With gas prices slowly rising and temperatures across most of the country at comfortable levels, some Americans are leaving the car in the garage and biking to work, or using their two-wheelers to hit the outdoors. It helps, too, that cities small and large are encouraging pedal power by marking new bike lanes. According to its 2010 Benchmarking Report, the Alliance for Bicycling & Walking, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., several cities across the country are making an effort to increase biker safety through distinctly marked bike lanes. Though most cities don’t allocate significant amounts of money to encourage biking–New York City spent approximately $4 million on bike facilities in Fiscal Year 09, 80% of which was federal funding–some have long-term plans in place to increase participation. – From Forbes