TRANSPORTATION IN INDIANAPOLIS is evolving. The bicycle, two-wheeled agitator of a similar transportation revolution across the United States in the 1890s, is back. The city landscape, overwhelmingly distinguished by auto-centric design, is increasingly being reshaped to support cycling as the economic impact of these alterations changes perceptions and the cycling movement gains momentum. How to document the impact of an urban landscape in flux from the perspective of a loosely codified community centred on cycling is a considerable challenge worthy of consideration by archivists and information professionals in general.

Strategic efforts to improve liveability and multimodal connectivity in Indianapolis can be traced back to the early 1990s joint efforts of the city's parks system and metropolitan development (Indy Greenways Master Plan 2013–2023, 2014). However, widespread support for and growth in cycling infrastructure has become increasingly prominent in the last decade, spurred by the success of pilot greenways initiatives and public demand. The now nationally renowned and heavily used Monon Trail ‘rails-to-trails’ conversion (transformation of disused railway lines into recreational corridors), completed in 2003, has had a tangible economic impact, as well as great popularity, that provided a strong case for further private and public initiatives (Indy Greenways, 2014, 33; Indianapolis Cultural Trail, History). Factors contributing to public demand include the return of population density to the urban core and growing government and public support for diversification of mobility options, due to environmental, health and quality-of- life concerns (Indianapolis Bicycle Master Plan, 2012).

According to the June 2012 Indianapolis Bicycle Master Plan, between 2008 and 2012 the city's overall bicycling infrastructure has seen a mileage increase of 130%. Multiple agencies are now involved in the development and operation of the expanding network of trails and bikeways. Since its debut in 1994, the Indianapolis parks system initiative, Indy Greenways, has succeeded in developing nearly 70 of the 155 miles of greenways and conservation corridors first defined in the thrice-updated comprehensive plan (Indy Greenways Master Plan, 2014, 36). The city began developing bike trails and on-street lanes in 2007, and a dedicated Bikeways division, under the Department of Public Works Office of Sustainability and Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Council, guides development and educational efforts.