We won, we won!
OK, no, we didn't really win anything. But according to the latest figures from the League of American Bicyclists, Atlanta has increased its bicycle commuter share by 111%! From 2008 to 2009, ridership increased from 0.51% to 1.08%, more than doubling the presence of bicycle commuters on the road.
It's still a pretty small number, but it feels great to be out of the zeros... You can also think of it this way - on average, one cyclist will ride past for about every hundred cars that you see. That's enough to start making an impression on people, to make them think that cycling really is a legitimate way to get to work. And these are still 2009 numbers; based on my experience, I would guess that we have continued to increase mode share from 2009 to 2010.
There are some surprises, too. Portland, OR, and Minneapolis both saw a slight decrease in ridership, as did many other cities, including New York City. Atlanta's rate is slightly higher than the average for all 70 cities surveyed.
Atlanta is now ranked 22nd in the U.S. for bicycle commuting. The figures just refer to the City of Atlanta, not the metropolitan region. Data was taken from the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Read the press release for more information about this data.
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wow. great news. about to move from Minneapolis back to Atlanta, and have been slightly depressed about it because I think of Mpls as a great bike city and ATL as too dangerous to contemplate. nice to know the tribe is growing.
ReplyDeleteMaryn - My co-worker just got back from Minneapolis and he was telling me about all the bike traffic. Sounds lovely! Atlanta is a far cry from that, but you most certainly can make a bicycle your primary mode of transportation. The main trick is to find a place to live in a bikeable area - pretty much anywhere with a traditional street grid. Anywhere within 3 miles of downtown Atlanta works, and the corridor between Atlanta and Decatur. Once you get out into the areas that developed post-WWII, your options get a lot more limited. Being near a MARTA station helps for longer trips.
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