The Boston Globe reports that the US Census Bureau has released its first-ever commuting report, looking at how people get to and from work, and the study says that "the number of Americans who biked to work in increased by 60.8 percent in 2012 (786,000 people), the largest percentage out of any other commuting style …."One percent of workers biked to work in 2012 compared to 0.6 percent in 2000."
The story goes on to say that "out of 140 million workers, 2.8 percent walked, 0.6 percent biked, while still a whopping 86.2 percent drove or carpooled. In terms of planning the transit systems of major American cities, vehicles are still the dominating force for cities who inform their planning and municipal budgets with data points like these.
The story goes on: "The West dominates the bike commuter population, but only 1.1 percent opt-in. Portland has the highest percentage of bike commuters at 6.1 percent. With the higher concentration of smaller cities, the Northeast has the highest percentage of walkers with 4.7 percent walking to work. Somewhat expected, commuters living in urban areas are almost twice as likely (4.3 percent) to walk to work than suburban residents (2.4 percent). The South is at the bottom of the list for both biking and walking."
The story goes on to say that "out of 140 million workers, 2.8 percent walked, 0.6 percent biked, while still a whopping 86.2 percent drove or carpooled. In terms of planning the transit systems of major American cities, vehicles are still the dominating force for cities who inform their planning and municipal budgets with data points like these.
The story goes on: "The West dominates the bike commuter population, but only 1.1 percent opt-in. Portland has the highest percentage of bike commuters at 6.1 percent. With the higher concentration of smaller cities, the Northeast has the highest percentage of walkers with 4.7 percent walking to work. Somewhat expected, commuters living in urban areas are almost twice as likely (4.3 percent) to walk to work than suburban residents (2.4 percent). The South is at the bottom of the list for both biking and walking."
- KC's View:
