Bernardo Vigil said he rarely feels unsafe biking the streets of Baltimore.
The 21-year-old doesn't even have a driver's license, instead relying on his candy apple green LeMond road bike to get him around the city and, during the school year, to Goucher College in Towson.
"People tend to be aware and considerate of bikers in Baltimore," said Vigil, an apprentice at Baltimore Bicycle Works on Falls Road. "People are used to seeing things on the road that aren't cars, whether it be bikers or pedestrians."
But just around the corner from the store where Vigil works, a white "ghost bike" sits chained to a street pole –— a memorial to 67-year-old John Yates, a cyclist who was hit by a truck and killed in 2009 on Maryland Avenue. In December, cyclist Thomas Palermo was struck and killed on Roland Avenue. Heather Elizabeth Cook, a former Episcopal bishop suffragan, faces 13 charges, including vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol, in Palermo's death.
Acknowledging both the progress the city has made as well as the work that still needs to be done to protect cyclists, city Department of Transportation Director William Johnson accepted Wednesday a bronze-level "Bicycle Friendly Community" award from the League of American Bicyclists.
"We can only get so excited about being bronze and not being silver or gold," Johnson said. "We want to keep pushing. In future years, we hopefully will be in the running to get to the next level."
It's the second time the city has received the bronze designation from the program, which helps cities evaluate their progress toward improving the environment for cyclists.
Bill Nesper, vice president of programs at the League of American Bicyclists, said when the organization gives awards that are silver-level or above, it is "looking at outcomes, rather than just programs and policies."
In the average silver-level city, 3 percent of the population commutes on a bike; in Baltimore, 0.7 percent do so.
This year, the transportation department committed $2 million to projects promoting and expanding bike infrastructure, Johnson said, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake established a Bicycle Advisory Commission.
Plans are also in place to place more protected bike lanes on certain streets, including Maryland and Roland avenues, Johnson said.
"Infrastructure is the biggest thing needing improvement, like more protected bike lanes," Vigil said. "It's scary having a 2-ton hunk of metal going 35 mph right next to you. If there's more infrastructure like that, more people will ride because they feel safer, which will improve bike friendliness in the city altogether."
The city's 2015 Bicycle Master Plan calls for the addition of 100 miles of new biking facilities, on top of the 125 already in place. Many of the city's roadway resurfacing projects now incorporate bicycle pavement markings and bicycle-safe storm drain grates. More than 600 bike racks have been installed in the city since the first Bike Master Plan came out in 2006.
"There seems to be a lot of places to chain up your bike," said 27-year-old Baltimore resident Harrison Gorrell, who was on his first ride through the city Wednesday. "It seems like they're really encouraging you to ride your bike."
Officials also expect to bring a bikeshare program to Baltimore by 2016.
"The good thing is that everything that needs to be done to continue this progress, they've got the plans on the books," said Nate Evans, director of BikeMaryland, which works to promote bicycling and improve safety conditions in the state.
Steven Hall, a 27-year-old from Baltimore, said he hopes to see some of these improvements in place soon.
"There's been a lot of near-misses for me," Hall said. "It's mostly a matter of feeling like I don't fit in on the road. I feel like I'm in everyone's way, and everyone feels like I'm in their way."
Baltimore resident Adam Chenevert went to Baltimore Bicycle Works on Wednesday to buy a new bike. He is tired of driving his car to places that are just a bit too far to walk, he said.
"I'm glad they're getting this designation," said Chenevert, 28. "Baltimore seems like a place where there's a good biking community going on."