May is Bike Month - Be Safe!

This May, shift your gears to two wheels and pedal power for the 12th Annual Norfolk Bike Month!

Sponsored by Lime, the 31-day citywide celebration organized by the City of Norfolk, Downtown Norfolk Council, Hampton Roads Transit, TRAFFIX, the Elizabeth River Trail and other community partners is a great opportunity to explore the many benefits of a bike lifestyle and see how Norfolk just keeps getting better for bikes. Celebrate the Bike Life!

Throughout May, residents will find a variety of ways to let the good times roll safely: 

• Weekly easy, medium or fast-paced rides with community cycling groups
• Norfolk Bike Expo: May 1 @ Slover Library
• Park to Park to Park Mountain Bike Ride: May 3
• Tour de ORF casual ride: May 7
• National Bike to Work Week: May 15-19
• Bike to Work Day: May 19 @ select pit stop locations
• Glow Ride: May 19 @ The Plot in the NEON District
• VA Zoo Bike Night: May 25 @ The Virginia Zoo

Bicycling keeps getting better in Norfolk! With nearly 60 miles of dedicated bike lanes and shared lane markings (sharrows), two wheels and pedal power is a great way to get around town.

We’re committed to making cycling a safer and more convenient method for getting around. To support and encourage cycling, we’re enhancing bicycle infrastructure through: 

• Installation and designation of new bike lanes and routes
• Addition of more bicycle parking throughout the City
• Promotion of bicycling as an option for residents, visitors, and workers through various events

Safety Tips

For a complete safety overview, view a copy of shareVAroads (PDF), Virginia’s law and safety tips for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists, developed by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Also view the “Sharing the Elizabeth River Trail” video and the “Streets Smarts” video courtesy of Bike Norfolk.

Visit our Vision Zero webpage for more information about the program, and click on the safety cards below for tips on how to be safe on our streets!

Bike-Scooter Parking Corrals

We’ve implemented several parking corrals downtown as designated parking spaces for the Lime scooters and e-bikes (map on right). The locations of these parking corrals can be found in the Lime app and are labeled on the map with a “P.”

Please do not park in front of building entrances, do not block sidewalks, and do not interfere with pedestrian or handicap access.

Bike Repair Stations

We have installed several bike repair stations throughout the city that include an air pump for filling up tires and tools for basic repairs and adjustments. The stands are free and available to everyone at any time. To use the stands, it’s recommended to hang the bicycle by the seat, seat post, or seat tube to gain easy access to the entirety of the bike.

We are building a well-connected network of bicycle facilities to make cycling more attractive to a broader range of people. Our network includes road markings and signs to make it safer for people who are cycling, walking, and driving to share our streets. Click here or on the image to the right to read information on the various bicycle signs and pavement markings you may encounter in Norfolk.

Bike-Pedestrian Counter Program

We initiated a Bike-Pedestrian Counter Program in March 2021 to provide a reliable method of data collection. This data will be used to advance the goal of making biking and walking more comfortable and more connected in Norfolk by better understanding the trends of pedestrians and cyclists in the city. Learn more about Norfolk’s Bike-Pedestrian Counter Program. 

Data collected includes bicycle and pedestrian counts as well as direction and headway of bicyclists. View the Bike and Pedestrian Trip Counts dataset on the Norfolk Open Data portal. 

Bike Resources

There are more than 60 miles of dedicated bike lanes and shared lane markings (sharrows) in Norfolk as well as the Elizabeth River Trail and the Northside Park Mountain Bike Trail for you to explore. Click here for a complete list of local bike resources. Below are some of the City Biking Resources:

• Norfolk Bicycling, Pedestrian, and Active Transportation Commission
• Norfolk Multimodal Transportation Master Plan (2022)
• Norfolk Bicycle and Pedestrian Strategic Plan (2015)
• Norfolk’s Vision Zero Program
• Norfolk Public School’s Safe Routes to School
• League of American Bicyclist’s Norfolk Report Card (2019)
• Elizabeth River Trail (ERT) and ERT Map (PDF)

These are just a few of the initiatives that make Norfolk a bicycle-friendly community!