Bike Commuting Trend Showing Decline - USA Today
01-02-19, 09:17 AM
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Bike Commuting Trend Showing Decline - USA Today
Sad! Sending you over to original post, to avoid double posts.
A Falloff in Bike Commuting? - USA Today
A Falloff in Bike Commuting? - USA Today
01-02-19, 01:01 PM
#2
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I'll believe there's a decline when I see it. I'm not seeing it. Of course, my corner of the world is not representative. Or maybe it's a bit cutting edge. I don't know.
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
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01-02-19, 01:09 PM
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I am hoping that is just a one year thing and the trend continues as more people commute by bike, even occasionally.
01-02-19, 01:12 PM
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I'll keep doing my part to prop up the stats. Even if they stop keeping stats.
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01-02-19, 01:16 PM
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The only way it will change is if gas becomes more expensive. It's hard to justify for most people if they own the car and are paying insurance to not use it. Additionally, urban centers have been increasing ridership due to many reasons but this study doesn't look at ridership with that much detail.
Edit: Another reason is that the housing costs are pushing people farther out causing the need to drive and removing the option for bike commuting.
Edit: Another reason is that the housing costs are pushing people farther out causing the need to drive and removing the option for bike commuting.
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I'm not one for fawning over bicycles, but I do believe that our bikes communicate with us, and what this bike is saying is, "You're an idiot." BikeSnobNYC
Last edited by Cynikal; 01-02-19 at 01:17 PM. Reason: more content
01-02-19, 01:39 PM
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Not where I live. DUI fuels the commonality of bicycle commuting here. Not to mention legalization of marijuana which will predictably increase losses of driving privileges. 
01-02-19, 02:49 PM
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01-02-19, 02:51 PM
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Still commuting here in the heartland.
01-02-19, 03:04 PM
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One of my favorite new bike names in recent years is the latest entry in the long established Kona Dew line, the Dew-E. I'm not sure I'd appreciate the joke if that were the reason I was biking to work though.
01-02-19, 03:30 PM
#11
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Bike commuting certainly is more common in some areas than others , but a lot of the United States drives because it’s the only practical way to get from A to B .
Im a lifelong Oklahoman who has traveled and lived outside the state off and on based solely on my employment. Most places that I’ve been to save the west coast and the PNW (where I currently live ) the east coast and maybe Iowa . Cyclists are more the outlier . I recently read the numbers specifically for Oregon and if i recall correctly only about 2% of the population incorporates cycling into their transition needs . That’s 2% of a little over 4 million people , and this is a state that goes out of its way to create bike paths, lanes, green ways etc.
when i lived and worked around OKC , the only places I ever saw bike racks were usually in front of bike stores . There are very few businesses that have racks for customers or employees , and OKC has comparatively speaking less biking infrastructure than other more friendly metros like Minneapolis or Portland which are population dense and not spread out to the degree of OKC for instance which is huge geographically. Couple a lack of infrastructure with a large geographic metro area and you’re not going to have tons cyclists moving about to work .
I love where I currently live because it’s viable for me to bike commute and I do so except when it rains . But having said that even on nice days I rarely encounter more than maybe 10 or so other cyclists going to or from work . Most of the time I have the road mostly to myself and Salem has a real traffic problem for such a small city . They also removed car lanes and replaced them with bike lanes in the down town grid which has not helped traffic and has not spurred more people to ride their bikes . Of
course your mileage may vary
Im a lifelong Oklahoman who has traveled and lived outside the state off and on based solely on my employment. Most places that I’ve been to save the west coast and the PNW (where I currently live ) the east coast and maybe Iowa . Cyclists are more the outlier . I recently read the numbers specifically for Oregon and if i recall correctly only about 2% of the population incorporates cycling into their transition needs . That’s 2% of a little over 4 million people , and this is a state that goes out of its way to create bike paths, lanes, green ways etc.
when i lived and worked around OKC , the only places I ever saw bike racks were usually in front of bike stores . There are very few businesses that have racks for customers or employees , and OKC has comparatively speaking less biking infrastructure than other more friendly metros like Minneapolis or Portland which are population dense and not spread out to the degree of OKC for instance which is huge geographically. Couple a lack of infrastructure with a large geographic metro area and you’re not going to have tons cyclists moving about to work .
I love where I currently live because it’s viable for me to bike commute and I do so except when it rains . But having said that even on nice days I rarely encounter more than maybe 10 or so other cyclists going to or from work . Most of the time I have the road mostly to myself and Salem has a real traffic problem for such a small city . They also removed car lanes and replaced them with bike lanes in the down town grid which has not helped traffic and has not spurred more people to ride their bikes . Of
course your mileage may vary
01-02-19, 03:39 PM
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Would be a tough sell to get my wife to permit me to install a bike lane through the living room (been working from my home office for over 10 years).
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01-02-19, 03:57 PM
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@OldsCOOL, your post reminded me of my LBS days. Young guy walks into the shop, sez "I need a bike". Takes about 5 minutes selecting one of our less expensive models, pays cash, rides out.
Yep, another DUI sale. I'm sure most anyone that's done time selling bikes will relate.
Yep, another DUI sale. I'm sure most anyone that's done time selling bikes will relate.
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01-02-19, 04:04 PM
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The many young Fixie/Retro cyclists from the last boom got older and got lazy.....
They all ride those rental electric scooters instead of their bikes these days....
They all ride those rental electric scooters instead of their bikes these days....
01-02-19, 04:13 PM
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@OldsCOOL, your post reminded me of my LBS days. Young guy walks into the shop, sez "I need a bike". Takes about 5 minutes selecting one of our less expensive models, pays cash, rides out.
Yep, another DUI sale. I'm sure most anyone that's done time selling bikes will relate.
Yep, another DUI sale. I'm sure most anyone that's done time selling bikes will relate.
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
01-02-19, 04:47 PM
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That might be a city vs suburb thing. In the burbs most everybody drives some distance to work.
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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01-02-19, 04:52 PM
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Cyclists are more the outlier . I recently read the numbers specifically for Oregon and if i recall correctly only about 2% of the population incorporates cycling into their transition needs . That’s 2% of a little over 4 million people , and this is a state that goes out of its way to create bike paths, lanes, green ways etc.
Even using a bike as a grocery hauler has been a PITA and I've tried doing so almost exclusively for a couple of years.
01-02-19, 05:02 PM
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@gugie, certainly. Here in NYC, about 40% of the households have cars. Most of us don't want cars, as they are more liabilities than assets. And mass transit works well for many of us. Tenafly, NJ is a tony suburb, so maybe some DUIs will want a bike, but I never encountered that.
I agree, @radroad, that grocery shopping with a bike is annoying. I tried it when I came back to the city. It was too much trouble. I found a supermarket three blocks from my home, and I just walk it. When I was growing up here, people used carts between home and the store. That went out of fashion, and now we just carry bags in our hands.
I agree, @radroad, that grocery shopping with a bike is annoying. I tried it when I came back to the city. It was too much trouble. I found a supermarket three blocks from my home, and I just walk it. When I was growing up here, people used carts between home and the store. That went out of fashion, and now we just carry bags in our hands.
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
01-02-19, 05:25 PM
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I make grocery runs to the Safeway that’s close to my house and it’s mostly ok . In warmer weather I do the farmers market as well. However I’m only buying a couple of bags at a time and not doing a large run where a cargo bike would be required . Anything that would require a cargo bike requires a car IMHO
01-02-19, 05:38 PM
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Bike commuting appears pretty low, but relatively unchanged, in my city. The distance most folks travel to work makes it impractical for many and weather is big issue as well. People think 'there's no cold weather to worry about in Florida', but we have a lot of winter days in the 40s and many morning commutes would be in the 30s. That's too cold for people in these parts. Myself included. And many summers we get late afternoon thunderstorms patterns that result in a ~50% chance you'll hit a serious thunderstorm on your way home. The storms are often small cells, so it might only be raining for a mile or two, but it will be a hard rain with lightning and high wind. Few wish to deal with that.
01-02-19, 05:43 PM
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A lot of people seem to also had fallen off the fitness wagon. So youbwon't see the number of cycling commuters increase, any time soon l.
Not that many people into fitness at the place I work.
Everybody seems to be content to eat junk food for lunch, and actually, most of the cyclists in my office are older. With most of them in their late 40's and older.
One guy I'm working with on a project, in his mid 40's said that he used to be a serious MTB rider. Now I see him eating the worst foods for lunch and he's really into commuting on electric rental scooters, almost every day, to work. Unfortunately it really shows on his body and his actions how he might be working towards big health problems by the time he hit his 50's....
Not that many people into fitness at the place I work.
Everybody seems to be content to eat junk food for lunch, and actually, most of the cyclists in my office are older. With most of them in their late 40's and older.
One guy I'm working with on a project, in his mid 40's said that he used to be a serious MTB rider. Now I see him eating the worst foods for lunch and he's really into commuting on electric rental scooters, almost every day, to work. Unfortunately it really shows on his body and his actions how he might be working towards big health problems by the time he hit his 50's....
01-02-19, 05:52 PM
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I am seeing a slight increase in bike commuting on my route....... more heartening is a big increase in kids riding bikes to school. This is in an area that is flat, has good weather (the 34 degree morning today was a huge abberation)
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01-02-19, 06:06 PM
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I blame aggressive, drunk, distracted, drugged, inattentive, stoned, and otherwise incompetent motorists. Solve that problem, and I would do a lot more road cycling.
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01-02-19, 06:31 PM
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I agree, I quit taking my motorcycle to work about 5 years ago when I realized just how bad and dangerous the traffic is, coming in and out of SF.....
01-02-19, 06:59 PM
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Chicago area has an increase of fatalities in motorcyclist and bicyclist categories. Can list a large number of reasons but in regards to motorcyclist, IL is one of three states without a helmet law for adults (other is Iowa and New Hampshire).
Years ago I commuted by motorcycle. I enjoyed it until one morning in stop and go / with nearby police traffic coordinator presence. A motorist parked on the shoulder abruptly decided to merge onto the road, unfortunately where I was. It happened so quickly but lucky at low speed. The incident still very vivid in my head. Always had worn a full face helmet and leather jacket, gloves and boots. This incident was enough to rip through the leathers and do a nice number on my prized Honda CBX with aftermarket turbo.
That was years ago during a time I would consider it much safer. It seems so odd to say, but with all of todays safer vehicles, traffic controls and lanes, its really about the road raging righteous that plagues.
Years ago I commuted by motorcycle. I enjoyed it until one morning in stop and go / with nearby police traffic coordinator presence. A motorist parked on the shoulder abruptly decided to merge onto the road, unfortunately where I was. It happened so quickly but lucky at low speed. The incident still very vivid in my head. Always had worn a full face helmet and leather jacket, gloves and boots. This incident was enough to rip through the leathers and do a nice number on my prized Honda CBX with aftermarket turbo.
That was years ago during a time I would consider it much safer. It seems so odd to say, but with all of todays safer vehicles, traffic controls and lanes, its really about the road raging righteous that plagues.