Guidance for Returning BFB Applicants 

Thank you for your continued participation in the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Business BFB) Program!

RENEWAL TIMELINE

The Bicycle Friendly Business designation (awarded Bronze or higher) is valid for four years. If your award was designated in 2021, it will be up for renewal in 2025. (Find all upcoming submission deadlines here.)  Businesses that have made rapid improvements since their previous application are welcome to reapply early, but they are only required to renew once every 4 years to maintain their designation. 

There are no renewal requirements to maintain the Honorable Mention status. Returning Honorable Mention designees are encouraged to take the time they need to implement improvements recommended in the BFB Feedback Report before reapplying to the BFB program with the intention to move up to a Bronze or higher award level. 

VIEWING PREVIOUS SUBMISSIONS

All previous applications that have been submitted in Summer 2016 or later are visible under the user's Completed Forms, here: https://bicyclefriendly.secure-platform.com/a/organizations/main/submissions/complete?showFullHistory=True

If your application was submitted prior to Summer 2016, please email bfa@bikeleague.org to request a PDF copy of older submissions. 

If your application was submitted under a different user's account, please email bfa@bikeleague.org to request a transfer of the application to the new applicant's account. 

DUPLICATING PREVIOUS SUBMISSIONS
Information for Returning Applicants from Summer 2016 or Later)

(Returning to the BFB program from a Spring 2016 or earlier submission? Click here!)

Returning BFB applicants whose most recent application was submitted since Summer 2016 or later may now copy over their previous submission answers into the current online application form, if desired. Please follow the instructions below to duplicate your past submission into the current BFB form online. 

Please note this is a new capability of our online application portal, for Summer 2016 and later returning BFB applicants only. We welcome your feedback or questions at any time during the renewal process, at bfa@bikeleague.org, to help us improve this guidance or the overall renewal process.

To Copy Your Previous BFB Application into the Current Online BFB Submission Form:

1. When you are ready to start working on your renewal application online, please log in under the same username account that submitted the previous application for your organization.  If needed, you can reset the password here, or contact bfa@bikeleague.org to find out what username submitted the previous application, or to request a transfer or update to the email address associated with the older account.

2. Once you are logged in to the correct account, please click the following link to copy over your previous application to the Spring 2025 online BFB form: 

https://bicyclefriendly.secure-platform.com/a/organizations/main/solicitations/92/linkedapplications

3. From there, please select the specific year/round your last application was submitted under, from the Program/Round dropdown menu and click ‘Search’ (you can leave the ‘Form Name’ field blank).  Your original BFB submission from that year/round should then appear.

4. Click on 'Use this Form' next to your older submission name to copy that submission over to the current online application form. 

5. You may now make edits to your current BFB submission. Please note that any questions that have changed format since your last application may not carry responses over, and there may also be new questions and new answer options since your previous submission.  In addition to completing these blank fields on your renewal application, please be sure to carefully review and update all other responses on your application to accurately reflect the current status of bicycle infrastructure and programming at your business.

*Please note this link is specific to the Fall 2024 BFB submission form. If you decide to wait to start your renewal application until after the next deadline you will need a new link to copy over your older application to the next round's form.

NOTE: If you’d prefer to start your renewal application from scratch rather than copy over your previous submission, you are welcome to do that at any time by clicking ‘Apply for BFB status’ here: http://apply.bikeleague.org.
 

Please see our BFB Getting Started page, BFB FAQs and Resources and BFB Application Process & Criteria for more information, as well as our new ‘BFA Online Application Portal FAQs’ page.

RETURNING BFB APPLICANTS FROM SPRING 2016 OR EARLIER:

The Bicycle Friendly America program moved to a new online application system in April 2016. If you last applied to the Bicycle Friendly Business program before April 2016, you will need to create a new account to submit your renewal application. 

Click here to create a new account to renew your designation. 

If your last application was prior to April 2016, please see our blog post announcing the launch of the new application portal to learn more about changes in features of the new online application system.

If you would like a PDF copy of your previous BFB application(s) or feedback report(s), please email us at bfa@bikeleague.org.