Bicycle Austin forum

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Where we Ride: An Analysis of Bicycling in American Cities

"Where we Ride: An Analysis of Bicycling in American Cities”

Check out this extremely informative census on bike commuting in the USA! From a casual glance at the statistics, looks like most cities are seeing triple digit growth in bike commuters over the last 10 years or so!

Wow.
Austin has a long ways to go to get near the top of the list.
And, Texas ???

Link To Bike League Article

Full Report PDF

November 18, 2013
NEW REPORT: WHERE WE RIDE
RESEARCH/POLICY
by Ken
In “Where we Ride: An Analysis of Bicycling in American Cities” we take a look at bicycle commuters throughout the nation, looking at broad trends (such as the three states that have had a more than 100% increase since 2005) and more particular analyses (such as top bike commuter rates in cities of various sizes).

We have crunched the numbers so that they are easy to share and easy to find. In this report, we take a look at:

The 25 cities in America with the most (estimated) bicycle commuters
How all 50 states rank according to bicycle commuters as a share of all commuters
How cities with a high percentage of bicycle commuters compare to other cities in their regions
How cities compare based upon multimodal commuters, looking beyond just bikes to other forms of transportation that involve more physical activity, including walking and transit
Cities where a majority of bicycle commuters are women

Our hope is that this new report gives cyclists, policy makers and the general public a better idea of the breadth and diversity of cities that are better than the national average for bike commuters as a share of all commuters. It also facilitates comparisons between cities and states and we call out some of the major regional rivalries, including my hometown (Seattle) vs. the highest mode share city with a population of 500,000 (Portland).

Whether you are in Cascadia or the Heartland, there is information in this report to spark debate and enliven discussions about what is possible when people get to work by bicycle.

Earlier this fall we reported on the results of the 2012 American Community Survey for 70 cities. The overall trend is extremely positive with an almost 10% increase from 2011 and a 61.6% increase since 2000. The data that is released from year-to-year is not perfect, but is the best available data to track how many people primarily commute by bike and how those commuters change from year to year.

ABOUT THE DATA SOURCE
The American Community Survey is conducted every year by the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey is based upon a sample of the U.S. population and is released in 1 year estimates, 3 year average estimates and 5 year average estimates. The data in this report is based upon the 1 year estimate for 2012, the most recent year reported. As with all estimates based upon surveys, there are margins of error and we are happy to produce that data if you would like it.

Bicycle commuters are only counted in the data if they use a bicycle as their primary mode of travel for their commute to work. This practice does not count bicyclists who use a bicycle for less than the majority of their trip (e.g. a short bike ride to a transit stop), bicyclists who use a bicycle for less than the majority of their work week, or bicyclists who do not use a bicycle to get to work.

Interested in learning more?  Please contact me at ken /at/ bikeleague.org if you have questions or would like more data.
http://www.bikeleague.org/sites/lab.hua … inal_4.pdf

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-11-20 08:30:00)

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Re: Where we Ride: An Analysis of Bicycling in American Cities

So among the Top 12 most populous cities, only two cities have a smaller percentage of bike commuters than Austin, and those cities are NY and Los Angeles.

Also, bikeshare is growing faster in 29 other cities, although by population we're #12.

We seem pretty pathetic.

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: Where we Ride: An Analysis of Bicycling in American Cities

Interesting posts today on this thread:
Quote Originally Posted by mstraus  View Post
"I was in Portland, OR earlier this week and was honestly a bit jealous how great a biking city it was (minus the amount of rain they get maybe). They have tons of great bike routes, great bike lanes sometimes separated from traffic or given an entire lane, etc. They also have a lot of great bike shops (I visited a few to get some new gear tax free).

I then saw an Article on the Copenhagenize index, which in 2013 only had one North American city - Montreal.
http://copenhagenize.eu/index/
in 2011 Portland and San Francisco both made the list as well as New York.

Finally I saw this article declaring San Francisco as the most bike friendly city in the US - though this article seems very flawed as it is based entirely on bike facilities (lanes, paths, routes) per square mile. Some commenters on the article thought the same.
http://mashable.com/2013/11/21/bike-...united-states/

I live near San Francisco, and commute into San Francisco by bike, and while its pretty good, I would not rate it above Portland from what I saw for a variety of reasons.
This got me thinking - how would you all rate your city or area for biking? Are there cities in the US that you think are better then where you live?" end OP

Reply; "I don't think bike facilities are the things that make Portland a great cycling city. IMO, these things are more important:

*Downtown portland has been traffic calmed to ~14 mph by signal timing.
*20 mph low-traffic bike routes and bike boulevards.
*Elimination of multi-lane "freeway-style" arterials via road diets.
*25 mph is the default arterial speed.
*Motorists respect cyclists right to take the lane.

Despite our recent progress in regards to bicycle facilities, Austin seems to be lacking in the above areas.
Food for thought.

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-11-24 10:12:06)

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: Where we Ride: An Analysis of Bicycling in American Cities

I agree, but might add;
*Motorists frequently have a cyclist's perspective
*Citywide planning vision that is compact and connected
*Women/Children/Folks of all ages and ethnicities cycling through the city
*Removal of on-street auto parking in pedestrian/cycling/local business dense areas
*PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION options to make the environment work !!! Networked light rail and bus priority, citywide ???

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-11-24 21:41:53)