Bicycling to Work

Although it is estimated that less than 1 percent of adult Americans commute to work by bicycle, roughly 41 percent of work commutes are shorter than 5 miles. For many people this is an easy distance to bike. At about 10 miles per hour, this would be a 30 minute bicycle ride and would allow employees to get CDC’s recommended level of physical activity.

Determining how many employees bike to work is difficult with the limited data that is collected. The most reliable count available is from the U.S. Census Journey to Work data. However, the Census only considers bicycle trips to work by those who regularly commute by bicycle. The Census does not include those employees who may commute by bicycle one or two days a week.

The American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau lets communities see how they are changing – filling in the gaps between each 10-year census. The ACS is sent to a small percentage of the population on a rotating basis.

The National Household Travel Study sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the Federal Highway Administration collects data on all trips not just trips to work but because of poor sample sizes is a poor source of state or local data.

Thunderhead Alliance, a national coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations working in unison to break down the barriers to safe bicycling and walking in North American communities used the ACS 2005 data to determine that nationwide, an average of 0.40 percent of trips to work are by bicycle. In major U.S. cities, the highest bicycle commute share is higher at 0.68 percent.

Percent of Trips to Work by Bicycle in 50 States

Less than 1 percent of work trips in the U.S. are by bicycle. Montana has the highest bicycle commuter share with approximately 1.6 percent of work trips made by bike, followed by Oregon and Idaho. West Virginia has he least with bicycle trips accounting for less than a tenth of 1 percent of all trips to work.

Sources: ACS (2005) from Thunderhead Alliance Benchmarking 2007

Percent of Trips to Work by Bicycle in Largest U.S. Cities

Bicycling rates are higher in cities than throughout states. Employees in major U.S. cities are 1.7 times more likely to bike to work than those in the states surveyed. Portland, OR has the highest share of those who bike to work with 3.47 percent of all trips to work by bicycle, followed by Minneapolis (with 2.42 percent) and Seattle (at 2.31 percent). Kansas City has the lowest bike share of work trips of all major U.S. cities with only 0.02 percent of work trips by bike.