Portland: Bike Commuters Eight Times the National Average
06-14-07, 01:11 PM
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Portland: Bike Commuters Eight Times the National Average
Numbers State The Obvious, Portlanders Love Bikes And Busses
By Andrew Theen
https://www.publicbroadcasting.net/op...CLE_ID=1097796
PORTLAND, OR 2007-06-13 New census numbers are showing what Portlanders already know -- people here bike and use mass transit on their commutes more than their national counterparts. Andrew Theen reports.
------------
The percentage of Portlanders who bike to work is 8 times the national average. That's according to data from the 2005 American Community Survey, or ACS.
The ACS is an annual, and census officials say, more thorough version of the once-a-decade census.
Portland City Auditor Gary Blackmer says having so much accurate yearly data allows policy-makers to raise up to date questions with city leaders.
Gary Blackmer: "There's been huge growth in bicycling, in walking. Let's focus on multi-modal transportation. Let's not say it's either cars or mass transit. What are the other ways that we can get people to their jobs."
Portland and Multnomah County were original test areas for the American Community Survey a decade ago. The ACS will officially replace the long-form census in 2010.
By Andrew Theen
https://www.publicbroadcasting.net/op...CLE_ID=1097796
PORTLAND, OR 2007-06-13 New census numbers are showing what Portlanders already know -- people here bike and use mass transit on their commutes more than their national counterparts. Andrew Theen reports.
------------
The percentage of Portlanders who bike to work is 8 times the national average. That's according to data from the 2005 American Community Survey, or ACS.
The ACS is an annual, and census officials say, more thorough version of the once-a-decade census.
Portland City Auditor Gary Blackmer says having so much accurate yearly data allows policy-makers to raise up to date questions with city leaders.
Gary Blackmer: "There's been huge growth in bicycling, in walking. Let's focus on multi-modal transportation. Let's not say it's either cars or mass transit. What are the other ways that we can get people to their jobs."
Portland and Multnomah County were original test areas for the American Community Survey a decade ago. The ACS will officially replace the long-form census in 2010.
06-14-07, 01:41 PM
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GATC
I had a meeting at a hotel in downtown Portland a month ago, I totally could have spent the whole time sitting on the step watching the bikes go by.
06-14-07, 01:46 PM
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that's amazing... in spite of all that dangerous bike infrastructure, people are STILL biking more than they used to!
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"Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world". ~Grant Petersen
Cyclists fare best when they recognize that there are times when acting vehicularly is not the best practice, and are flexible enough to do what is necessary as the situation warrants.--Me
06-14-07, 01:50 PM
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So they have what, 2% of commuters on bikes? 
btw, what is the national average of bike commuters?
btw, what is the national average of bike commuters?
06-14-07, 02:00 PM
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Cycle Year Round
Randya,
Maybe you can direct us to the ACS tables that include cycling transportation. I could not find any on the https://www.census.gov/ website.
Edit:
This is the closest table I found and it does not include cycling transportation.
https://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...mat=&-_lang=en
Maybe you can direct us to the ACS tables that include cycling transportation. I could not find any on the https://www.census.gov/ website.
Edit:
This is the closest table I found and it does not include cycling transportation.
https://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...mat=&-_lang=en
Last edited by CB HI; 06-14-07 at 02:12 PM.
06-14-07, 02:59 PM
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Yup. When living in Washington I transferred blood around for the red cross. One stop at a major distribution center was in Portland. Positively horrific traffic IMHO. That and the city planning seems to have been performed by someone with a lobotomy.
06-14-07, 03:34 PM
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The bike commute mode split is about 4% to 6% in Portland, and up to twice that in some inner city census tracts.
Sorry, all I've got is the link to the OPB story, I have no idea where the ACS data comes from.
Sorry, all I've got is the link to the OPB story, I have no idea where the ACS data comes from.
06-14-07, 03:51 PM
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Cycle Year Round
No e-mail link in the article either, so we cannot ask Andrew Theen where he got it.
Not jumping on you Randya, you just posted the article, but Mr. Theen appears to include cycling into the category of mass transit. Maybe he makes some other assumptions.
Good census data would be nice to have for cycling.
Not jumping on you Randya, you just posted the article, but Mr. Theen appears to include cycling into the category of mass transit. Maybe he makes some other assumptions.
Good census data would be nice to have for cycling.
06-14-07, 04:08 PM
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I'm almost certain the census data makes a distinction between biking and transit.
06-14-07, 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
Yup. When living in Washington I transferred blood around for the red cross. One stop at a major distribution center was in Portland. Positively horrific traffic IMHO. That and the city planning seems to have been performed by someone with a lobotomy.
06-14-07, 05:33 PM
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Cycle Year Round
I will wait to see if anyone else can find such data. My search of the cesus website did not find any.
06-14-07, 05:58 PM
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https://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...-redoLog=false
Here's National Data
https://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...mat=&-_lang=en
Here's Portland, Oregon, Data
btw, it's closer to 9X the natiional average. And despite speculation to the contrary, by , well, contrarians, the data is very specific in nature.
Here's National Data
https://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...mat=&-_lang=en
Here's Portland, Oregon, Data
btw, it's closer to 9X the natiional average. And despite speculation to the contrary, by , well, contrarians, the data is very specific in nature.
06-14-07, 06:50 PM
#14
Cycle Year Round
Thanks. Interesting that it is buried in the “Commuting Characteristics by Sex” tables.
Last edited by CB HI; 06-14-07 at 07:05 PM.
06-14-07, 07:08 PM
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Cycle Year Round
Looks like Eugene, OR is the place to be (8.4% modul split).
It beats Honolulu (1.4%), Portland (3.5%) and Boulder (7.8%).
National (0.4%)
It beats Honolulu (1.4%), Portland (3.5%) and Boulder (7.8%).
National (0.4%)
Last edited by CB HI; 06-14-07 at 07:17 PM.
06-14-07, 07:15 PM
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Cycle Year Round
I thought San Jose, CA had painted a whole bunch of bike lanes. But it is only at 0.4% modal split - same as the national average.
06-14-07, 07:21 PM
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Interesting that it is buried in the “Commuting Characteristics by Sex” tables.
06-14-07, 07:38 PM
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Cycle Year Round
Well, I did not have sex on my mind when I was searching.
(your one of those every ten second guys, aren't you)
(your one of those every ten second guys, aren't you)
06-14-07, 07:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Winter76
Congrats to portal and eugene, hopefully that number continues to grow!
06-14-07, 08:03 PM
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Fun statistics about San Francisco:
Public transportation (excluding taxicab) 32.7%
Walked 9.6%
Bicycle 1.8%
It's not *that* many cyclists, but it's cool that half the population of the city isn't driving by themselves to work every day.
Public transportation (excluding taxicab) 32.7%
Walked 9.6%
Bicycle 1.8%
It's not *that* many cyclists, but it's cool that half the population of the city isn't driving by themselves to work every day.
06-14-07, 08:22 PM
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Originally Posted by randya
What are the other ways that we can get people to their jobs."
"What are the other ways we can get people out of their jobs."
06-21-07, 11:38 AM
#23
GATC
PI editorial today:
Across the country, a whopping 4.7 percent of commuters use public transportation ... Seattle makes it into the top 10, which includes such cities as Chicago and New York (no surprise there). But the shocker was that despite having that spiffy MAX light rail system, Portland (at 13.3 percent) had fewer transit users than Seattle (at 17 percent).
However, Puddletown had us -- and the rest of the country -- beat in biking to work, with 3.5 percent of its working population (over the age of 16) biking. We placed third, at 2.3 percent. The national average is 0.4 percent. But hey, 6.9 percent of us -- just about double the sad national average -- get to walk to work.
However, Puddletown had us -- and the rest of the country -- beat in biking to work, with 3.5 percent of its working population (over the age of 16) biking. We placed third, at 2.3 percent. The national average is 0.4 percent. But hey, 6.9 percent of us -- just about double the sad national average -- get to walk to work.
06-21-07, 10:54 PM
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Originally Posted by CB HI
Looks like Eugene, OR is the place to be (8.4% modul split).
It beats Honolulu (1.4%), Portland (3.5%) and Boulder (7.8%).
National (0.4%)
It beats Honolulu (1.4%), Portland (3.5%) and Boulder (7.8%).
National (0.4%)
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06-21-07, 11:47 PM
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Originally Posted by donnamb
Only if you like living in large University towns and all that goes with it.
Corvallis also has lots of bikes, for the same reason as Eugene.
And, BTW, whoever it was who knocked OSU... NOT cool
(but yes, Portland traffic sucks, but not as much as Seattle traffic)
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