Most Americans still drive to work, but biking is growing faster than other modes of commuting. The number of commuters on two wheels grew about 60 percent, from roughly 488,000 in 2000 to 786,000 about a decade later, according to a Census Bureau report (PDF) published today. Men biked to work at twice the rate that women did.
The increase comes as cities add bike-share programs and lanes to encourage cyclists. Portland, Ore., which boasts 319 miles of bikeways, has the largest share of bike commuters among big cities, about 6 percent. (Insert Portlandia joke here.) Madison, Wis., (5 percent) and Minneapolis (4 percent) are right behind. In some smaller cities, bike commuting is even more common: One in 10 Boulderites ride to work in Colorado, and the number approaches 20 percent in Davis, Calif. The trend is good news for the bike industry and the people who make this suit.
