Three years ago, PeopleForBikes set out to accelerate the construction of safe and complete bicycle networks in five U.S. cities. The Final Mile, a partnership between Wend Collective and PeopleForBikes, achieved that goal.

As North America’s leading cycling advocacy group, PeopleForBikes are working to get more people on bikes more often—a mission we are 100% behind. Typically, it takes around 8-10 years to get a bike lane built in the US. By lobbying local and national government, PeopleForBikes is trying to ensure bikes are prioritized to improve Americans’ health, connect communities, boost economies and protect the planet.

Using existing political will and untapped community support, the Final Mile has built broad support for new, cost-effective networks in Austin Texas⁠, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Providence Rhode Island, New Orleans Louisiana and Denver Colorado.

“The Final Mile is about the power of people working collaboratively together towards the same goal. What we need to do is be able to provide additional opportunities—biking, walking, public transit, that help us address community wide challenges. They also have the added benefit of being less expensive, more reliable, more fun and they help people connect to their communities in new ways.”
— Kyle Wagenschutz

Building out these networks has the potential to improve mobility for hundreds of thousands of US citizens. But look a little deeper and these networks are doing much more than that. We wanted to show the real, personal change that these networks are providing in people’s everyday lives and that’s what led us to our main character, Movetia Salter.

Movetia returned to Austin, Texas, in 2016 with three of her four children, no social connections and a cancer diagnosis. Using the power of the bike, the mobility network in Austin helped Movetia in her recovery from cancer, improve her mental and physical well-being, and meet people all over the city. Now, she rides her bike almost every day.

The Results

The Final Mile’s mission was successful. All five cities have improved their mobility networks in just a few years. Now, the initiative is hoping to use these results as a playbook for other cities.

  • Austin, Texas - 115 miles of new bike lanes

  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - 50 miles of new bike lanes

  • Providence, Rhode Island - 43 miles of new bike lanes

  • New Orleans, Louisiana - 27 miles of new bike lanes

  • Denver, Colorado - 100 miles of new bike lanes

Find out more about the Final Mile.
Join the PeopleForBikes movement.
Donate to PeopleForBikes.

Written, Directed and Produced by Anthill Films
Director: Matt Butterworth
Editor: Anna Dziczkaniece
Producers: Daisy Maddinson and Ian Dunn
Cinematography: Matt Butterworth and Will Binamé
Sound Design: Jeff Yellen
Colourist: Mike Gamble
VFX Supervision: Blair Richmond