bragi

I recently saw these stats in the commuting forum, and thought I'd share it here; it's a study about how many people actually commute by bike in different cities across the US:

https://www.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/...data-released/

These numbers are for commuters, not car-free people per se, but I think it still gives us a rough idea of what's going on out there, as the people who did the study only counted commuters who used bicycles as their primary mode of transportation. They didn't count people who only bicycle commute in good weather, for example, or people who take a bike to the light rail station. I thought it was really interesting. Some of the things that caught my attention were:

*The number of full-time bicycle commuters in this country is tiny, only about 0.5% for the nation as a whole, and if you factor out several large, very bike-friendly cities like Portland and Seattle, the average is more like 0.1%.

*Cities that have invested heavily in some bicycle infrastructure have seen increases in the percentage of cyclists of as much as 95%, while other cities of roughly equal size that have done nothing have seen very modest increases, or none at all.

*There seems to be a positive correlation between the average level of education of a city and its percentage of regular bicycle commuters. But it's not universal. Austin, TX, has a percentage of barely 1%, which is among the highest in Texas, but it's still a lot less than Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, or Ann Arbor. In Atlanta, a city full of well-educated people, only 0.4% use bicycles regularly.

*Los Angeles, despite its reputation, actually has a higher percentage of bicycle commuters than most of the US.

The main thing I took away from this report is that, despite the very encouraging growth in the number of cyclists in most large urban areas over the last several years, people on bikes are still a very tiny minority of the total population. We, or rather I, need to remember that, as the numbers of bicyclists increase, it's not nearly enough to constitute a mandate about transportation choices. Our numbers, may, however, have increased enough to constitute a serious annoyance to many of the vast majority of motorists out there, perhaps serious enough to give those who want to push us off the roads some traction. This isn't an issue in places like Portland, but if you live in Nashville or Atlanta, it might get interesting.

ro-monster

Admittedly I live in a very bike-friendly place, but those numbers seem low to me. As an example, I work for a company that has 15 employees. Out of that number, four are car-free, and three of those four are full-time, year-round bike commuters. It seems unlikely that my company is an extreme anomaly.

Roody

Well you probably never studied statistics.

Ekdog

This, I believe, is the key and reflects our experience here in Seville. A system of fully-segregated bike paths and a bike-sharing program have increased daily cycle usage ten-fold, from 6,000 to 60,000 trips a day, nearly 7% of all trips.

https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/soles-a...share-increase

chewybrian 

I work with 150 people, and I'm the only full-time bike commuter. Anecdotal evidence doesn't tell much.

I liked the fact that they gave all the reasons why the stats might seem lower than reality. But, they should have made an effort to look the other way, too. For example, what part of those bike commuters really chose to go by bike? Surely, some were only going by bike until they could afford to fix or buy a car, or until they got their license back after a DUI. Looking at cities in Florida, I saw a strong correlation between poor areas and higher rates of bike commuting, leaving the impression that many of the bike riders might have had a car if they could afford one. It's not really a victory for cycling if people are just forced into it temporarily by the great recession.

A notable exception was Gainesville--big thumbs up for their bike infrastructure. They have many bike paths and bike lanes throughout the city, and they have a 6% bike commuter rate to show for it. I'm sure it's pumped up a bit by all the college students in town, but the bike-friendly stance of the town surely helps to get people out on the road.

Hippiebrian

I do the survey every year at work, as the company gets a tax incentive from the state for getting employees to take public transportation, car pool, and yes, use bicycles. I wonder how many low income people are actually counted in these surveys? I think if you include low income people and, yes, undocumented workers, the numbers just might go up a little.

I am glad to see Los Angeles has some of the highest numbers in the country! Maybe, someday, we can beat that "car culture" stereotype here in the southland.

Ratchet

I think, with a company of 15 employees, your company certainly IS the extreme exception. Think about it: if one person in your company decides to live car-free, the chances that everyone else in your company will hear about it are probably almost 100%, and some others may even decide to try it. The chances of a percentage of the people in your company being won over are far more than they would be in a larger company (like Roody said, you don't appear to have studied statistics).
My company, on the other hand, employs thousands of people. It's a hospital, a place where you think people would be health conscious, right? Three of us are regular commuters, plus a handful of other fair-weather riders. I even work with healthy young men who live less than two miles away, and they are not even interested in trying it (and that's even voiding the "...but my hair..." argument that I get from many women).
So yes, I'd say your company is pretty freakish ... I'd totally want to work there!

Artkansas 

Where I used to work, 50% of the employees were full time bicycle commuters.






The other guy drove an SUV.

Yes, your company is an anomaly. At the next company I worked at, out of 20 employees, only one rode a bike. That's much more normal, but even that's high.

gerv 

This is the good news from this thread.

Now if we could take that to City Hall and remind them of all the positive benefits of having even 1 to 2% using bicycles...

Des Moines is an example. City officials seem to have gotten the message... and are gradually increasing infrastructure to support bikes. I think we'll see significant increases in bicycle traffic over the next few years... especially now that they are counting bike traffic.

Fasteryoufool

Why the hell would you want to factor out bike-friendly cities? Do they for some reason not count?

You should point to them and say "See?!"

BTW - I grew up in Eugene... Portland isn't a bike-friendly city. It's bike-friendly for a big city.

sauerwald

I also live and work in the bay area. I park my bicycle in a parking garage which has spaces for over 500 cars, and one bike rack. My bike is often the only one in the rack. At the peak of nice weather, there might be four or five bikes. I'd guess that the estimates for San Jose (0.6%) and Santa Clara (1.2%) if anything, are high.

It amazes me that an area that has no weather to speak of, moderate temperatures year round, and flat terrain has not been able to encourage more bicycle commuting.

Caretaker

I'd like to inject an international perspective if I may.

From about 2001 we (in Ireland)had a property bubble building up and up where credit was cheap and readily available. Suddenly, the TV dream was becoming reality for many. Two cars was becoming a 'necessity' for any urban family.

2008 arrived and the private banks that had spent the previous years going 'bonkers' suddenly were seeking late night meetings with government ministers pleading to be nationalised.

Two car families since then have started becoming two bike families.

Now, when cycling to work in the morning I notice far more people cycling. Hopefully, when the domestic economy starts growing again some of the gains of the recession will not be lost.

Roody

I think I mentioned this survey in your bike counting thread. Like you say, it is somewhat good news for the school of bike advocacy that says, "If you build it they will come." (referring to bike infrastructure.)

Does anybody know if it's possible to get this data aggregated for metropolitan areas instead of for single cities?

Ekdog

Am I right in thinking that there are probably more cyclists across the mountains in Santa Cruz than in San José? Years ago (early 80's), when I lived in the Bay Area, the former seemed to be home to more progressive people than the latter.

gerv 

Sounds like a return to reality. What was the situation before the bubble?

enigmaT120

Great line.

WalksOn2Wheels

This kind of supports my general theory that doing something like riding a bicycle or recycling to help the earth in a place like DFW is like giving flu shots in a war zone. Good intentions, but not even a dent in the situation. For every new bicycle commuter I run into, there are probably several hundred kids in high school about to get their first car. I commute by bike because it's fun and I like bicycles (and I'd be too fat otherwise), which is handy because if I did it to save the earth or be indignant towards those who chose cars, I'd live a miserable life. Not accusing anyone here of that, but I do run into this attitude from time to time.

Yeah, we have a long way to go, but that really only applies if you insist that we need to go anywhere in the first place. I'd like to see more people on bikes, but if I live another 60 years in the US and we never reach Copenhagen status in any one city, I certainly won't be lamenting the fact. People do what people do.

All in all though, it was an interesting report. I like the realistic figures for hardcore commuters. I also kind of like the idea that there are casual commuters not being counted. I do wonder how they were able to get a solid randomized survey on such a minute section of the population, though.

dahut

Not to be smarmy, but this isn't really news. Bicycling as serious transportation still remains a fringe element of the overall human transport systems we know. The number that sticks in my mind from Paul Dorns book, "The Ride To Work Guide," is 1%, give or take.
There are encouraging signs of change in this, but it will be along time coming that folks will prefer cyling over passively riding. The practical incentives for the individual aren't there.

Roody

The proportion might have gone from 1% to 2% since the book was written. Not much more in raw numbers, but still a doubling.

IMO, the number of commuters, or the number of carfree people isn't so important. The number I would like to see go up is the number of trips made by bike. Bikes are a practical, enjoyable and appropriate tool for short trips.

A challenging goal for urban/suburban areas would be to have 10% of all short trips made by bicycle within 10 years.

stonefree

Recreational riding would not necessarily be considered part of a typical city's transportation systems, hence the proliferation of bike shops while commuting statistics remain low.

Bike sales statistics would probably be more revealing. Remember the baby boomer generation are at retirement age. Reminds me of the song .... Lunatic Fringe.

The opening statement would still be true as a metaphor, however, especially if metro area statistics are used, for example the local .5% would most likely drop to about .1%

Caretaker

In 1996 there were 1 million cars in Ireland but by 2003 this had risen to 1.5 million while the number of goods vehicles rose by 64%. During this period in the greater Dublin area the number of people commuting by car rose by 38.7% while those using the bus only rose 10.9%
https://www.dttas.ie/viewitem.asp?id=...g=ENG&loc=1081

The good news is that between 2007 and 2009 the number of new and used cars being registered fell by approximately a half.
https://www.cso.ie/releasespublicatio...registered.htm

Even the darkest clouds have a silver lining.

tsl

Or chaos theory. Your company would be classified as a collector.

chasm54

Much depends on advocacy and example. At my last workplace, nobody cycled to work but me. But I was fairly senior, and therefore both conspicuous and in a position to make a few things happen- like persuading the landlord of our office building to install cycle racks, and convert one of the toilets to a shower. People got used to seeing me arrive in my lycra, shower and change into work clothes, and their reaction moved from incredulity, to amused acceptance of my eccentricity, to emulation. Within a year there was a half-dozen frequent or regular bicycle commuters. We even started organising "works outings" in which several colleagues took off together for two and three-day rides across country. Best teambuilding initiative I ever took.

Show people it is possible, make it a little bit easier for them, stop it being associated with being too poor to afford a car, and it's surprising what can happen.

I-Like-To-Bike

That is why I think the nature and tone of the incessant auto-bashing on this list, if done in more public forums, is so counterproductive to bicycling advocacy. The rantings make it appear that people who choose to ride bicycles to accomplish daily transportation do it out of personal poverty, fear of being unable to afford exaggerated motoring costs (gleaned from the Internet), and/or an irrational dread of driving on public roads.

Suburban

I've only recently decided we can find a way to go without our car. A good chunk of the population are families. Who in the world is going to ride the small children on the road with cars whizzing by them too closely? I don't even like the idea of the bicycle lanes where a**holes park their cars with my kids. I'm okay on slow roads around my neighbourhood or the empty sidewalks leaving my neighbourhood. But I'm not going to ride my kids on the road with traffic passing closely at 50-55mph. I'd like my kids to see 18 years to start with. Our old neighbourhood we wouldn't have had the option to use the sidewalk and so we didn't give switching to bikes a pause for thought. If they don't separate cars from bikes, not a lot of parents are going to consider getting around by bike.