Advocacy Meets Innovation: The League of American Bicyclists Partners with Waymo
Since 1880, the League of American Bicyclists has championed safer streets and better communities through bicycling. What began as a movement for paved roads in the 19th century continues today as a push for inclusive, sustainable transportation where everyone can travel safely.
During a recent trip to Los Angeles, League leaders rode in Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicles and shared the road alongside them as cyclists. The experience was both eye-opening and affirming.
Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, loading a foldable Brompton bicycle into the trunk of a Waymo vehicle
“I was surprised by how quickly I gained trust with the technology,” said executive director Bill Nesper. “The technology isn’t distracted like a human driver. It was surprising how quickly that became clear.”
For deputy executive director Caron Whitaker, the rides revealed a level of safety and situational awareness that impressed her.
“We were looking at the screen of what the car was detecting,” she said. “They could see bicyclists, which we could not see from the passenger seat.”
Waymo has taken significant steps to prioritize bicycle safety. Its vehicles are equipped with a 360-degree vision system, comprising lidar, radar, and cameras, that identifies cyclists from all directions including those approaching from behind parked cars or traveling in bike lanes not always visible to a human driver.
When passing cyclists, Waymo vehicles are designed to give at least three feet of space and often more, depending on road conditions. They also feature an anti-dooring alert system that notifies passengers when a cyclist is approaching before opening the door at drop-off. Likewise, cyclists receive visual cues when a Waymo vehicle’s door might soon open.
Waymo’s in-car screen displays its Safe Exit feature, a visual and audio alert designed to help reduce “dooring” incidents with cyclists
The impact of these features are underpinned by extensive research. In a recent paper comparing the Waymo Driver to human benchmarks across the 56.7 million miles driven in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, the Waymo Driver had notably safer interactions with vulnerable road users, regardless of who was at fault. The rate of crashes involving injuries were reduced by 92% for pedestrians and 82% for cyclists and motorcyclists.
“We’re extremely proud of the features we’ve developed in partnership with cyclists and pedestrians to make roads around the world safer,” said Waymo staff software engineer Jenny Iglesias. "We’re thrilled to partner with the League of American Bicyclists, both to continue building the best system we can, and to advocate for a high standard of safety across the entire AV industry that protects all road users.”
As part of their partnership, Waymo has endorsed the League of American Bicyclists’ efforts to promote AV-Cyclist safety. To work toward the shared vision of improved safety for all road users, the League has published a set of guidelines for autonomous vehicle interactions with people on bikes, including the ability to detect all types of bicycles, predict cyclist behavior, yield appropriately, pass safely, and adjust to real-world scenarios such as group rides or erratic movements. These guidelines serve as a roadmap for developers and regulators alike.
“There's a lot of potential good that could come from the technology,” explained policy director Ken McLeod. “We need to make sure that we have a regulatory framework that sets a high baseline of safety, and holds all companies to the same standard.”
That’s why the League values partnerships with government agencies, local communities, and technology developers like Waymo who are shaping the future of mobility.
“We want to help Waymo and others understand what it takes to make the road safe for people biking,” Nesper said. “This isn’t just about innovation—it’s about inclusion.”
With traffic fatalities topping 40,000 per year in the U.S. and a significant percentage of those victims being people outside vehicles, the stakes are high. But so is the opportunity.
By combining the League’s 145+ years of advocacy experience with Waymo’s commitment to proactive, safety-driven innovation, this partnership is helping redefine what safe streets can—and should—look like.
As policymakers, tech innovators, and communities embrace the future of mobility, the message is clear: we must build a system where safety is prioritized for everyone.
