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Sept. 29, 2008 (MINNEAPOLIS) Bicycle commuting has substantially increased in Minneapolis, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Ridership numbers for 2007 jumped 49 percent over the previous year.

The survey found that the number of Minneapolis residents who biked to work increased from an estimated 4,840 in 2006 to 7,200 last year. About 3.8 percent of all Minneapolis commuters used bikes in 2007 (with a margin of error of ± 0.8 percent).These findings put Minneapolis second among the 50 largest cities in the nation, and just a fraction of a percent behind Portland, Ore., where an estimated 3.9 percent of all commuters bike.

Other survey findings:

• Minneapolis ranks ninth in the 50 largest cities for walking commutes. More than 12,000 people, or 6.4 percent of city residents, walk to work.

• The city is tenth for taking public transportation to work. More than 25,000, or 13.4 percent of all Minneapolis residents, use buses or light rail to get to work.

• Of the top 50 cities, Minneapolis is 40^th in the number of people who drive alone to work.

The American Community Survey is an ongoing survey that produces important statistics about our nation’s people. Unlike the Census long-form questionnaire that collected similar data only every ten years, this report provides an annual snapshot of how Americans live. The survey is sent to about 3 million addresses in the U.S. every year. Locally an estimated 5,050 Minneapolis residents were surveyed in 2007.

The survey results are just one more indication that Minneapolis is becoming a more bicycle-friendly city. In 2005, Minneapolis was named a pilot community in the $21.5 million Non-Motorized Transportation Program (NTP). Earlier this year, Minneapolis received a silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community award from the League of American Bicyclists. In addition, city, county, state, and federal leaders have invested in several projects to expand improvements that make biking and walking more attractive to people in Minneapolis. These projects include:

• Martin Olav Sabo Bike and Pedestrian Bridge – This new cable-stayed bridge carries bike and pedestrian traffic on the Midtown Greenway over Hiawatha Avenue, completing this thoroughfare from the Chain of Lakes to the Mississippi River. The popularity of the bridge has paralleled a dramatic increase in traffic on the Midtown Greenway.

• The Bike Walk Ambassador Program– This program seeks to get more people to consider biking and walking for transportation, not just exercise. By working with residents, Bike Walk Ambassadors plan to increase walking, bicycling and roadway safety.

• The Midtown Bike Center – With construction oversight and funding from the city, the Freewheel Midtown Bike Center opened in May along the Midtown Greenway. The center lets biking commuters lock up at an indoor bicycle parking bay and go inside for a variety of repair and refueling services.

Some projects on the horizon include:

• University of Minnesota Trail – The project will offer a direct route for bicyclists and pedestrians from Bridge 9 over the Mississippi River (near Downtown Minneapolis) to Dinkytown and the U of M East Bank, tying directly to the U of M Transitway at the new Gopher football stadium.

• Hiawatha LRT Downtown Connection – The project will connect the Hiawatha LRT Trail to Downtown Minneapolis by creating a new off-street trail near the Metrodome and creating bike lanes on Third Street.

• Cedar Lake Trail Completion – The project, now in its last phase, will link the Cedar Lake Trail, known as the nation’s first bicycle freeway, to the new Twins ballpark and the Mississippi River.

• More On-Street Bikeways – Plans call for adding a grand total of 45 miles of new bikeways in Minneapolis in 2009 and 2010. Most of the improvements have been funded by NTP, and will take place on existing streets. This will result in a 37-percent increase over the city’s 123 miles of bikeways.

Minneapolis Public Works will begin releasing data on manual bicycle and pedestrian counts next month, which will be useful in examining the more recent period of 2007 to 2008. For more information on bicycling in Minneapolis, visit www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles. To learn more about walking in the city, visit www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/pedestrian.

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