The 2025 Illinois Bike & Walk Summit (ILBWS25) occurred on May 7-8 at the Bank of Springfield Center.
ILBWS25 is the state’s most important conference related to biking and walking. Professionals, advocates, and individuals from communities of all sizes attended the conference to learn, collaborate, and identify creative solutions related to biking and walking in their community.
The theme for ILBWS25 was Creating Connected, Livable, Thriving Communities. Nearly 250 people interested in making it easier and safer to move about their community on foot and on bike were in attendance.
Contact info@rideillinois.org with questions about this conference.
Ride Illinois was honored to work with several impactful organizations to develop a meaningful 2025 Illinois Bike & Walk Summit:
The agenda for Wednesday, May 7 included speakers, breakout sessions, and workshops focused on safety, accessibility, and connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The agenda for Thursday, May 8 included a technical training session for planners, engineers, and municipal staff on best practices for developing bikeable, walkable communities. Advocates and individuals chose between an advocacy training or trail development workshop in the morning, then lobbied for safer biking and walking in the afternoon.
A professional photographer, Victoria Messina, captured a wide variety of photos throughout the two-day conference. Click the photo below to view the complete photo album.
Supporting the 2025 Summit was beneficial to businesses and those who attended. Several sponsorship levels were available, including additional elements of the Summit. Click here to view our Sponsorship Invitation.
Contact dave@rideillinois.org with questions or to discuss other ways to support Ride Illinois.
A block of rooms had been secured at the Wyndham Springfield City Center. Unfortunately, on March 27th, the Wyndham was vandalized and faced extensive damage requiring the hotel to close until they can return to safe conditions for overnight occupancy.
Due to the short timeline, we are unable to book a block of rooms at another hotel. Conference attendees were encouraged to make reservations at a nearby hotel. Hotels in Springfield include:
Proposals were accepted for breakout sessions, on-site workshops, and mobile workshops at the 2025 Illinois Bike & Walk Summit. Submitted topics were relevant to the event’s theme (Creating Connected, Livable, Thriving Communities) and enhance attendees’ collective understanding of ways to improve conditions and increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Proposals were reviewed on a rolling basis. Preference will be given to proposals submitted on or before February 24, 2025. However, the RFP will remained open and additional proposals were considered if there were additional openings on the agenda.
Update: the deadline to submit a proposal has passed and the agenda is full.
