CHAMPAIGN — More people in Champaign-Urbana are walking, riding bikes and taking the bus to work, even while Illinois ranks near the bottom of the heap when it comes to funding for bicycling and walking.

In a national study released last month by the Alliance for Biking & Walking, Illinois ranked 45th among states in per-capita spending of federal funds on bicycling and walking, and 23rd in pedestrian and bicycle safety.

In Champaign-Urbana, percentages of people walking, bicycling and taking the bus to work all increased between 2000 and 2010, researchers found.

Some factors making the community more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly: Both cities and the University of Illinois have worked together to make streets and sidewalks safer for people on bikes and on foot; both cities adopted bicycle plans and both Champaign and Urbana have adopted "complete street" policies that mean new streets must be built with all users in mind — not just motor vehicle drivers.

"Things are pretty good in town," said Gary Cziko, chairman of Champaign County Bikes.

His primary safety concern, he said, are the Interstate 57 overpasses that make it difficult for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross and the deteriorated condition of some local streets.

"Forty percent of crashes on bikes are from people falling because they lose control, because they hit a pothole, because they slip on leaves or run into some kind of hazard," he said.

Less driving and more bicycling, walking and public transit use is part of a long-range plan approved by the community in 2009, said Rita Morocoima-Black, planning and community development director at the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission.

A specific community goal to increase the designated miles of bicycle lanes in the Champaign-Urbana-Savoy area by 2014 by 15 percent is already met.

"By December, we already surpassed that goal, increasing by 21 percent," Morocoima-Black said.

Local officials know hundreds of bicyclists are using bicycle lanes — at least in some areas of Urbana where counts have been done at some major intersections. For example, during a 24-hour period this past September, there were 388 westbound and 413 eastbound bicyclists on Illinois Street at Lincoln Avenue, she said.

Doing counts to measure usage on Champaign bicycle lanes is planned, she added.

Some facts from the national report:

— Some 12 percent of all trips are made by bicycle or on foot, while states spend 1.6 percent of their federal transportation dollars on bicycling and walking.

— Obesity rose 156 percent between 1960 and 2009, while bicycling and walking levels fell 66 percent. The number of obese children rose 276 percent from 1966 to 2009 while the number of kids bicycling or walking to school during that time fell 75 percent.

— In general, states with the highest levels of walking and bicycling also have the lowest levels of obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

State funding for bicycle and walking enhancement projects is available, but there's competition for it, Morocoima-Black said.

Urbana has a state grant it will use to fund part of a bike lane project set to start later this year or early in 2013. Bike lanes will be added along Main Street starting at Cedar Street, through the downtown east to Dewey Street.

That project will take about a year to complete, and will have to be worked around downtown events such as the annual Urbana Sweetcorn Festival, said Brad Bennett, city senior civil engineer.

Urbana also plans to add bike lanes with other funding sources on Broadway between Main Street and University Avenue, with work set to start this summer, and on Washington Street from Philo Road to Dodson Drive this year, Bennett said.

Urbana further hopes to start and complete work this year on a bicycle lanes project along Florida Avenue from Race to Kinch streets and on Kinch from Florida to Washington Street with a $199,000 federal Safe Routes to School grant just awarded. Signs and new bike racks at Urbana Middle School, Martin Luther King, Prairie, Thomas Paine, Wiley and Yankee Ridge elementary schools are included.

The timing of this project will depend on when the Illinois Department of Transportation releases the funding, according to Urbana planner Rebecca Bird.

Champaign will also get a share of that federal money, $189,850, to make bicycling and walking safer in the Stratton Elementary School area.

The money was designated for the addition of raised pedestrian islands and other improvements at Neil and Eureka streets and a new sidewalk on the west side of Neil Street from Kenyon Road to Edgebrook Drive.

The Champaign-Urbana Safe Routes to School project also received $76,000 to continue developing programming encouraging students in kindergarten through eighth grade to ride bicycles and walk.

Will new bike lanes keep cyclists safe? Not always. Bicyclists are safest when they're visible and predictable — but there's a big need for drivers and cyclists to learn to interact safely on the roads, Cziko said.

"Infrastructure is good, but we really need education to go with it," he said.

More people biking, walking and riding bus to work in C-U

The following figures show the percentage of people rode the bus, bicycled or walked to work in Champaign-Urbana in 2000 and a decade later.

2000

Public Transit - 6.8 percent

Bicycled - 2.5 percent

Walked - 11.6 percent

2010

Public transit: 7.3 percent

Bicycled: 3.6 percent

Walked: 13.1 percent.

Sources: Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Long Range Transportation Plan December 2011 update and 2000 Census