The League of American Bicyclists is thrilled to announce the recipients of our 2026 Community Spark Grants! After extensive review, the League selected 10 communities to each receive $2,000 to fund projects with the potential to spark change toward a more Bicycle Friendly America.
Marking the fifth year of the Community Spark Grant program, this latest round of applications was larger than ever. In total, 197 proposals were submitted with creative ideas for bike-friendly projects. This year’s recipients include five event-related projects, two rural access-related projects, two education projects, and one project to increase the accessibility of bicycle maintenance and equipment.
“This year’s application pool was the most competitive yet, and really showed how much financial need exists for these small but mighty projects that turn communities into better places for biking. While I wish we could support every great idea we saw, I’m excited about the difference this year’s awardees will make,” says Anna Tang, Bicycle Friendly America Program Specialist.
Since its launch in 2022, the Community Spark Grant program has provided seed funding for dozens of bike-related projects across the nation. These mini-grants have helped catalyze community change by empowering grassroots leaders to identify local needs and take action accordingly. Whether the funding goes towards building capacity for bike education, supplying safety gear for riders, or toward pop-up infrastructure to realize a community’s vision of safer streets, each grant is one small spark with the potential to ignite sustained action for better bicycling.
Keep reading to find out how the ten recipients of the 2026 Community Spark Grants plan to use their new funding to spark change in their communities for better bicycling.
2026 Bikes for Upshur Kids
Ride and Shine: Bikes for Upshur Kids will give away at least 20 new, bike-shop-quality kids’ bicycles, with helmets and locks, to children in Upshur County, West Virginia, who face financial barriers. With an established trail system and increasing kids’ cycling programming in the area, Ride and Shine finds it imperative to work toward equal access to this sport for all local youth. More kids on bikes, one kid at a time.
“Ride and Shine is excited to offer at least 20 new kids’ bikes, with helmets and locks, to children in our county who face financial barriers to riding. As a newly established nonprofit, we are gratified to have the support of the League of American Bicyclists. Local response to this effort is already very positive, and we’re very much looking forward to our big giveaway day this summer and getting more kids on bikes! With established trails and with kids’ cycling programming just getting started in our area, we hope that this batch of bikes will have a real impact on cycling in the area.” — Julia Kastner, Executive Director
Altadena Cultural Town Trail Concept
Developed in the wake of the 2025 Eaton Fire, the Altadena Cultural Town Trail Concept serves as vital social infrastructure for recovery. A consortium of community stakeholders will collaborate to ensure the trail provides profound cultural and psychological benefits, offering a space to process trauma and rebuild local identity. Simultaneously, the trail functions as a backbone for economic and resilience infrastructure, driving sustainable growth and collective action to ensure Altadena’s spirit remains as enduring as its landscape.
“The Altadena Cultural Town Trail Concept, supported by the Community Spark Grant, is a visionary initiative designed to bridge the gaps in our town’s connectivity while celebrating its heritage. By centering on equitable mobility and safe access, the project will create a continuous loop of trails and sidewalks that better connect residential areas, particularly in West Altadena, to essential business districts, schools, and the natural beauty of the San Gabriel Mountains in the backdrop of the Angeles National Forest. This initiative goes beyond simple infrastructure; it serves as a vital tool for community reconnection following the devastating 2025 Eaton Fire, fostering long-term resilience through youth stewardship and the preservation of Altadena’s unique architectural and cultural identity. Ultimately, the grant will empower residents to move together safely, ensuring that Altadena remains a vibrant, healthy, and unified community for generations to come.”
— Dorothy Wong, Founding member of the Altadena Bicycle Club, Altadena Town Council member and Chair of the Safe Streets – Traffic Safety & Mobility Committee
Anchorage GRIT
Anchorage GRIT, a program of Bike Anchorage, received a Community Spark Grant to launch its new 2026 Gear Library initiative. This funding will provide essential bikepacking equipment and infrastructure for 7th grade girls, trans, and non-binary riders, ensuring cost is not a barrier to participation. The Gear Library will support GRIT’s three-day, 60+ mile capstone bikepacking trip to remote Alaska public use cabins and create a foundation for expanding access to cycling adventures in future seasons. Through these experiences, youth build confidence, leadership skills, and a strong sense of belonging in Alaska’s outdoor community.
”Anchorage GRIT will use the Community Spark Grant to purchase essential gear for our 7th grade girls, trans, and non-binary riders to complete their three-day, 60+ mile bikepacking capstone. This support removes financial barriers and empowers youth to build confidence, leadership skills, and a lifelong connection to cycling and the outdoors.” — Taylor Borgfeldt, GRIT Co-Coordinator
Bike Share for Belonging: Inclusive Mobility for All Angelenos
- Organization: BikeLA
- Location: Culver City, CA
The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (BikeLA) has been awarded a 2026 Community Spark Grant for its project, Bike Share for Belonging: Inclusive Mobility for All Angelenos. The initiative will deliver multilingual bike share education workshops and guided community rides in neighborhoods including Koreatown, Westlake, Boyle Heights, and South LA. Participants will receive hands-on training in how to access bike share, ride safely in traffic, and enroll in reduced-fare programs. By removing language, cost, and confidence barriers, BikeLA aims to expand equitable access to affordable transportation and help more Angelenos use bike share for everyday mobility.
“The Community Spark Grant allows BikeLA to bring bike share directly into neighborhoods where residents rely on walking and transit but haven’t yet felt that bike share was built for them. Through multilingual workshops and supported community rides in places like Koreatown, Westlake, Boyle Heights, and South LA, we’re helping first-time riders learn how to unlock a bike, ride safely, and access reduced-fare programs. We expect to see more residents using bike share for everyday trips—to work, school, and appointments—and feeling confident doing it. This project is about making sure shared mobility is truly accessible, practical, and welcoming for all Angelenos.” — Eli Akira Kaufman, Executive Director, BikeLA
Roll & Stroll to School
- Organization: Safe Routes to School coalition in Tucson, AZ (BICAS, Living Streets Alliance, FUGA, Project Bike Club, El Grupo, and Midweek Mini Ride)
- Location: Tucson, AZ
A collaborative partnership between BICAS, Living Streets Alliance, FUGA, Project Bike Club, El Grupo, and Midweek Mini Ride; this coalition hopes to transform school commutes with their Roll & Stroll to School project. By centering youth and families in under-resourced neighborhoods, Roll & Stroll will tackle barriers like extreme heat and high-speed traffic through pop-up safety demonstrations, bike education, and the distribution of essential safety gear. This community-led initiative is a movement toward creating a safer, more connected, and climate-responsive Tucson where every child can walk or bike to school with confidence and joy.
“In a city as spread out and hot as Tucson, getting our kids to school safely shouldn’t feel like a solo mission—it should feel like a community coming together. The Community Spark Grant is the ‘ignition’ we need to turn our neighborhood streets into places where families actually feel welcome. We’re not just handing out helmets; we’re building a culture where a ‘bike bus’ of smiling kids is a normal morning sight. We expect to see families feeling more confident, neighbors finally meeting one another at pop-up events, and most importantly, our students realizing that their streets belong to them, too. This grant helps us prove that with a little shade, some safety gear, and a lot of heart, we can make rolling and strolling to school accessible and fun!” — Jacob Martínez, Youth Coordinator
Black Girls Do Bike – Knox Academy
Black Girls Do Bike plans to use their Community Spark Grant to expand Knox Academy, a leadership development program that prepares BGDB Sheroes and members to become nationally certified League Cycling Instructors (LCIs). In 2026, Knox Academy will support a cohort across 3 to 5 cities with professional cycling instruction, leadership training, and LCI certification support. Graduates will return to their communities equipped to teach safe riding skills, organize inclusive group rides, and strengthen local partnerships that make bicycling a safer and more accessible option. This project builds long-term capacity by investing in leaders who can grow Bicycle Friendly change from the ground up.
“I’m excited for the Community Spark Grant because it will help us remove real barriers to riding and leadership for Black women and girls in the cities we serve. With this support, Knox Academy can train and certify more of our Sheroes as League Cycling Instructors, so they can immediately bring safe, welcoming rides and bike education back to their communities. I expect to see more people feeling confident on a bike, more consistent local programming, and stronger local coalitions working together to make bicycling safer and more accessible for everyone.” — Monica Garrison, founder of Black Girls Do Bike
SDEV’s Youth Sustainability Advisory Team (YSAT) Bikes Para Todos! Outreach Project
This initiative empowers Southwest Detroit youth to lead in creating bicycle-friendly community infrastructure and culture. Responding to community needs assessments that highlighted a desire for non-motorized mobility, YSAT will install bike racks at four community gardens, removing a key practical barrier to biking. This infrastructure sets the foundation for community bike activity designed to build neighborly connections. By transforming community spaces into biking hubs, this project advances equitable transportation access in a historically underserved area.
“SDEV expects to see both an immediate increase in bicycle accessibility and a long-term investment in our local youth as leaders, directly fostering a stronger, more connected, and active community. This will be done through the installation of secure bike racks at four community garden sites. The project will be led by paid youth from SDEV’s Youth Sustainability Advisory Team. They will manage the installation as well as use the new infrastructure to plan a community bike ride series, directly addressing a lack of bike parking and building a local biking culture.” — Angel Buckley, Intern (they/them)
Sweep the Streets
- Organization: Memphis Medical District Collaborative (MDCDC)
- Location: Memphis, TN
The Memphis Medical District Collaborative (MMDC) will use its Community Spark Grant to launch a volunteer-driven street-sweeping initiative. While the District boasts essential bike infrastructure, debris often renders these lanes unusable for the 25% of local households without vehicles. A new hybrid, bike-towed sweeper — operated by MMDC Ambassadors and community partners— will bridge the municipal maintenance gap by cleaning 100 miles of lanes. This project fosters a culture of ownership and safety, ensuring our streets are truly accessible for everyone who lives, works, learns, and plays in the Medical District and Downtown.
“The Community Spark Grant will enable the Memphis Medical District Collaborative, the Downtown Memphis Commission, and Street Fair to empower residents to create safer and more bikeable neighborhoods. The street sweeper will be placed directly into the hands of the community so we aren’t just cleaning streets — we are fostering a culture of ownership that proves Memphis is a city where every commuter, regardless of their mode of transport, truly belongs.” — Rory Thomas, MMDC President
Neighborhood Bike Shop-in-a-Box
- Organization: BikeDFW & The Bike Gangs of Fort Worth
- Location: Fort Worth, TX
Project Description: The Bike Gangs of Fort Worth was established in 2016 and exists to foster family-friendly bike riding groups, or “bike gangs.” This includes providing free bike repairs and free bikes, including special needs accommodations, to break down all barriers to entry to owning and maintaining a bike and enjoying all its freedoms. This includes bikes for primary transportation.
“The Community Spark Grant will seed a Neighborhood Bike Shop-in-a-Box, which means accessible, free bike repairs and free bikes, by the community, for the community. This is a spark that will continue to break barriers to entry to own and maintain a bicycle; oh, the miles of smiles this Spark will grant!” — Daniel “Guido” Guido, founder of the Bike Gangs of Fort Worth
Ticket to Ride: A TDM Program to Promote Multi-modal Bicycle Commuting in Rural Vermont
Ticket to Ride is a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program seeking to encourage people to try bicycle commuting and specifically multi-modal commuting (bike to bus) in rural Vermont. Ticket to Ride is a wrap-around service that complements our existing transit system. The program includes free access to fully accessorized loaner e-bikes, along with the educational and encouragement programming to help community members engage safely and confidently in bicycle commuting. Participants will enroll in a nine-month program and be assisted with overcoming barriers with personalized mentorship.
“One of the overarching goals of Ticket to Ride is to demonstrate the feasibility of bicycle commuting in rural Vermont. We need more ‘roll’ models on the road and at the office, demonstrating the achievability, and touting the benefits, of using a bicycle for transportation.” Bevin Barber-Campbell, Executive Director, Ticket to Ride