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Bicycles, metro in top form

The City of Madison solidified its reputation as a leading city for bicycle transportation as Bicycling magazine named Madison as the No. 1 city for bicycling in its population class.

The city will seek to further improve its status by applying for a "Bicycle Friendly" certification from the League of American Bicyclists this year, said George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Cieslewicz.

"One of the things that makes Madison a great place to live is a high quality of life," he said. "The recognition reflects that fact that we have a lot of paths out there and a lot of construction for more."

Twigg remarked a variety of paths and a bicycle-friendly traffic system help improve the city's attractiveness.

Madison Environmental Group Program Coordinator Kevin Coleman elaborated on three strengths of the system: the bicycle lane setup for streets, an extensive path system and bicycle racks on metro buses.

"The city has done a really good job of putting money into a good bicycle system," he said.

Madison also recorded its highest level of users for the Metro Transit system in 20 years, according to a report released by the city bus system.

The report stated last year city residents took more than 11 million bus trips, which in turn reduced carbon dioxide emissions in the city by more than 15,000 tons per year.

According to a release, the city has invested $1.7 million in the transit system in the past three years to expand the service.

"That's one of the big targets of our program: creating other transport options to reduce emissions," Coleman said.

Coleman added the city's environmental group establishes programs such as the Environmental Action Teams, which groups neighborhood households together to discuss ways of saving energy, especially through transportation.

The average saving cost through the program is about $300,000 per year, Coleman said.

Twigg said the mayor will continue to push for improvement in both the bicycle and transportation systems.

"We're going to continue to invest in bike paths and infrastructure," he said.

Coleman said Madison's reputation as a bicycle-friendly city will help the organization's environmental goals.

"One of the big things that we try and do at the Madison Environmental Group is help facilitate a green lifestyle for people and help them make choices that are going be good for the community and the environment," he said. "We're excited about the involvement of Madison residents in making this community stronger."