The city’s 2008 bike count numbers are in, and–as usual–it’s good news for cycling.
Highlights (in addition to the one in this post’s headline) include:
– Bicycle traffic in Portland has nearly tripled since 2001.
– Helmet use is at an all-time high, and has risen steadily since the 1990’s. In 2008, 80% of recorded cyclists wore helmets, up from 63% in 1997 and 76% in 2007.
– The proportion of women riders is at an all-time high. In 2008, 32% of all cyclists were female, up from 26% in 1997 and 31% in 2007.
– Bicycle counts conducted in March were approximately half those of the summer, but are nearly identical to the summer counts recorded in 2002.
Plus, there are “16,700 daily trips” across the Willamette river’s bridges by bike each day–a 178 percent increase since 2000. I’m just digging into the report myself, and am especially looking forward to data from non-bridge points in the city, but you can download the full report here!
That quote could use some formatting before the human eye can parse it. It looks like it’s generally good stuff, though.
I got ahead of myself. Fixed!
not actually fixed, though…
ah, there we go.
Personally, I’m down several percentage points over ’07, glad someone is taking up the slack. I need to stop being so OCD about getting to work ultra-early.
I was commuting to Vancouver on my bike until I got hit by a truck who didn’t have its turn signal on and rolled through a stop light. Still waiting for his insurance to buy me a new bike. Crazy thing is, the driver didn’t get a ticket because he “didn’t hit a car.”
I have upped my biking about 95% this year. I just wish the city would widen 20th st. between the freeway and Powell and put in a damn bike lane. I have to commute daily on that street and it’s a hazard. I’d take an alternate route if there were one but there are no other streets that go through.