I don’t think we’ve ever shared this list, and the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) just recently updated its page on these cities, adding a graph and some more info, so it seems like a good time to share it.
Before getting to the list, some important or interesting points to make:
- Bicycle commute rates across the US, in general, increased 39% from 2000 to 2010.
- Commuters who used the bicycle as their main mode of transport still represented just 0.5% of all commuters in the US.
- Increases in bicycle commuter rates were biggest in the 38 largest “Bicycle-Friendly Communities” (BFC) — 77% growth — and in the 70 largest US cities — 63% growth. (See graph below.)
- “A look at the country’s 70 largest cities shows that the communities that have done the most to promote bicycling through engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation — determined by the League’s Bicycle Friendly America program — have seen greater increases in bike commuting over the past decade than non-Bicycle Friendly Communities,” LAB writes.
- “Since 2005, the 38 Bicycle Friendly Communities among the 70 largest cities saw a 95 percent average increase in bicycle commuting. In contrast, the 32 non-Bicycle Friendly Communities (among the largest 70) grew 46 percent. Since 2000, large Bicycle Friendly Communities grew 78 percent, compared to 55 percent for large non-BFCs.”
Now, the top cities!
- Davis, CA — 22.1%
- Boulder, CO — 9.9%
- Eugene, OR — 8.3%
- Berkeley, CA — 8.0%
- Cambridge, MA — 6.8%
- Santa Barbara, CA — 6.4%
- Madison, WI — 6.0%
- Gainesville, FL — 6.0%
- Portland, OR — 6.0%
- Iowa City, IA — 5.6%
And, if you happen to be curious about the top 10 large US cities, here they are:
- Portland, OR — 6.0%
- Seattle, WA — 3.6%
- San Francisco, CA — 3.5%
- Minneapolis, MN — 3.5%
- Washington, DC — 3.1%
- Tucson, AZ — 3.0%
- Sacramento, CA — 2.5%
- Denver, CO — 2.2%
- Tampa, FL — 1.9%
- Philadelphia, PA; Oakland, CA; New Orleans, LA — 1.8%
You can view more city-by-city details at those links above as well, like bicycle commuter growth rates, percentage of bicycle commuters who are male or female, absolute numbers of bike commuters, BFC statuses, and more.
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Source: LAB
Image Credit: Bikes Belong
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