The Governor's Office of Highway Safety awarded Bicycle Columbus $82,502.50 for a year of safety events, walk and bike audits and family group rides.

Bicycle Columbus, the city’s walking and cycling advocacy group, has won $82,502.50 from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). The money pays for a year of safety work on Columbus streets.

The group announced the award Friday in a post on its website. The grant covers the state’s 2027 fiscal year, from Oct. 1, 2026, to Sept. 30, 2027.

What the money pays for

Bicycle Columbus said the grant will be used to:

  • hold events that hand out safety and education materials
  • audit walking and cycling conditions on local streets
  • host family-friendly group bike rides
  • work with other community groups on safer streets

The group published its 2026 bike and walk audit reports on Sept. 30. Each audit looks at a stretch of road from the point of view of someone on foot or on a bike.

From volunteers to a paid director

Bicycle Columbus was founded in 2012 and was run entirely by volunteers until July 2026. That month it hired its first executive director. Stacy Roberts is the group’s executive director. In 2024 it widened its mission from cycling to cover pedestrian safety too. Its regular events include free bike maintenance clinics and Ride with the Mayor.

“Bicycle Columbus and GOHS are committed to the same goal of zero traffic fatalities,” Roberts said in the announcement. Roberts said the partnership would help the group keep working toward that goal using the Safe System Approach.

Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said the office works with state and local agencies on projects “designed to save lives and protect everyone traveling on Georgia’s roads and highways.”

What it means for you

  • Free rides and clinics. Watch the Bicycle Columbus website for group rides and maintenance clinics over the next year.
  • A street that worries you. The grant pays for more walk and bike audits, so tell the group about it through its website.
  • Where to ride now. Our walking and biking trails guide covers the RiverWalk and the Dragonfly Trails, and our story on the River Road trail link has the next segment.
  • Grant questions. GOHS takes calls at 404-656-6996.