Mill Valley ranks 28th in California for cycling infrastructure according to PeopleForBikes' 2026 City Ratings, released last week, placing it in the 89th percentile nationally with a score of 57 out of 100, up 20 points from last year.
The increase reflects both genuine infrastructure progress and a data correction, according to Grace Stonecipher, PeopleForBikes' infrastructure analytics and research manager. The updated score, she said, gives the city a more accurate baseline for tracking future improvements.
The cultural shift it reflects is real, even if the infrastructure hasn't kept pace. "When I see a parent loading their kids onto a cargo bike to head to preschool, it's not a political statement," Councilmember Katherine Jones told the Briefing. "It's Mill Valley living today."
Two girls ride their bikes on Miller Avenue approaching Depot Plaza on a weekday afternoon. This is shortly after the bike lane has ended and becomes a right-turn lane for cars. (MVB)
What's happening: PeopleForBikes worked with Mill Valley's Transportation Mobility Advisory Committee (TMAC) over the past year to update the city's OpenStreetMap data, ensuring that existing bike lanes, speed limits, and infrastructure were accurately recorded. Those updates, conducted through a series of mapathons, are "a big reason for the increase," according to Stonecipher.
Bill Hoppin, who chairs TMAC and led the mapathon effort, said the Miller Avenue corridor and other successful projects were not accurately reflected in previous rankings. "Mill Valley has implemented a ton, and while not the lofty goals set out in 2017, some great progress," he told the Briefing. Hoppin said TMAC members agreed at the start of 2026 to a goal of reaching the top 20 in California by 2030. "This first step is a calibration and baseline data point as part of that journey," he said.
The context: One measure of that journey is already showing results. Safe Routes to Schools is a countywide program, funded through TAM's Measure AA sales tax, that works to reduce school-related traffic by encouraging students to walk, bike, carpool or take transit. It operates across 60 schools and more than 29,000 students in Marin County, according to TAM budget documents.
In Mill Valley, Park School and Mill Valley Middle School each recorded active trip rates of 53% in the most recent survey periods, tying for the highest in the district and placing them in the Top 5 of all county schools, according to the Marin County Safe Routes to Schools dashboard covering Spring 2025 through Spring 2026.
The Safe Routes program publishes suggested routes to every county school, this one showing bike and walking routes to Park Elementary, with lights, stop signs and crossing guard locations.
The city has been directing infrastructure spending toward those same school corridors. The city completed bike lanes on Camino Alto in May 2019 and in March 2025, the city received $750,000 in Safe Pathways grants from TAM for four school-route improvement projects, according to the city of Mill Valley's Safe Pathways Projects webpage. In January 2025, the city council approved $230,000 in safety improvements on Sycamore Avenue adjacent to Mill Valley Middle School, according to a city council staff report.
What the data shows: The same corridors where the city has been investing are also where the crashes are concentrated. TAM's School Access Safety Action Plan, presented in April 2026 by Parametrix transportation planner Jen Shriber, identified five priority safety areas in Mill Valley based on ten years of crash data. The data window predates some of the infrastructure improvements described in this story, including the Camino Alto bike lanes completed in May 2019.
On Miller Avenue from Reed Street to Camino Alto: 36 crashes, a quarter involving active transportation users including five youths.
At Miller and Gomez, three bicycle crashes were caused by improper turning.
On East Blithedale from Buena Vista to Del Lane: 30 crashes, eight involving active transportation users.
On Sycamore Avenue near the middle school: seven crashes, all three involving active transportation users were youth bicyclists, and every one resulted in an injury.
Unsafe speed and improper turning were the leading causes across all five areas, according to the TAM presentation.
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