CTR Sponsors the 2026 International Cycling Safety Conference in Knoxville
The world’s leading gathering of cycling safety researchers came to East Tennessee this month, and the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was proud to help make it happen as a Carbon-level sponsor — the 2026 International Cycling Safety Conference’s top sponsorship tier.
The 14th International Cycling Safety Conference (ICSC 2026) ran November 3–5 in downtown Knoxville, with pre- and post-conference rides on November 2 and 6. Since its founding in 2012, ICSC has been held in the United States only twice — making this a significant moment for Knoxville, for UT, and for the region’s growing transportation research community.
A conference theme built for Knoxville
ICSC 2026 convened researchers, practitioners, advocates, and industry leaders from dozens of countries under the theme “Leveraging Recreational Cycling Enthusiasm for Safer Streets.”
It’s a question with real stakes: can the energy behind a thriving recreational cycling scene be converted into everyday infrastructure — protected lanes, safer intersections, connected networks — that serves commuters, students, and families, not just athletes? Knoxville, alongside cities like Atlanta and Portland, has become a live case study in exactly that transition.
What was on the 2026 International Cycling Safety Conference program
Sessions at ICSC 2026 spanned the full breadth of the field:
- Infrastructure and micromobility — network design, protected facilities, and e-bike integration
- Behavior and human factors — how riders, drivers, and pedestrians actually interact
- Crash data and risk analysis — exposure measurement, underreporting, and safety performance
- Simulation and methods — modeling approaches for evaluating interventions before they’re built
- Recreational cycling perspectives — the theme track connecting trails and events to street safety
Keynote speaker Kevin Krizek of the University of Colorado Boulder addressed quick builds and tactical urbanism, and how fast, reactionary interventions fit within Vision Zero and Safe System frameworks. A plenary panel moderated by Peter Norton brought together leaders from Arkansas Moves, the Atlanta BeltLine, and Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness to compare notes on turning recreational momentum into political will.
Four workshops and two days of cycling excursions — through the Great Smoky Mountains, Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness, and the city’s greenway network — gave international attendees a firsthand look at the infrastructure they’d spent three days discussing.
CTR’s role
Beyond anchoring the event as a top-tier sponsor, CTR-affiliated researchers presented new findings in bicycle safety, contributing to a global conversation on cyclist behavior, infrastructure design, crash analysis, and policy development.
Sponsoring ICSC 2026 reflects CTR’s ongoing commitment to advancing safety for all road users — and to positioning Knoxville and the University of Tennessee as leaders in transportation and mobility research.