Urban cycling is a powerful driver of sustainable, healthy, and equitable cities. In addition to generating zero emissions, the benefits of cycling include on demand mobility, increased physical activity, and greater connectivity to mass transport. A century of auto-centric urban development, however, has resulted in car-dependent cities that are segregated, gridlocked, and polluted. To combat this trend, a recent workshop at the World Bicycle Forum in Medellín, Colombia shared global lessons in promoting cycling and making cities safer by design for cyclists.

Advanced bus systems serve more than 31 million people every day, providing efficient, safe, and sustainable mobility in cities across the world. BRTData.org is the leading platform for staying up-to-date with the global evolution of bus rapid transit and bus priority systems, and serves as a key resource for planners, policymakers, journalists, and city leaders. Recently redesigned, the platform now provides a wealth of data as well as informative and easy-to-interpret visualizations.

China’s rapid urbanization has presented local transport authorities with a range of challenges to delivering quality public transport services. Institutional fragmentation and poor governance in particular have posed significant barriers to making sustainable solutions a reality. New research from WRI China provides a deepened understanding of why existing structures fail to deliver sustainable transport policies, drawing on in depth case studies to generate a set of practical recommendations for reform.

Bloomberg Philanthropies recently announced the second phase of its Global Road Safety Initiative, which aims to reduce traffic fatalities and save lives worldwide. Mumbai—selected as one of ten cities to be the site of targeted road safety interventions—currently experiences approximately 500 traffic fatalities and 2,000 serious injuries every year. With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, EMBARQ India works in Mumbai and other Indian cities to improve road safety by integrating sustainable transport and urban design into planning, projects, and policy.

Mexico has the eighth highest rate of traffic crashes in the world, with more than 17,000 deaths and 350,000 hospitalizations each year. Improving safety on public transport, which accounts for 60 percent of all trips taken in places like Mexico City, is a key opportunity to reduce the risk of crashes and save lives. EMBARQ Mexico’s Safety First program—sponsored by FedEx—does just that by training bus drivers across the country and integrating road safety into transport policy. Together, FedEx and EMBARQ experts have trained more than 1,000 bus drivers across the country.

Accounting for approximately 3.2 million deaths each year, physical inactivity is now the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, and Turkey is no exception to the trend. In response, the country’s leaders are planning a series of new initiatives focused on improving public health through active transport and urban cycling. A new Safe Cycling Design Manual for Istanbul from EMBARQ Turkey will help Istanbul—Turkey’s largest city—tap into the social, economic, and environmental benefits of urban cycling.