, and transit stations that did not require a car but that Atlanta's road design made feel dangerous on a bike.
Kari Watkins, a Georgia Tech transportation professor, noted the economic dimension: cities that make cycling hostile put themselves at a competitive disadvantage for attracting the young, mobile workforce that drives urban economic growth. Joseph Hacker at Georgia State University added that the infrastructure strategies needed to be different inside and outside the Perimeter — downtown's dense grid called for different solutions than suburban arterials.
The Arc Toward 2025
The 2015 conversation about bike culture was aspirational. Ten years later, downtown Atlanta has protected bike lanes on Forsyth Street, trail connections from the Jackson Street Bridge to the BeltLine, and a growing network of infrastructure that makes cycling incrementally safer each year. The 81 percent who said they would ride if it were safe are still waiting for most of Atlanta's streets to catch up — but downtown, at least, is building what they asked for.
Original reporting by GPB News, Georgia Public Broadcasting, October 21, 2015.