Commuting - Are we seeing more bicycle commuters yet?

Everybody seems to be in an uproar about gasoline prices recently with gas prices now exceeding $3.00 per gallon. Even President Busch's low ratings are being blamed on the high price of gasoline.

I have read a number of articles with suggestions as to how to "eleviate the pain at the gas pump", but few of these suggest using a bicycle for transportation.

So, what are you seeing on the front line? Are you seeing more bicycle commuters, or is the "pain" of higher gasoline prices not really that bad yet?

No I have not seen any more bike riders or walkers. Everyone is complaining, but are to lazy to do anything about it.

I don't think we're going to see any significant rise in bicycle commuters, regardless of price. America just loves to drive. But I'm just a jaded New Yorker...

There's just a sad lack of mass transit infrastructure nation-wide. It's a car culture. Little things like no bike racks at local train stations doesn't make it any easier. So many people in the suburbs outside NYC drive a few miles to the train station to get into town. They probably drive less of a distance than I ride into work.

It would take some serious lifestyle changes here in the U.S.

I'm seeing more, but I blame the weather; the one day in the last week it was raining and cold I didn't see anyone on either ride, to or from work. The commuters I do see on the nice days annoy the snot out of me. They ride on the wrong side of the bike path, If they arrive at the crossing first they don't go over and hit the walk button, they don't say hello back to you, they don't smile, and they cut drivers off (drivers I've worked very hard to teach). The same ahhh-holes that I started bike commuting to avoid seem to have begun bike commuting (luckily only on the sunny days).

Pray for rain and cheap oil its our only hope to regain our peaceful ride along the river!!!

bike2math took the words right out of my mouth. Good weather results in quite a few commuters. Bad weather and the amount dwindles.

I have noticed an increase in the number of bikes parked at the bike rack out front here. Of course mine is not often one of them :(

On the plus side, I filled up the car yesterday and told my wife that this is the last time we fill up until June. She said "you mean May" and I replied that no, it was until June. Hope I can make it :D (We have a total of about 60 litres currently)

I'm seeeing a lot more. I'm not sure whether it is gas prices or the weather.

Paul

I think it is as much due to the spring weather as the gas prices. Probably a combination of both factors. Saw more people biking yesterday than in a whole month.

I think it is as much due to the spring weather as the gas prices. Probably a combination of both factors. Saw more people biking yesterday than in a whole month.

+1

I live in upstate NY and most folks have to drive 10 -30 miles on average to get to work one usually lives in one city and has to commute to the other or commute from the burbs, either way its a somwhat long drive often times only a few routes can be taken from point to point

no trains and a very crummy bus service between the tri citys (no bike racks on bus) but I have to say yes im seeing more commuters.

I have 2 routes I take one is a paved bike trail for 18.5 miles the other is a very busy 4 lane county route 13 mile.

The traffic on the bike trail is about the same give or take a few, most riders that use the trail for commuting are on med -higher end roadbikes and do the backpack thing and wear team cycling clothing
and non walkable pedal systems.

on the other route I always see the 4 or 5 flatbar xmart bike/backpack riders wearing sneakers But in the last few weeks (weather is warming up) Ive seen 4 or 5 new faces on the 4 lane route that are riding better quality hybrids or roadbikes set up with panniers or rack trunks, one gent on a giant roadbike uses a messenger bag.

as said up here in the albany NY area you dont see too many bicycles period so 4 or 5 new riders is a pretty good percentage.

"John"

I can't tell. I come across other commuters very intermittently, sometimes none for weeks, sometimes several in a week, even during the winter. So I don't know if the ones I've seen recently are due to gas prices or not.

I felt bad for a guy I saw yesterday. He was obviously a newbie. He was at least on the right side of the road, but he was riding in the dirt shoulder (there's only about a 1' paved shoulder there; I tend to ride about 1' into the lane), and laboring with a bike that was WAY too small for him, looked like maybe a 20" or 24" tire. Maybe it was his kid's bike! I just rang my bell and said "Hi" as I passed him, he replied "Hey, how's it going", and that was the end of it. I would have liked to give him some advice, but didn't know how without sounding condescending, so I just hoped that my example would mean something. (And even that statement sounds condescending, eh?)

I've seen a few I haven't noticed before, and there are additional bikes on the rack at the bus stop.

I'm seeing more, but I'd point towards the intown housing boom that's going on around me. In addition to a few newer trails and some traffic calming in the neighborhoods around here. I think these high gas prices have coincided with better conditions for intown Atlantans to bike more. Of course this is a jump from a very very small number of bikers to a slightly very small number of bikers.

I'm seeing more bicycle commuters because the weather is nicer and people are taking advantage.

I started seeing more last fall after Katrina ripped through and spiked prices then. I'm pretty sure there were record numbers out there this winter, but it was of course the warmest winter here since they started recording in 1948. Now, there seems to be more, but like it was said before, its spring. We'll see how many are still there in July. Its kinda like the gym the first couple of weeks after new years. Lots o' people are keen, but not really committed.

I don't think we're going to see any significant rise in bicycle commuters, regardless of price. America just loves to drive. But I'm just a jaded New Yorker...

There's just a sad lack of mass transit infrastructure nation-wide. It's a car culture. Little things like no bike racks at local train stations doesn't make it any easier. So many people in the suburbs outside NYC drive a few miles to the train station to get into town. They probably drive less of a distance than I ride into work.

It would take some serious lifestyle changes here in the U.S.

The big problem is urban density. Mass transit can't be effectively implemented without enough people using it. Most of the subsidized, government operated mass transit systems in this country became that way in the 50's and 60's as people fled the cities for the suburbs. Those systems that the government didn't take over operation of pretty much went out of business. I don't want to hijack this thread any further, but if you want to build more transit infrastructure, I think that your enemy is urban sprawl (which has a lot to do with car culture.).

As for commuters, now that spring is here I see bicycles everywhere. Most of them are students riding from their dorms to class (heck, that's what I'm doing), but I have seen more and more bikes outfitted for commuting in the racks - faculty or the occasional off-campus student riding in. I know at least one guy who commutes every day all winter. Very cool. I'll be off-campus starting this summer, it'll be great to have a commute again! Still, I do find this influx of cyclists each spring to be a little bit annoying - suddenly it's much harder to find a parking spot!

I used to see 0-2 bike commuters each way on my commute. Now I am seeing 2-4 each way. I don't necessarily attribute the increase just to the warmer weather though, because all spring and summer last year it was 0-2.

It saddens me that more people in the towns surrounding me don't get around via bike though. I must admit, it's not real commuter friendly since there are no bike lanes. Although most of the roads are pretty easy to bike on and I don't consider the average cager around here to be particularly aggressive, talking someone into getting out there into the traffic is quite a challenge.

yep. weather, not gas prices, accounts for the increase.

gas prices are one of those emotional economic indices more than anything - if you have a 15-gal tank and fill once every two weeks that's $37.50 per fill-up, $1950/yr at $2.50/gal -- which people here think is pretty normal and $52.50 every two weeks, $2730 per year at $3.50/gal -- which people think is outrageously expensive. Even people at the low end of the economic spectrum (but not so low they're already riding a Magna because they have no car) probably can divert $800 of discretionary income over the course of a year into paying for gas -- though obviously the higher a percentage of total income that $800 the more painful it's going to feel.

But your average yuppie commuter just "feels the squeeze at the pump" as the stupid news articles always say because it's in everybody's face on every street corner and it's easy to ***** about, not because it has anything close to the amount of real financial impact as does, say, paying to treat an uninsured illness out of pocket.

</rant>

yep, i think it's the weather. i don't even hear people talk about gas prices.

It's hard to say: because the weather has been nice.

I am seeing many more than this time last year. The MT Vernon and Curtis trail seem to be much busier than last year, and it simply amazes how unprepared most of these people are. It seems that a lot of them have no spare tubes, patches, pumps, anything! I have given away 6 CO2 cartridges in the past week or so and have had to start telling people sorry I can't spare a pump, was getting to damn expensive!

It's about damn time! I passed 3 yesterday (:D ). I'm not sure how anyone can pay $2.89 for a gallon of gasoline. Makes me proud to commute by bike!

----
Reza

Are you seeing more bicycle commuters, or is the "pain" of higher gasoline prices not really that bad yet?
Hard to tell this time of year, Mike, with all the seasonal cyclists popping out all of a sudden (I've never understood how Atlanta commuters could have a winter excuse, winter around here can be the best time to ride! :D )

But even if gas prices rise more (and they will, from now until it's all gone, except for magic intervention of government subsidy, or China decides to stop prospering,) I think American cyclists have an image problem that keeps people from trying bike commuting. Americans think in terms of horsepower right now. Maybe if we had bike commercials showing a very unhealthy-looking man tumbling out of his BMW convertible while a spry, energetic (and handsome) cyclist dismounted and helped him get out of his car, we'd be partly on the way.

:eek:

(Yes, perhaps a spry female cyclist helped him out of his car...)

NO...but I'm seeing more scooters and motorcycles though. One guy on a scooter gave me 'The Look' this morning on the way in.

I got the last slot in the bike rack this morning (5 or 6 bikes). And rain is predicted for today!:eek:

Even the unlocked Bridgestone Carmel is there.

I saw about 2 dozen commuters on my route today. In the dead of winter I see 2-4. My route home is pretty crowded now. There's always a mini-peloton waiting to cross the Fremont bridge.

I chalk it up to the weather though.

Over the last month, our (company) bike commuting numbers have gone from 2 to 5, but it has nothing to do with gas prices, it's the weather. This is the same pattern every year. The bike locker is getting full, time to start getting in earlier.

One guy on a scooter gave me 'The Look' this morning on the way in.

Let us know when you drop the bastard!!

Just started my commute (17mi one way - combination bike trails and bike lanes). I started because of the gas prices. I've only seen 1 other commuter in 2 weeks.

In Texas, we hate to give up our trucks!

The weather has been pretty much the same the past 6wks and I've seen more cyclist out in the past week during my AM commute and more at work too.

Al

A few years ago half the bikes I saw out there were good ones. Now I am seeing many more cheesy entry-level bikes. I hope they live long enough to up-grade.

I'm seeing more commuters than I did in the winter, but I think that has more to do with the weather

Here (http://pleasantrevolution.net/2006/04/26/do-rising-gas-prices-increase-cycling/)'s an interesting article based on a study trying to project "lifestyle changes consumers will make based on the price per gallon of gas".

Yes, more commuters on bikes. But I doubt it is gas prices. Face it, most commuters are fair weather only.

Here (http://pleasantrevolution.net/2006/04/26/do-rising-gas-prices-increase-cycling/)'s an interesting article based on a study trying to project "lifestyle changes consumers will make based on the price per gallon of gas".

Thanks for posting that. This quote made my day.

"I’m also wary of representing bicycling as a response to hardship rather than as a creative, restorative project, a joyful end in itself that happens to fulfill practical daily needs."

I want to re-state my observation about seeing perhaps 10-20% more commuters, but with weather being just as nice (actually a tad cooler lately) than a month ago - this morning my AM commute was 65F, in early April they were in the high 60s. I expect a drop off in the next couple weeks when PM temps start hitting 100 (97 forcast for Monday and Tues)

Al

I want to re-state my observation about seeing perhaps 10-20% more commuters, but with weather being just as nice (actually a tad cooler lately) than a month ago - this morning my AM commute was 65F, in early April they were in the high 60s. I expect a drop off in the next couple weeks when PM temps start hitting 100 (97 forcast for Monday and Tues)

Al

I notice the same thing, Al. a couple weeks ago there seemed to be riders all over the place! I have never ridden in the triple digits. any tips for me? :eek:

Hydrate hydrate hydrate

I rode a few days of 100+ last year. ugh

I am pondering what my plan will be now that I am riding 15-30 miles each way instead of the 5 I was doing when I hit those temps.

So, I would like tips also. Not that we hit 100 very often in denver. 90F+ at this altitude is quite amusing.

I'm seeing more on the bike trails but the give away is the shinny new $400.00 comfort bikes equiped with racks, pannier, cateye, rear view helmet mirror, new spotless helmet, new wind breaker (cycle specific), tights all moving about half the pace of the rest of us.

I've seen at least 6 or 7 in the morning this week alone. :) I think it's a great thing.

I am seeing more bikes on peoples cars. Does that count?
I dont think so.
The weather is gettin warmer, so the fake bikers are starting to appear.. Spandex here we come!

I see the same number now as last year, and the year before that. Zero. (besides me)

LOL, ditto.
oh yeah, rock on with your sig.
Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.
So so true.

Here's an interesting article based on a study trying to project "lifestyle changes consumers will make based on the price per gallon of gas".

Remember "It's easier said than done." Alot of people say, not alot of them do.

I saw this a while ago,

http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/pow/ftorbike.cfm

"there was a marginal increase in the proportion of employed workers who bicycled to work, 1.2% in 2001, up from 1.1% in 1996...

Cycling to work is a growing phenomenon in four provinces. Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia all had higher proportions of people pedalling to work in 2001 than they had five years earlier...

British Columbia and the Yukon had the highest proportions of workers cycling to work in 2001, each with about 2%...

Victoria highest among metropolitan areas for getting to work on foot or bicycle

Proportionally more people walked or cycled to work in Victoria than any other census metropolitan area in Canada.

In Victoria, 4.8% pedalled to work, about the same as in 1996. Not surprisingly, more than half of Victoria’s workers commuted less than 5 km between home and work on a usual day."

So, 5 years ago a study was done that showed an overall increase in the whole country by 0.1% after 5 years of cycle "improvements".

WOW!


This time of year there always are more cyclists on the road and I bet some might be somewhat motivated to ride because of gas prices, but overall, in 21 years of commuting by bike, I can't say there has been a huge difference in the amount of bicycle commuters on the road.

I've seen traffic get worse for drivers, parking get worse for drivers, gas prices go from 50 cents a litre to $1.18 a litre today, but still few cyclists.

I know I just started commuting partially because of the gas prices. I also want to increase my weight loss and just plain get outside for a while. I work the night shift and I love it both ways. At night its relaxing to be one of the only people out, and in the morning its just a refreshing ride home. I'm definitely hooked, but I will need some advice for riding in the northeast winter.

Here in Albuquerque I see about the same amount as cyclists as always but I'm hoping that folks will wise up and realize that biking will save them money and help them drop some pounds.

NO...but I'm seeing more scooters and motorcycles though. One guy on a scooter gave me 'The Look' this morning on the way in.

Did he drop you?

I've noticed several broken off pedal reflectors on the road. So there has to be some people with new bikes that have started riding.

On the MUP I use during my commute -
I've seen double the number of commuters recently. Almost all ride sub $100 mountain bikes with no lights and no helmet. I think temps over 40F and earlier daylight rather than higher gas prices account for the increase.
I have, of course, seen tripple the pedestians, pets, joggers, skate boarders, and casual bike riders in the afternoons now that temps climb over 70F.

I can't tell. I come across other commuters very intermittently, sometimes none for weeks, sometimes several in a week, even during the winter.
I have the opposite problem. There's a relatively high population of commuters in my area so it's hard to tell if there's much of an increase. However, I can claim there's been at least one increase. Me. Although I started doing it before gas prices jumped and I didn't really start commuting because of gas prices but because I made a job change that permitted me to begin commuting again. I haven't been able to commute to work for over ten years. Reporting for work at my previous jobs either involved a crawl from the bedroom to my home-office in the mornings or a trip to the airport.