Davis: The Bicycle Capital of America

Davis, California, began as a railroad depot town in eighteen sixty-eight named Davisville after a local farmer, Jerome C. Davis, who donated right-of-way land. It grew slowly until nineteen oh eight, when the University of California established an agricultural research station here; that farm eventually became UC Davis, which earned full university status in nineteen fifty-nine.

But the feature Davis is most famous for has nothing to do with agriculture. In the early nineteen sixties, residents and the university chancellor began building bicycle infrastructure with unusual ambition. In nineteen sixty-seven Davis became the first city in the United States to designate official dedicated bicycle lanes on public roads.

Every new subdivision since has been required to connect to the growing bikeway network. Today Davis has more bicycles than residents and is one of a handful of cities to hold the League of American Bicyclists Platinum rating, its highest recognition for bicycle-friendly cities. On a weekday afternoon the bike lanes fill the way traffic fills a freeway elsewhere.