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View Full Version : Go Portland! 45 cities ranked by % of bike commuting



Chloe
11-09-2013, 04:47 PM
4509

by Michael Graham Richard

How does your city rank (if on the list)?This slide is from a presentation by John MacArthur at the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (http://www.otrec.us/) (OTREC). I mentioned the presentation in this article about electric bikes (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/5-interesting-facts-about-electric-bikes.html), and I also included the slide in that post, but I felt it deserved its own article (it's not about electric bikes (http://www.treehugger.com/tag/electric-bikes/)anyway). It shows 45 large U.S. cities ranked by percentage of bicycle commuting, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.The main takeaway for me is how much variability there is, and how big the opportunity is to just bring the laggard cities up to the level of the best biking cities. It's kind of like figuring out what works, and then exporting that model to other cities rather than have them slowly reinvent the wheel. That's why it's so important for city planners to visit Amsterdam (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/short-film-amsterdam-will-blow-your-mind-video.html) and Copenhagen (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/how-copenhagen-bike-culture-inspiring-new-york-city.html).
And even the best ranked U.S. cities aren't anywhere near perfect; Portland is continuously improving and finding new ways to make biking safer and more convenient (see this post about their multi-modal set up that includes bike valets (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/heaven-multi-modal-bike-valets-video.html), for example).

45 large U.S. cities ranked by percentage of bicycle commuting : TreeHugger (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/45-large-us-cities-ranked-percentage-bicycle-commuting.html)

GrassrootsConservative
11-09-2013, 04:56 PM
I'm not too concerned about it, but I know you consider it a big win so congratulations to you and your whole city.

6% doesn't seem like much though.

Boris The Animal
11-09-2013, 05:12 PM
Oh great, more hassles for motorists.

Chloe
11-09-2013, 06:07 PM
Oh great, more hassles for motorists.

Less motorists and more bikes would probably equal way less hassle for everybody in my opinion. Right now we build things in cities based on where a car can go, but because of that mindset it is also logical and reasonable to say that new city roadways and downtown grids could be built with bikes in mind as the main mode of individual transportation with mass transportation being built with it and ultimately reroute cars to other roadways and entry points. The air would be much cleaner, in downtowns especially, the streets would be safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, there would be less usage of gasoline, and people would get exercise all at the same time. I think it comes down to changing what we think is normal. Right now it is normal to have car congestion in our cities and roads and our lives being built around where a car can fit, however, it stands a reason that that normality could be something very different and progressive for society.

Peter1469
11-09-2013, 08:04 PM
4509

by Michael Graham Richard

How does your city rank (if on the list)?

This slide is from a presentation by John MacArthur at the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (http://www.otrec.us/) (OTREC). I mentioned the presentation in this article about electric bikes (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/5-interesting-facts-about-electric-bikes.html), and I also included the slide in that post, but I felt it deserved its own article (it's not about electric bikes (http://www.treehugger.com/tag/electric-bikes/)anyway). It shows 45 large U.S. cities ranked by percentage of bicycle commuting, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.The main takeaway for me is how much variability there is, and how big the opportunity is to just bring the laggard cities up to the level of the best biking cities. It's kind of like figuring out what works, and then exporting that model to other cities rather than have them slowly reinvent the wheel. That's why it's so important for city planners to visit Amsterdam (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/short-film-amsterdam-will-blow-your-mind-video.html) and Copenhagen (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/how-copenhagen-bike-culture-inspiring-new-york-city.html).
And even the best ranked U.S. cities aren't anywhere near perfect; Portland is continuously improving and finding new ways to make biking safer and more convenient (see this post about their multi-modal set up that includes bike valets (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/heaven-multi-modal-bike-valets-video.html), for example).

45 large U.S. cities ranked by percentage of bicycle commuting : TreeHugger (http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/45-large-us-cities-ranked-percentage-bicycle-commuting.html)

I commuted to law school on my mountain bike. The head environmental law professor dude used to get excited seeing me roll in regardless of the weather. That was an awesome bike- it ended up getting stolen by some nogoodnick here not far from where I am living now many years after law school. It was a Marin Pine mountain bike- it was so light I could balance it on top of my index finger with my arm outstretched.