Facilities Statistics
This section contains:- What do people want?
- If you build it, they will come
- Bicycle facilities and safety
- Facilities and kids
- The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has a Rail-Trail Statistics page with national and state trail counts and a list of the longest rail-trails in America.
- Active Living Research has a research brief on the impact of infrastructure investments on bicycling for transportation and on related health outcomes.
- The Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail have compiled nearly 40 rail trail studies on their site here.
- In England, a bicycle is stolen every 71 seconds.
- America Bikes' fact sheet has the "Top 10" facts on bicycling and walking in the U.S.
- Over the width of one traffic lane, cycling and walking can move five to ten times more people than driving.
What do people want?
- The Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis, MN gets an average of 3,500 bicyclists a day, more traffic than 77% of Minneapolis city roads.
- Interventions to reduce traffic speed and volume are likely to promote bicycling.
- A review of 139 studies concluded that substantial increases in bicycling require an integrated package of numerous interventions, including bike-specific infrastructure and pro-bicycle programs, as well as supportive land use planning and restrictions on automobile use.
- In a study of a Toronto neighborhood's stores, patrons said they would prefer a bike lane to widened sidewalks at a ratio of almost four to one.
- In a study of 166 regular cyclists in Portland, Oregon, 60% cycled for at least 150 minutes/week (the federally recommended minimum activity level) and nearly all of the bicycling was for utilitarian purposes, not exercise. A disproportionate share of the bicycling occurred on streets with bicycle lanes, separate paths, or bicycle boulevards.
- As of 2004, 86% of local governments had introduced or were considering initiatives linking bicycling, walking, community design, and health.
- More than 100 transit systems in the US carry passengers' bicycles on buses and trains.
- According to a government survey, almost half (47%) of Americans 16 and older say they would like to see more bike paths, lanes, and trails in their community.
- In a summer 2008 AARP survey, 15% of older adults said they had ridden a bicycle more frequently since gas prices had risen. Yet, only 4 in 10 said they thought their neighborhood had adequate bicycle accommodations.
- Half of 700 New York City office workers living within 10 miles of their job said they would bike to work if provided with safe lanes, secure parking, and wash-up facilities.
- Only 15% of bike commuters say their employers provide bike facilities.
- In a survey of bicycling visitors to North Carolina's northern Outer Banks region, nearly two-thirds indicated that they felt safer riding on bicycling facilities, more than 75% felt that additional bicycle facilities should be built, and nine out of ten strongly agreed that state and/or federal tax dollars should be used to build more bicycle facilities.
- Bicyclists travel 67% longer on average to include a trail facility on their route.
- Bicycle commuters would be willing to increase their commute time by 75%, a value of $6.52 per round-trip, to have an on-street bicycle lane.
- According to a survey of Portland, OR, residents, the top three most desired next steps for the city include "increase and improve bike lanes" and "increase car-free streets & zones".
- Residents who choose to live in a city because of a supportive bicycling environment are 1.69 times as likely to bicycle than residents who do not.
- Individuals who have not bicycled in the past 30 days are less satisfied with the state of bicycle facilities than those who have.
If you build it, they will come
- After bicycle lanes were installed post-Katrina on a New Orleans, Louisiana street, there was a 57% increase in the number of cyclists. The number of female cyclists increased 133%, and the percentage of cyclists riding in the correct direction increased from 73% to 82%.
- In Portland, Oregon 7,100 daily trips or 21% of all trips on the Hawthorne Bridge over the Willamette River are made by bike. If those 7,100 trips were made by car, Portland would have to build a new bridge.
- A survey of college students revealed that both non-bicycle commuters and bike commuters say that bicycle lanes, trails, and paths would encourage them to ride a bike (or ride more often) to campus.
- Areas near new bicycle facilities showed considerably more of an increase in bicycle commuting than areas farther away.
- People who live near multi-use trails are 50% more likely to meet physical activity guidelines and 73-80% more likely to bicycle.
- Multi-use trails have been shown to be particularly beneficial in promoting physical activity among women and people in lower-income areas.
- One study of cities across the US estimated that for every 1% increase in the length of on-street bicycle lanes, there is a 0.31% increase in bicycle commuters.
Among the 50 largest US metropolitan areas, the five that spend the most on bicycle and pedestrian facilities invested seven times as much per capita ($1.54) as the five lowest-spending metro areas ($0.21).
- People living within a half-mile of a bike path are at least 20% more likely to bicycle at least once a week, compared to people living slightly further away from the path.
- 10 percent of Boulder, CO residents normally bike to work, nearly 20 times the national average. Since 2000, the number of residents driving alone to work decreased from 61 to 54 percent. During the same time, the national drive-alone work-trip mode share increased 5.1 percent.
- Bikes Belong's "Trails to Sales" survey found that new bicycle trails lead to increased sales at nearby bike shops and higher bicycling rates of nearby residents.
- On average, larger increases in government spending on bike and pedestrian infrastructure are associated with larger increases in the number of bike commuters.
- In 2008, the average Bicycle Friendly Community had three times more bike commuters than the national average. The bike commute share of Bicycle Friendly Communities also grew 60 percent more than the national average.
- A study of trail users in rural West Virginia found that 98% of trail users on two new trails reported that their activity levels had increased since beginning to use the new trails.
- Only 21 percent of employees work within three miles of a downtown, while 45 percent work more than 10 miles away from a city center. Between 1998 and 2006, nearly all metro areas saw a decrease in the share of jobs located within three miles of downtown, even though the number of jobs in all metros rose during that period.
- The University of Colorado has nearly three times as many bike parking spaces (9,433) as car parking spaces (3,200) for students. In early 2009, nearly 75 percent of the bike parking spaces were full.
- From 1992-2005 Portland, Ore., increased its bikeway network by 215%, and during that period bicycle commuting doubled.
- Bicycles represent 13% of all vehicles on four of Portland's bicycle-friendly Willamette River bridges.
- Since the 1990s the city of Cambridge, Mass., has installed 37 miles of bike lanes and paths. From 2002-2006, the number of cyclists increased 70%.
- Half of 700 New York City office workers living within 10 miles of their job said they would bike to work if provided with safe lanes, secure parking, and wash-up facilities.
- Since 2007, 140 miles of new bicycle routes have been added to New York City's on-street bicycle network. In that time, commuter cycling grew 35%.
- The provision of traffic free bike routes could produce a 17 to 101% increase in cycling.
- Two years after bike lines were designated, bike traffic on Toronto streets increased 23% on average.
- One year after a bike path in Los Angeles was built user traffic increased 38%.
- Living closer to a rail-trail is positively associated with active transportation.
- After a bike and pedestrian lane was installed on a South Carolina bridge, 67% of users indicated that their activity levels had increased since the opening of the lane, and 10% are using the bridge to commute to work.
- People are less likely to bicycle where pavement quality is poor.
- People are more likely to bike commute if they have secure parking and showers at their work.
- Land use plans that include non-automobile transportation improvements and more comprehensive policies to guide development are positively associated with both transportation- and leisure-related physical activity.
- Bicycle facilities are most effective in highly-accessible urban areas where a large number of commute trips can take place across short distances.
Bicycle facilities and safety
- After bicycle lanes were installed post-Katrina on a New Orleans, Louisiana street, there was a 57% increase in the number of cyclists. The number of female cyclists increased 133%, and the percentage of cyclists riding in the correct direction increased from 73% to 82%.
- A study of Portland, Oregon's "bike boxes" found that the markings increased perceived safety for cyclists. More than half of motorists and 75% of cyclists thought the bike boxes made intersections safer.
- There is a direct correlation between feelings of personal safety and the number and percentage of weekly trips taken by bike.
- A review of 23 studies on transportation infrastructure and bicyclist safety concluded that bicycle-specific facilities reduce crashes and injuries among cyclists.
- A national survey found that bike lanes were available for less than 5% of bike trips.
- Bicycle safety improvements attract proportionately more people to bicycling than automobile safety improvements (i.e. a 10% increase in safety results in a greater than 10% increase in the share of people bicycle commuting).
- In a survey of bicycling visitors to North Carolina's northern Outer Banks region, nearly two-thirds indicated that they felt safer riding on bicycling facilities, more than 75% felt that additional bicycle facilities should be built, and nine out of ten strongly agreed that state and/or federal tax dollars should be used to build more bicycle facilities.
- Major streets without bike facilities are where the most bike crashes happen, followed by minor streets without facilities, bike paths, and then bike lanes.
Facilities and kids
- Children are more likely to bike or walk to school when there are recreational facilities and bike paths nearby.
- In 2009, 88 percent of U.S. children's bike-related deaths occurred in the street, up from 38 percent in 1990 and 47 percent in 2005.
- A report by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership tracks different approaches to improving bike safety for children.
- Pre-adolescent girls who live near multi-use trails are get 5% more physical activity and have 1.4% lower body mass indexes than those who don't live near a trail.
- Students are less likely to bike or walk to school if they have to travel along and/or cross a road with busy traffic and no lights or crossing points.
- High school girls who have numerous parks, schools, and other physical activity facilities in their neighborhood are significantly more likely to report getting vigorous physical activity than those who don't have any.
- In rural areas, adolescents with access to a safe park get more regular physical activity and are less likely to be inactive than those without access to a safe park.
- Children are less likely to bike or walk to school when there is a busy road barrier en route to school, or when parents believe that there are no lights or crossings for their child to use.
- An evaluation of California's Safe Routes to School projects found that five of 10 selected projects were successful at increasing perceived safety, safety-related behaviors, and the number of children bicycling and walking to school.
- Kids who bike or walk to recreation sites (parks, playgrounds, etc.) use them more often. The safer it is to bike or walk to play sites, the more likely it is that kids will bike or walk there.
- In a California study, children who passed by completed Safe Routes to School projects were more likely to show increases in active travel to school compared to children who didn't pass projects (15% vs 4%).
- For more research on youth cycling and the built environment, check out the Safe Routes to School National Partnership's Research site
Mailing address:
Bikes Belong CoalitionP.O Box 2359
Boulder, CO, 80306
Physical address:
1928 Pearl St.Boulder, CO, 80302
Telephone: 303/449-4893
Fax: 303/442-2936
mail@bikesbelong.org
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