The best examples of promoting walking and cycling: 3 inspiring examples cities actually pulled off

If you want high-impact examples of promoting walking and cycling, Paris is now the poster child. A decade ago, Paris was noisy, car-choked, and smoggy. Today, it’s one of the best examples of how fast a big city can pivot when leadership, budget, and political will align.

Under Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris has:

• Converted traffic-heavy streets along the Seine into car-free promenades
• Built hundreds of miles of protected bike lanes
• Removed tens of thousands of parking spaces and turned them into wider sidewalks, trees, and café terraces
• Reframed the entire city around the “15-minute city” idea—daily needs reachable on foot or by bike

This is not just an aesthetic upgrade. Cycling trips in Paris reportedly increased several-fold between 2010 and the early 2020s, with bike counters on key corridors showing year-on-year growth. Paris offers one of the clearest examples of promoting walking and cycling: 3 inspiring examples from within the city alone would include the car-free Seine, the RER Vélo regional bike network plan, and school streets closed to through-traffic at drop-off time.

For businesses, the lesson is blunt: when the public sector makes walking and cycling safe and obvious, foot traffic goes up and local retail usually wins. Studies from cities like New York and Toronto have shown that protected bike lanes are associated with higher retail sales along those corridors. Paris is now a live case study of that dynamic on a citywide scale.

Examples of promoting walking and cycling: 3 inspiring examples from Europe and North America

Let’s zoom in on three flagship cases that sustainability professionals keep pointing to. When people ask for the best examples of promoting walking and cycling, these three almost always show up in the conversation:

• A European city that built a walking and cycling culture over decades
• A North American city that proved “we’re too car-dependent” is an excuse, not a fate
• A national-level program that treated walking and biking as public health tools

1. Copenhagen, Denmark: The long-game example of a cycling-first culture

Copenhagen is the classic example of promoting walking and cycling that didn’t happen overnight. Since the 1970s, the city has systematically:

• Built a dense network of protected bike lanes physically separated from traffic
• Introduced “green waves” for bikes—signal timing that lets cyclists hit a series of green lights at a steady pace
• Created car-free or low-car streets in the core, making walking the default
• Added bike “superhighways” connecting suburbs to the center

Today, bikes outnumber cars in central Copenhagen, and a majority of trips to work or school are made by bike. The city is one of the best examples of how consistency beats one-off pilot projects.

From a business and health angle, Copenhagen also shows why walking and cycling are not just feel-good add-ons. Physical inactivity is linked to higher risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that regular physical activity helps reduce these risks and improve mental health (CDC physical activity benefits). Copenhagen’s everyday cycling culture bakes that activity into daily life—no gym membership required.

2. Bogotá, Colombia: Ciclovía and low-cost street transformations

If you want an example of promoting walking and cycling on a tight budget, Bogotá is hard to beat. Since the 1970s, Bogotá’s Ciclovía program has closed major streets to cars on Sundays and holidays, opening them to people walking, running, and biking. Today, that network stretches for dozens of miles and attracts hundreds of thousands of residents every week.

But Ciclovía is only one part of the story. Bogotá has also:

• Built extensive bike lane networks
• Prioritized bus rapid transit over private cars
• Used temporary, low-cost materials (paint, cones, planters) to test new street layouts before making them permanent

This is one of the most instructive real examples of promoting walking and cycling because it proves you don’t need European budgets to make streets people-friendly. You need political courage, a willingness to reallocate space, and a culture of experimentation.

3. London, UK: Low-traffic neighborhoods and school streets

London is a powerful example of promoting walking and cycling that speaks directly to car-dependent, Anglo-style cities. Over the past decade, London has:

• Built Cycle Superhighways and Quietways to connect neighborhoods by bike
• Introduced Low-Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs)—areas where through-traffic is filtered out using bollards, planters, and turn restrictions
• Launched School Streets, where roads around schools are closed to cars at pick-up and drop-off times

Transport for London (TfL) data has shown that protected bike lanes and LTNs can increase cycling volumes and reduce car traffic on residential streets, while maintaining or even improving emergency response times. These low-traffic neighborhoods are some of the clearest modern examples of promoting walking and cycling: 3 inspiring examples within London alone would be:

• The Waltham Forest “Mini-Holland” program, which reallocated road space to walking and biking
• The network of School Streets around primary schools
• The central London protected cycle routes that now carry thousands of riders daily

London’s experience undercuts a familiar argument: “Our streets are too narrow to change.” Many of London’s most successful walking and cycling improvements happened on tight, historic roads that were once packed with cars.

More real examples of promoting walking and cycling that actually worked

Those three cities get most of the headlines, but there are many more real examples worth copying. If you’re looking for practical examples of promoting walking and cycling: 3 inspiring examples might not be enough—you probably need a playbook of tactics. Here are several that keep showing up across successful cities and campuses.

Car-free and low-car city centers

Cities from Oslo to Madrid have started restricting or banning cars in core districts. The pattern is similar:

• Close central streets to through-traffic
• Allow deliveries at limited hours
• Expand sidewalks and add seating, trees, and bike parking

Retail often panics at first, then discovers that more people on foot and bike mean more eyeballs and more spending. In many cases, air pollution and noise drop, and foot traffic rises.

Protected bike lane networks, not one-off segments

One of the best examples of promoting walking and cycling is the shift from isolated bike lanes to actual networks. Cities like Montreal, New York, and Seville have shown that when you build connected, protected routes, people who would never ride in mixed traffic suddenly feel comfortable biking.

New York City’s protected bike lanes, for example, have been associated with lower injury rates for all road users—drivers and pedestrians included—according to analyses by the city’s Department of Transportation. That safety story matters: fear of traffic is consistently one of the top reasons people don’t walk or bike more.

School Streets and Safe Routes to School

If you want an example of promoting walking and cycling that resonates with parents, look at Safe Routes to School programs. In the United States, these initiatives have supported walking and biking to school through infrastructure, education, and policy changes. The National Center for Safe Routes to School, supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation, has documented increases in walking and biking where schools implement traffic calming, crosswalk improvements, and car restrictions near entrances (saferoutesinfo.org).

School Streets—short-term road closures around schools at peak times—are now spreading from London and Paris to cities in North America. They are some of the most persuasive real examples of promoting walking and cycling because the impact is visible immediately: quieter streets, safer crossings, and kids actually walking and biking.

Corporate commuting programs and campus design

It’s not just cities. Employers and universities are also becoming best examples of promoting walking and cycling within their own footprints.

Many large employers now:

• Offer cash incentives or transit credits for employees who bike, walk, or take transit
• Provide secure bike parking, showers, and lockers
• Host “bike-to-work” days and commuting challenges

Universities like the University of California, Davis, and Portland State University have redesigned campuses so cars are pushed to the edge, while the interior is walkable and bikeable. These campuses operate as living laboratories—real examples of how design choices can make walking and cycling the fastest, most convenient option.

From a health and productivity standpoint, this isn’t just feel-good HR. Regular walking and cycling are associated with better cardiovascular health, improved mood, and lower stress. The Mayo Clinic highlights how moderate-intensity activity like brisk walking can help manage weight, strengthen the heart, and improve sleep (Mayo Clinic – Exercise: 7 benefits). Healthier workers tend to mean lower absenteeism and better performance.

Tactical urbanism and quick-build projects

Another modern example of promoting walking and cycling is the rise of tactical urbanism—short-term, low-cost changes to streets that can be tested and refined.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many cities rolled out “slow streets,” pop-up bike lanes, and expanded sidewalks using paint, cones, and planters. Some of those quick-build projects became permanent once residents saw the benefits. This approach lets cities create living, real-time examples of promoting walking and cycling without waiting years for full capital projects.

Why these examples of promoting walking and cycling work

When you strip away the branding, the best examples of promoting walking and cycling share a few patterns:

• They change the default. Walking and biking become the easiest, most obvious choice—not the brave or weird one.
• They protect people from traffic. Separation from fast-moving cars is non-negotiable if you want broad adoption.
• They connect destinations. A safe lane that ends at a six-lane arterial is not a success story.
• They are backed by policy. Parking rules, speed limits, and land-use plans all support the physical changes.
• They are framed as health, climate, and economic strategies. Not just “for cyclists.”

Public health agencies increasingly treat walking and cycling as tools to fight chronic disease. The U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion notes that regular physical activity can reduce the risk of many chronic conditions and improve quality of life (health.gov – Physical Activity Guidelines). That framing helps build coalitions beyond the usual transportation and planning crowd.

How cities and organizations can build on these examples

If you’re trying to move from theory to action, use these real examples of promoting walking and cycling as a checklist, not a museum tour. Ask:

• Where can we remove through-traffic from residential or commercial streets and create low-traffic zones?
• Which corridors could support a connected spine of protected bike lanes within 2–3 years, not 20?
• What schools or campuses are ready for School Streets or car-light redesigns?
• What incentives or infrastructure would make walking and biking the easiest commute option for staff or students?

Cities like Paris, Copenhagen, Bogotá, and London show that when you stack these moves—street design, policy, incentives—you get a cultural shift, not just a new strip of paint.

In other words, the most inspiring examples of promoting walking and cycling are not about bikes and sidewalks in isolation. They’re about power, space, and priorities. Who gets the street? What kind of city—or campus, or business district—are you actually trying to build?

Get that answer right, and you’ll be well on your way to creating your own best examples of promoting walking and cycling that people will be citing a decade from now.

FAQ: Real examples of promoting walking and cycling

Q1. What are some real-world examples of promoting walking and cycling cities can copy?
Some of the most cited examples include Copenhagen’s protected bike lane network, Paris’s 15-minute city strategy and car-free Seine, Bogotá’s Ciclovía open streets program, London’s Low-Traffic Neighborhoods and School Streets, New York City’s protected bike lanes, and U.S. Safe Routes to School initiatives that make it safer for kids to walk and bike.

Q2. What is an example of a low-cost way to promote walking and cycling?
Tactical urbanism is a strong example of promoting walking and cycling on a limited budget. Cities use paint, cones, and planters to create pop-up bike lanes, expanded sidewalks, and slow streets. Bogotá’s early bike lanes and Ciclovía, as well as COVID-era slow streets in U.S. cities, are real examples of this approach.

Q3. How can employers support walking and cycling for commuters?
Employers can become best examples of promoting walking and cycling by offering cash incentives or transit benefits for non-car commutes, building secure bike parking and showers, allowing flexible hours so people can walk or bike in daylight, and partnering with local governments on safer routes near their sites.

Q4. Are there examples of promoting walking and cycling that also improve public health?
Yes. Programs like Safe Routes to School, car-free city centers, and campus-wide walking networks are all examples of promoting walking and cycling that directly support physical activity goals promoted by organizations like the CDC and health.gov. They make daily movement easier, which helps reduce risks of chronic diseases and supports mental health.

Q5. What examples of policies support walking and cycling long-term?
Policies that keep showing up in the best examples of promoting walking and cycling include lower urban speed limits, parking reform (less minimum parking, more priced parking), protected bike lane standards, zoning that mixes housing with shops and services, and funding formulas that treat walking and biking as core transportation, not side projects.