Bicycle Commuting and Facilities in Major U.S. Cities: If You Build Them, Commuters Will Use Them

Abstract

Some surveys indicate that providing bicycle lanes and paths may encourage more people to commute by bicycle. The presence of a striped lane or separated path can increase a cyclist’s perception of safety. With growing concerns over traffic congestion and vehicle pollution, public policy makers are increasingly promoting bicycling as an alternative for commuting and other utilitarian trip purposes. State and local spending on bicycle facilities has increased significantly over the past decade. Previous studies have linked higher levels of bicycle commuting to various demographic and geographic variables. At least one analysis showed that cities with higher levels of bicycle infrastructure (lanes and paths) witnessed higher levels of bicycle commuting. Research was conducted that affirms that finding by analyzing data from 43 large cities across the United States. This cross-sectional analysis improves on previous research by including a larger sample of cities, not including predominantly college towns, and using consistent data from the Bureau of the Census 2000 Supplemental Survey. Although the analysis has limitations, it does support the assertion that new bicycle lanes in large cities will be used by commuters.