Despite what I said earlier, I was a bit disappointed to read some commuting stats in today's local paper:

82.8% drive
11.3% take public transit
4.1% walk
1.1% cycle

(Doesn't add up to 100%, not sure what the other 0.7% do - work from home, maybe).

It sure ain't Amsterdam.

How about your city/town/village/hamlet/commune/whatever?

I live in Suburban Detroit lots of people are riding their bikes. In the city bike riding is exploding there is 45 miles of bike lanes and they are going to add a hundred miles this year.

American bicycle manufacturing is also popping up here. Shinola bikes made in Detroit are incredible, not cheap but just stunning. There are 3 other manufactures moving or have moved in. There is a monday ride meeting that 400 people show up for. There is critical mass on the last friday of every month where hundreds and hundreds of people show up.

So it is looking up here. I am very pumped up about the bicycle scene here.

Ottawa beats you guys, but it's only a couple of %, under 5 afaik.

here are the 2011 mode-share numbers for chicago from the ACS (the ACS asks for the longest mode segment or most frequently used mode for multi-moders):

• drive alone: 49.9%
• public transit: 27.6%
• carpool: 9.0%
• walk: 6.3%
• work at home: 4.3%
• taxi: 1.5%
• bicycle: 1.4%

that seems pretty bleak, but keep in mind that since 2005 biking mode share in chicago has doubled from 0.7% to 1.4%, while at the same time driving alone has dropped from 53.4% to 49.9%. transit is up from 25.3% to 27.6%.

we have a long, LONG, LONG way to go here in the windy city, but at least the trend lines are moving in the right direction.

Meh.

ACS cycling mode share for Detroit:

2007 - 0.36
2008 - 0.32
2009 -0.31
2010 -0.46
2011 -0.36


Most of the recent bump up in cycling mode share was due to the rise in gas prices and the great recession. As the USA becomes a net exporter of oil and continues to deeply subsidize motoring, highway construction, and gas production we are almost certainly going to see decreases in mode share. History has shown that the biggest determinant of cycling mode share is the convenience and expense of motoring.

I forgot to mention that my numbers, though just released, were from 2011, but compared to 2006 numbers, transit is up about 2%, walking is down a bit, and cycling is stagnant. However, the city has been putting work into their cycling infrastructure in the past few years, and a bunch of new cycling lanes have been developed, so it's possible that the numbers in 2013 are slightly higher (if the old saying, "if you build it, they will come" holds true).

I'm sure the percentage is drastically lower in our small city. Sorry don't have stats, but observation indicates:
- Poorly designed street/traffic infrastructure (making safety an issue)
- Attitude: "why would you want to bike when you can drive?" "Bikes are for recreation/fitness or kids on the sidewalk" "Its too far"
- Rural (Redneck) Culture: Pickups, big SUV's

We do have a good MUP that loops about 80% around the city and gets lots of recreation/fitness riding. A wilderness area within city limits - lots of MTB riders. A fair number of roadies/triathletes that drive around with their bikes on roof racks (may be due to street conditions).

We have a fair number of active cyclists - just not commuting cyclists.

Atlanta stats according to April USA Today:
82% of Atlantans drive alone to work, compared with 76% nationally, according to the Brookings Institution's 2010 State of Metropolitan America report. In Atlanta, 7% telework, 5% carpool or vanpool, 3% take the train, 2% ride the bus, and less than 1% bike or walk to work.

The combination of bike or walk is less than 1%. In a way it seems embarrassing - as though I need take responsibility for other citizens. If I weren't doing it we would have even less!

Prince Albert, eh? I've been there. Used to live near Moose Jaw when I was a kid, and the family would go camping at Waskesiu. I even had a Free Spirit 10-speed, probably from around '85. Sears special!

I don't think that we need to take responsibility for other citizens. I don't evangelize or anything like that. Between the rising fuel costs and people realizing that their sedentary lifestyles are killing them, they can reach the same conclusion on their own like I did.

I will go out on a limb here and admit that there is a selfish part of me that is a little glad that there aren't more cyclists. A good portion of my commute is on MUPs and due to their light traffic I am able to maintain a speed that allows me to cover the distance in a time frame that my family generously considers to be feasible.

That's just part of me of course. The other part wishes that there were more of us so that there would be more infrastructure built for us, i.e., more bike lanes on main thoroughfares, MUPs that actually GO somewhere, etc.

Those things won't happen without more people demanding (& actually using) them, so there you go. I'm conflicted I guess.

Kind of makes you wonder about all these comments from motorists complaining about bicyclists being everywhere and slowing them down and causing accidents.

When I drive I notice bicyclists and while there are sections where I see them in numbers they seem like a very small fraction of overall vehicular traffic, which is, as we all know, motorized traffic.

For all the arm flapping some people do about bicycles we are a long way from taking over streets and roads in the US.

There's no way that there are 1.1% of people where I live cycling for transportation. Maybe 0.11%. Possibly 0.011%. That's one in 1000 or 1:10,000. In the summer on a nice day I could believe 1:1000 - 3000 cars go by, 3 bikes. In the winter, it's probably more like 1:100,000 - like, me and maybe 10 other guys riding in the entire metro area.

Surrealdeal - I feel much the same way.

Boy, if we had critical mass here maybe 4 of us would show. I notice another guy commuting in the morning but never see him later in the afternoon. No one else that I ever noticed. Commuting is very rare, as it takes 4 times longer depending on how much freeway driving speeds are lost by cycling on secondary roads at a much slower speed. People are in way too much of a hurry to put up with that. Some will drive 3 miles to work. I'm sure I could walk that. Certainly the polar opposite of Amsterdam.

I'm part of the 1%.

I couldn't find the same level of detailed information about the various methods of commuting, but according to Wikipedia which cited a 2011 American Community Survey, Ann Arbor has the 17th highest percentage of cycling commuters at 4.9%.

Kinda sad that just 4.9% earns 17th place in the US.

Here's the article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ycle_commuters

It depends on how their choices are affecting others. If they are causing us or third parties, like children or the elderly, harm, then we do have a responsibility and a right to act.

I've got a Free Spirit 10 speed - 1983 very entry level - a co worker (original owner) gave it to me last winter. Minor restoration needed to bring it back to life. Its a good ride for around town & no major theft worries with bolt on wheels, etc.
Waskesiu is nice for cycling, although much busier & commercialized than in the '80's - Its likely the main destination for the vehicles with bikes on their roof racks.

Since I normally see only two or three other cyclists on my commute (and then only in nice weather), I'll admit that Lancaster County is probably pretty low. It is tough to get around here without a car. Roads are narrow, traffic is fast, and the weather can be a bit unpredictable.

In the panhandle of Florida, seems like I'm the only one commuting. There are a lot of bicycle riders here, but I rarely see anyone else using it for transportation or errands. Always a group in spandex...

T

I live in the Triangle of NC and I have to believe we would beat the average. Our Research Park is home to a ton a big tech and engineering firms, and engineers run on efficiency, so I see tons of them riding into work in the mornings. There are also a ton of of guys riding into work in downtown Durham and Raleigh due to lack of parking. 114,000 college students adds to that as well.

Cooker I am confused: was your statement about civilized society in general, or was your statement regarding the context of this particular discussion?

Interesting website (AmericanFactfinder, that is).

1.4% here in Albuquerque on the 2011 report. I wonder if there is data based on time of year. The number of commuters I see has exploded since I started back in the cold days of March.

The closer one lives to the Central Business District and the French Quarter in New Orleans, the higher the percentage of bicycle commuters get, mostly because parking a car is nearly impossible and driving one is a maddening experience.

New Orleans ranks fairly well as a whole for bike commuting and people who don't own cars in general, but I bet broken down into neighborhoods some of those areas would be very impressive for the USA.