Dickinson College was recently named the fourth most bike friendly college in America by The League of American Bicyclists, a non-profit organization that represents “bicyclists in the movement to create safer roads, stronger communities and a bicycle-friendly America.”

The ranking, published on Bicycling magazine on Nov. 29, “shouts out those schools that have gone the extra mile for bike accessibility—be that making notable safety upgrades or forming initiatives to get more students on bikes.”

Schools are awarded ranks of bronze, silver, gold and platinum, “though one can always move up in the rankings by doing more,” according to the magazine.

In an interview with the magazine, Amelia Neptune, a program director at the League of American Bicyclists, said institutions are judged on what she calls the “Five E’s,” described by the magazine as “engineering (designing a safe bike network), education (incorporating bikes into the classroom), encouragement (motivating students to bike with programs and incentives), enforcement (ensuring riders are protected on the road) and evaluation (forming committees to improve cycling on campus).”

“Dickinson applied in 2014, earning Silver and recently applied for renewal which brought us a Gold Bicycle Friendly University distinction,” stated Cody Rosenbarker, the Sustainability Learning Coordinator for the Center for Sustainability Education (CSE), in an email. “The Bicycle Advisory Committee, Dickinson’s group of faculty, staff and students charged with promoting bicycle safety and ease of use on campus and in the community, meets at least twice a semester.  We met several times to discuss our application, what our progress has been in the ‘Five E’s.’”

The Bicycling article described Dickinson’s bike-renting system in which students can rent a bike from the school for as long as an entire semester, and the Handlebar as features that helped create “a biking culture where there wasn’t really one before,” according to Neptune.

The list, which featured 45 schools, ranked the University of Kentucky as the first most bike-friendly school in America, citing the school’s effort to hire a full-time coordinator to oversee the university’s support for cycling as an initiative that helped earn them the top spot.

“It is an honor to see the emphasis (in the form of time and money) that Dickinson puts on being a sustainable campus be recognized,” said Rosenbarker. “Biking and sustainability are a perfect pair.”