2007 Benchmarking Report - Alliance for Biking & Walking

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Bicycling & Walking in the U.S./ Thunderhead Alliance 2007 84 FACTORS INFLUENCING CYCLING, WALKING, AND SAFETY 7: Factors Influencing Cycling, Walking, & Safety Studies show that a number of factors contribute to the choice to bike or walk. These include environmental influences such as weather, density, mix of uses, and infrastructure; demographics such as income and car ownership; and other factors including education and existing levels of cycling and walking. This chapter looks at a few of these potential relationships. Environmental Influences Weather Does the weather impact the choice to bicycle The Benchmarking Project team compared average summer and winter temperatures to bike share of work trips in 50 states and did not find any compelling evidence that weather is a major influence. Montana and Alaska, for example, are among states with the coldest temperatures, yet are also among the states with the highest levels of cycling. The lack of statistically significant evidence of weather impacts on cycling levels has been noted in other studies (Pucher, Buehler 2006) pointing out much higher rates of cycling in countries such as Canada, with lower average year-round temperatures than in the U.S.. It seems likely that excessive cold, heat, and rainfall do indeed deter cycling to some unknown extent, especially among less dedicated cyclists. According to a poll by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for their Report Card on Bicycling, the number one reported reason for not cycling more was weather. However, it should be noted that this response came from only 15% of respondents and other reasons such as bike theft, safety, and carrying capacity ranked almost as high. Density To examine the role of density in the choice to bike or walk in the U.S., the Benchmarking Project team compared residential density (persons/square mile) to the combined bicycling and walking to work mode share in major cities. Data indicates that denser cities have higher levels of cycling and walking on average than less dense cities. The five cities with the highest combined levels of cycling and walking are also among the top seven densest cities. This finding is in line with other studies (Pucher, Buehler 2006) that suggest a correlation between density and biking and walking. Dense communities have shorter trip distances, which can thus be more easily covered by walking or cycling. Walking and Cycling Facilities The extent and quality of cycling and walking facilities almost certainly affect levels of cycling and walking, but the available data are so flawed that they do not always reveal the obvious relationships. U.S. bike advocates commonly look to places like the Netherlands, where cities have invested heavily in infrastructure for cycling. These investments (including bike lanes, separated paths, and specialized signals and traffic signs for cyclists) may contribute to a cycling mode share that reaches between 30-50% in most Dutch cities. This report compared miles of cycling facilities per square mile to levels of cycling in cities. Results suggest there may be a relationship between facilities and mode share. Although it is not true in every case, the general trend is that cities with higher levels of cycling have more bike facilities per square mile than cities with lower cycling levels. (cont. page 87)
average temperature (degrees farhenheit) temperature (degrees farhenheit) 90 80° 70° 60° 50° 40° 30° 20° 10° 0° Source: ACS (2005), USHCN (2004-2006) Weather’s Influence: Do cold and hot temperatures keep cyclists away average summer temperature (04-06) average winter temperature (04-06) percent Bike Mode of trips Shareto work by bicycle Hawaii Florida Louisianna Texas Mississippi Arizona Alabama Georgia Oklahoma South Carolina Arkansas North Carolina Kansas Tennessee Delaware Missouri Kentucky Maryland California Virginia New Jersey Illinois Indiana New Mexico Nebraska Ohio Iowa West Virginia Nevada Utah Rhode Island Connecticut South Dakota Pennsylvania Massachusetts New York Wisconsin Colorado Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire North Dakota Vermont Washington Oregon Idaho Montana Maine Wyoming Alaska states A REVIEW OF AVERAGE SUMMER AND WINTER TEMPERATURES and cycling levels in 50 states indicates no obvious correlation between the two. This finding is in line with other studies (Pucher, Buehler 2006) that point out much higher rates of cycling in countries such as Canada, that average lower year-round temperatures than in the U.S. 2.5% 2.0% 1.5% 1.0% 0.5% 0.0% percent of trips by bicycle percent of trips to work by bicycle Weather is not a major factor influencing cycling levels. FACTORS INFLUENCING CYCLING, WALKING, AND SAFETY 85 Bicycling & Walking in the U.S./ Thunderhead Alliance 2007
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Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. B
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Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. T
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Acknowledgements This report has de
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Contents PHOTO COURTESY OF SEAN DRE
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Executive Summary Government offici
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to bicycle and pedestrian programs.
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1: Introduction Benchmarking Bicycl
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Denver, CO receives Bicycle-Friendl
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all and included recommendations fo
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2: Data Collection The Benchmarking
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3: Current Status of Bicycling How
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PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY KELLOGG Bicyc
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% work trips by bike Percent of Tri
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State % of work trips Trips to work
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City Trips to work by bike % of wor
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PHOTO COURTESY OF TRANSPORTATION AL
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Number of People per Bike Shop in M
Page 35 and 36: anks lowest here with only 4.0% wal
Page 37 and 38: 7% Pedestrian Percent of Trips to W
Page 39 and 40: 100% Distribution of those who walk
Page 41 and 42: State % of trips by foot Trips to w
Page 43 and 44: City % of Trips by Foot Trips to Wo
Page 45 and 46: Pedestrian Mode Share & Safety in C
Page 47 and 48: includes funding for biking and wal
Page 49 and 50: Other Source: FHWA (2001-2006) Fede
Page 51 and 52: Funding for Bicycling & Walking Pro
Page 53 and 54: Distribution of Transportation Enha
Page 55 and 56: Percent of TE Funds to Bicycle & Pe
Page 57 and 58: Education Projects by State Ratio o
Page 59 and 60: Bicycle & Pedestrian Staff Levels i
Page 61 and 62: Members of LAPD Bicycle Police Team
Page 63 and 64: Excerpts from Model Policies: Chica
Page 65 and 66: State % of transportation $ to bike
Page 67 and 68: City Per capita spending on bicycle
Page 69 and 70: miles per square mile of city 18 16
Page 71 and 72: Minneapolis Top for Bike Parking Mi
Page 73 and 74: Transit Integration with Bicycling
Page 75 and 76: Thunderhead Alliance Bicycle & Pede
Page 77 and 78: Budgets of Thunderhead Organization
Page 79 and 80: evenue in dollars $2,500,000 $2,000
Page 81 and 82: State Total populationserved by org
Page 83 and 84: City Population served larger than
Page 85: City-Based Advocacy Organizations M
Page 89 and 90: Demographic Influences Income Incom
Page 91 and 92: miles of bicycle facilities per squ
Page 93 and 94: percent of trips to work by foot %
Page 95 and 96: 8: Impacts of Bicycling and 40% 35%
Page 97 and 98: percent of trips to work by bicycle
Page 99 and 100: 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% Alaska Montana
Page 101 and 102: 9: Conclusions Safety in Numbers Da
Page 103 and 104: Levels, Safety, and Funding 25% per
Page 105 and 106: 10: Recommendations How You Can Use
Page 107 and 108: surveys. The team will expand outre
Page 109 and 110: State Thunderhead Organization AK N
Page 111 and 112: Nebraska Bikeable Communities: Omah
Page 113 and 114: City Census 2000 % bike to work Cen
Page 115 and 116: States Bike fatalities WISQARS Bike
Page 117 and 118: Bibliography: Chapter 1 - Introduct
Page 120: $24.95 Made possible in part by: MA
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