Do you ride more streets or trails on your daily commute. This is a big question I keep getting asked as city council and other transportation meetings.

Why are they asking you, and why would other people's answers be of any interest to the Irving, TX city council?

I didn't answer. I could do 75% mup were i so inclined. However, unless road conitions are really bad (snow and ice) i'll ride the roads. The 'mup' in my area is a glorified sidewalk and is too slow and frustrating. I'm mean they're great and all, unless you're going somewhere that is.

I'm sure this will be of the utmost interest to the Irving city council, especially the part about snow and ice.

I suspect that the Irving city council would be most interested in the habits of Irving bicycle commuters and not at all interested in commuters elsewhere, as conditions are different.

For me, it keeps changing. On one commute 2/3 of my 7.5 mile trip was through a nature preserve. But more frequently, its 100% on the streets. Right now, its 100% on carpet because I am unemployed. Who knows what the next one will be.

I am the Dorba commuter coordinator(we seem to be the only group in the metromess tracking commuter issues), and I go to cities all over the metroplex as well as coordinate with several transportation groups. The reason I asked this on a WW forum was to compare it to our local information. I am on the DART bicycle advisory panel, as well as the NCTCOG bike and pedestrian task force and am also going to use this data with TxDot when they present their I635 information in April. .

In my area, there is almost zero bicycle infrastructure... a couple roads with bile lanes but that's it. MUPs are relegated to recreational uses and are mostly found in state parks or don't have practical beginning or ending points for anything other than recreational use.

Depends on my route. Could be either 100% or 25%.

anywhere from 75% to 100% depending on my route.

I voted 100% because on my usual route, I'm off the streets for about 3% of the ride.

My personal opinion (and I live in dallas, and yes I log my Dorba miles) is that MUPs are useless for commuting. Very few houses exist right on them and even fewer businesses do.

Its also the Type of MUP that counts.

If my commute could take me conveniently on White Rock Creek trail, I'd use it - very few intersections, almost completely removed from car traffic.

However, The every now and then that I commute down Meandering way, I'd much rater ride on the road than on the path. Cars don't notice people at commuting times crossing the sidestreets on the path.

I'm in Houston so I'm not sure how relevant my 100% by road commute is going to be to the Irving City Council.

I'm in Houston so I'm not sure how relevant my 100% by road commute is going to be to the Irving City Council.

5 km's on bike path through a forest that follows the river. 5 km's on streets.

I gave my best estimate. I spend more time on paths during the winter because they're often in better shape than the roads.

In the summer I sometimes add to my commute to get some extra miles in, but I do that on a bikeway so I can go a long distance without having to stop.

There are no such things as bike paths, or even bike lanes, around here. And I don't think I'd use them if they existed, unless they were better (smoother, straighter, shorter, etc) than the roads. I've got no problem using roads, but I'll use whatever path is best. If they ever put in paths and want me to use them, they'll have to have some advantage over the roads.

I'm riding to get from A to B. Best path from A to B in the shortest time is my goal. Only things that improve my time or significantly improve my comfort will get me to move from one route to another. If the road is all busted up and the path is smooth, I might go a little out of my way. If the road is covered with debris and I get flats when I ride on it, it may be WELL worth my time to go even several miles out of my way, if the path is clear and I never get flats on it. Of course, then you get *****h0les that spread thumbtacks on bike paths for "fun" and that advantage is gone.

tate65,
It seems to me that you could make the question in your poll much better, to really help the city council.

You ask: This finds out what people actually do, but not what they WANT to do. Much of the decision may be decided for them by whether there are any MUP's or trails available to them. Does the city council really want to just be able to say their bike commuting statistics match other cities, or do they want to meet the real wants of the biking community, and indirectly encourage others to start bike commuting?

If you really want to know preferences, you might want to ask something like, "Assuming there was an MUP that wouldn't be much out of your way, what % of your commute would you like to do on streets vs trails, paths, and MUP's?"

Admittedly I don't really know what your city council is trying to get at, but it seems the answer to a question like I offered would be much more helpful.

Thanks for your efforts to try to improve things for the biking community down in Texas.

I'm spoiled. We have well paved, smooth bike paths that run all over town (Dayton) and beyond -- over 300 miles of MUP. So, my commute is less than 2% road. The only downside is that the MUP is too icy in winter (no snow removal) and extremely dark in the AM.

Oh...also, to stick to the MUP, I end up doing a "Z" type ride, so I need to put in an extra distance of 20% or so on the ride, as compared to the roads. Still though, it sure beats battling traffic and or having to watch my back.

I said 90% because I cut through a couple of parking lots to avoid riding more than a block of Arapaho (Posted Speed limit = 40, Actual Speeds of traffic=55+).

If the route has less traffic, I have no problem with VC. If there is an MUP that goes where I need to go, then I usually take it.

When I first started commuting I was on the MUP for maybe 25% of the trip. Now I take the street or road that the MUP runs along so I am 100% on the roads or streets.

My reason is that the MUP is full of walkers, runners, dog walkers, kids in strollers and they slowed me down way to much. My confidence to ride on busy roads also increased over time so that I didn't need the perceived safety of the MUP.

98.5% is darn close to 100% in my case.. Business' just tend to not locate themselves along bike trails. And the reason I lobby for bike equality. Should we not be able to have access to the public roads then might as well retire your bike to a trainer.

100%. Strangely enough, I prefer to ride my road bike on the road.

Same here. I actually have no other options on my commute except roads.

100% of my commute is on the dirty streets of NYC. I'll sometimes try to jump on the Hudson Greenway but it often takes me too far out of my way so I just hit the streets and pray I don't get hit by a Fresh Direct truck or a crazy cabbie.

About 50% of my commuting is on MUPs.

I can do a route that's about 80% MUP--it's actually shorter than any all-road route (screwy road alignment, parks, etc). It's plowed and salted and, so I take it all winter.

I do mostly road riding in the summer, but still take a bike/pedestrian bridge and short chunk of MUP rather than riding through a busy cloverleaf interchange during morning rush hour.

Mine is 95% roads. It's a small town with quiet traffic.
Still the local politicians think they will get my vote with promising new MUP's. They just don't get it.