St. Petersburg has earned a silver award from the League of American Bicyclists for several years in a row. This award is given to communities, businesses, and universities for bicycle friendliness and measures factors like safety, infrastructure, and education.

Importantly, St. Petersburg has a master transportation plan with steps to expand and improve bicycle infrastructure in the city. This plan aims to fully integrate bicycles into the transportation options available to residents and visitors.

St. Petersburg Bicycle Accident Statistics

St. Petersburg had to provide its crash statistics to receive its award. According to the award certificate, the city reported a five-year average of 10 bicycle accidents in St. Petersburg annually, which caused an average of two deaths per year. For a city of nearly 260,000 residents, these numbers are extraordinarily low.

Across Pinellas County, the numbers are less rosy. According to the Florida Crash Dashboard, the county had 652 bike crashes in 2023 and 805 in 2024. The city’s record is extraordinary, but it also means Clearwater, Largo, and other population centers in Pinellas County have higher-than-expected bicycle crash rates to make up for St. Petersburg’s low rate.

Turning to injuries and deaths, in 2024, 639 cyclists suffered non-fatal injuries, and 13 suffered fatal injuries in bike collisions across Pinellas County. St. Petersburg’s award didn’t include the number of non-fatal injury crashes. However, most collisions between motor vehicles and bicycles result in personal injury or death since bicycles provide little protection.

Consequently, one could assume that the city’s annual average of 10 crashes resulted in roughly eight non-fatal injuries and two fatal injuries each year.

Once again, the city outperforms its population share. Based on this assumption, St. Petersburg accounts for relatively small percentages of Pinellas County’s bicycle accident injuries and deaths that are well below the city’s population share of the county’s residents (around 27%).

St. Petersburg Bicycle Infrastructure

The city’s extensive bike infrastructure is a major factor in St. Petersburg’s exemplary performance. The county’s Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) provides bike racks on its buses, which helps riders cover long distances without traveling on busy highways.

At the same time, the city maintains an extensive network of bikeways. Several of the city’s trails prohibit motorized traffic, reducing some of the risk that a cyclist could collide with a car.

The backbone of the trail network is the Pinellas Trail, which runs east to west across the city. It connects Clearwater and the Treasure Island Trail to the trail network and gives riders easy access to Downtown and the St. Pete Pier.

The Bayway Trail and Skyway Trail intersect the Pinellas Trail. These trails run south of the city toward residential areas, nature preserves, beaches, and historical landmarks.

The trail system is supplemented by sharrows and two types of bike lanes. Sharrows (shared lanes) allow bicycles to use the full lane; in other words, bicycles aren’t confined to the far right edge or the shoulder. As a result, they have the same status as motor vehicles on these roads.

Bike lanes can be either protected or unprotected. Unprotected bike lanes are simply marked on the roadway. Protected bike lanes, or separated bike lanes, are set apart from traffic by painted lines or physical barriers. These lanes give bicyclists extra space from motor vehicles that are overtaking them.

Bicycling in St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg has committed to an ambitious Complete Streets plan. This means that project planning accounts for the impact on and facilitation of bicycle and pedestrian activity. The city is planning several extensions to its bikeway network, which promise to further improve safety and access across the city.