Mini ThinkBike Workshop in Richmond, VA

The Dutch Cycling Embassy and Arcadis hosted a mini ThinkBike Workshop in Richmond, VA on March 14, 2025. During this one-day event with the City of Richmond, we had a deep dive in Richmond’s cycling culture and infrastructure. The workshop was opened by Mayor Danny Avula who provided words of encouragement and showed political will.

The participants of the workshop discussed the positive and negative aspects of cycling that are currently present in Richmond. After establishing our starting point, we were able to look ahead and what can be improved on the short, medium, and long term. To make cycling comfortable and attractive, it is important that we look at the whole network and not just at one stretch of infrastructure. Therefore, we focused on two case study areas and designed a cycling network for all road users. The next step was to redesign intersections in the case study areas. Our cycling network is only as strong as its weakest link. Often, the intersections are forgotten in the network planning, whereas this is the point where most accidents happen. To conclude the workshop, all groups presented their plans and ideas to each other. They were encouraged to dream big and have an ambitious cycling vision for Richmond.

After the workshop, the city invited everyone who is interested in making Richmond a cycling friendly place for an open house. The public could chat with the participants of the workshop, representatives from the city, and the team from the Netherlands Marco Mulder (Arcadis) and Margot Daris (DCE). More than 100 people visited the open house, which shows how eager the residents of Richmond are to improve the cycling conditions. We encourage Richmond to keep investing in its cycling culture and to keep pushing for positive change!

Do you want to learn more? Listen to this podcast by The Mechanics of Transportation: https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/here-come-the-dutch/id1755806097?i=1000699537902