elocs

Survey: 100 Million Americans Bike Each Year, But Few Make It a Habit ? Streetsblog USA

Why don't more people ride bikes in the U.S.?
So whether for transportation or fitness, we here at BF are the minority when it comes to bike riders. The overwhelming majority of those who want to ride more are never going to ride in heavy traffic or take the lane.
They understand that the first battle they lose with a motor vehicle could well be their last or result in serious injury for them. Parents who would like to let their kids ride their bikes to school don't even want them in a bike lane with a painted white line to separate them from motor vehicles--they want a physical separation, a curb or physical barrier.

The more people who get out there and ride their bikes for recreation, or commuting, or for fitness the more likely it will be that cities will notice this and work to actually improve the bicycle infrastructure to make it more safe for everybody to ride. That will give a safe alternative to the millions who would otherwise ride their bikes but have no desire to risk their safety riding in traffic.

JoeyBike

LAZY

Any other questions?

jefnvk

Why don't I ride regularly (even if I am already in the minority of those who do)?

Has nothing to do with bike infrastructure. The only way for me to significantly increase my riding time would be to either give up other hobbies, or commute. The latter has to do with me not really wanting to show up at my office job in a sweaty mess, where even if I change clothes I will still reek. It has to do with needing to commute between multiple locations a few miles apart, where I can't really argue that the half hour it took me to ride the seven miles counts as part of my work day. Not to mention, winters in Michigan aren't particularly amenable to bike commuting any distance.

FBinNY 

This is the problem with surveys. PEOPLE LIE and say what they think sounds good.

Asked why they don't ride, they'll blame traffic, or some other factor because who wants to admit they're to lazy to get up off their assessment.

It's the same thing as in accident reports. First thing anyone says is, "I didn't see him". The cop writes that down, and "poor visibility" becomes the cause. OTOH what's someone going to say,... "I saw him, but was in a bad mood"?

squirtdad

I firmly believe the segregated infrastructure is a red herring with more issues than it solves. the problem with it is that a) it caters to the inexperienced and is inflexible. b) it will never cover every street.....it does not make a lot of difference if people do not want to ride from their house to where they connect to segregated infrastructure.

I think more education, more law enforcement and more bike lanes will help

fully agree that the more people who ride and are seen the more cities will notice

overall my long held theory is that significant increase in ridership will not happen until is it more "convenient" to bike than drive.

What makes it more convenient? wildly different for each individual and situation and includes many things such as, but not limited to:

Financial benefit (lower costs or increased income) whether due to gas cost, parking cost, decreased health care premiums, employer/government incentives, insurance costs, etc

Easier. Takes less time, no parking hassles, can park bike close to destination. Other options harder (mass transit)

Best option: as more and more cities restrict auto traffic, bikes become a better option

easy save secure place to park your bike

work with multi-mode transit

feels safe, here is where infrastructure can help, but need education and law enforcement. Personally i think good bikes lanes and road diets are better options than segregated infrastructure

Health benefits are valued

elocs

But any survey that supports your point of view or how you believe is accurate, right? And of course those people would never lie.

The simple truth is that most people do not ride their bikes with the kind of regularity that those of us who post here do. We are the minority of bike riders.

kevindsingleton 

When I was a kid, riding my bike to school, my parents drove a 1965 Chevrolet Biscayne, with no power brakes, or power steering, and with a 3-speed manual transmission and drum brakes, all around. It was a piece of garbage, even when it was only 9 years old.


Today, we have cars with cameras and collision warning systems, power-everything, daytime running lights, and four wheel disc brakes that could stop an F-22 on a flight deck.


We don't need physical barriers. We need common sense and drivers who are paying attention. Treating the symptoms isn't going to cure the disease.

FBinNY 

It has nothing to do with what i believe or don't, all surveys share the same problem of people saying what they thinks sounds good. It's less of a problem with totally blind (no name) written surveys, but they're not perfect either.

BTW - I didn't need a survey to tell me that the folks who ride regularly, or more than 1,000 miles per year are a minority. Just how small a minority isn't something that matters to me, since I started riding when we were such a small minority that terms like oddball were more apt.

In any case, my reference to liars was more aimed at the claim that fear of traffic was the main issue. It would be a mistake to assume that most or even many of that 54% would suddenly jump on bikes if that were solved.

atitagain

Policy makers who pretend to be helping the cycling community by pushing for infrastructure to get cyclists off the roads and into safe zones to "play " are not helping the situation for road cyclists . The publicity they put forward in these endeavors fosters the attitude of non- cycling drivers that cyclists should not be on the roads . There are far more rural areas than urban areas . A much wiser use of resources intended to promote cycling safety would be to educate drivers to expect and respect cyclists on all roads . This could be accomplished in many ways .One such way would be to get Dept. of Public Safety agencies on board by getting some education material about the rights and laws of cyclist and motorist interactions into the drivers license certification handbooks and exams for new drivers . Currently there is nothing of the sort . Another way to help the situation would be get the DOT agencies on board with educating drivers with signage on all roads that shows an outline of a cyclist and displays in bold letters " EXPECT AND RESPECT CYCLISTS " . Billboards could be erected showing the same message . The slogan " Expect and Respect cyclists on Americas' roadways " could be delivered through local and national TV news shows and local papers to the point that it became common knowledge of everyone .Many other ways could be developed to increase the safety of cycling if there was an actual will to do so rather than just coming up with plans to get cyclists off the roads and out of traffic by constructing more "play grounds " .
Bumper stickers , T-shirts and all sorts of things could display the life saving slogan "expect and Respect cyclists " .
The time has come to stop thinking in terms of building contracts awarded to friends and patrons in construction of more infrastructure that does nothing to change anything for road bikers across the country . " EXPECT AND RESPECT CYCLISTS ON ALL ROADS ..

WNCGoater

Yees! YES! And AMEN!!! Only when it is drilled into their heads will they "get it". Public Safety campaigns are what every cyclist in every community should be advocating and lobbying for on a state wide and nation wide basis. I would suspect the vast majority of the motoring public believe cyclist are supposed to be on the sidewalks and are supposed to yield to or otherwise, get out of the way of automobiles. Why do they get angry? Because they believe we aren't supposed to be there & have no right to be!

billyymc

At my workplace a handful of 20 something employees got enthusiastic about starting up an "outdoor" club. They had a big kickoff event, got management to support it as a recognized group at work, etc.

But since the kickoff event barely anything has happened. There were supposed to be weekly MTB and Road rides, but hardly anyone shows up. Sometimes just the ride leader. Or they just don't get scheduled at all.

There was a subset of people who expressed interest in being on the distribution list for rides. This week I volunteered to lead a ride. The ride is tomorrow, and I'm betting nobody will show.

People say they do, or want to do, all kinds of things. But when it comes to actually doing them, they don't.

Daves_Not_Here

Totally agree - I believe this is a common human frailty, and applies to all activities we might consider adopting, particularly those we perceive may be self-enriching. Unless, we get immediate positive feedback, we tend to move on.

The challenge for those of us who do not bike-commute is integrating cycling into our lives. My cycling waxes and wanes, largely because I get bored with riding from point A to point A. I'm more active when I'm conditioning for ski season, charity events, and when my friends organize rides. I try to bike to the grocery store, but the rest of my errands don't lend themselves to cycling.

JoeyBike

Photo Credit

Milton Keynes

No kidding. Just mention to the average Joe that you've ridden 1,000 miles a year and they look at you like you pulled off some superhuman feat. When in reality that's less than 3 miles a day, which would easily be doable for most people if they tried.

Daniel4

So somebody should tell all those additional riders in Toronto where new separated bike lanes were installed that they're all wrong.

https://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=18ccded2f6711510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Daniel4

So most people don't cycle because they are afraid of themselves behind the wheel.

JoeyBike

Ha. I have already skated 2375 miles this year so far - the shortest paved distance between Atlantic Beach, FL and Ocean Beach, CA.

My bike commuting miles alone, by the shortest route I can take, is 1800 miles year-to-date on top of the skating. With a full time job (35 hrs/week average).

I stand by my statement that most Americans are lazy and don't structure their lives for anything other than motor vehicles.

If everyone drove like me I would be less fearful of them while cycling.
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FBinNY 

Saying that most Americans are lazy is like saying the sky is blue.

There's no reason to stand behind it, because there's no debate.

Daniel4

Expedia Road Rage Report 2015

" ...Nearly all Americans (97%) rate themselves as “careful” drivers, but feel that only 29% of fellow drivers merit the description."

So you're the one who runs red lights and stop signs because you know how to do it correctly?

Daves_Not_Here

Speaking as someone who adopted cycling later in life, I can tell you I was initially reluctant to do so because of the negative stereotypical image I had of road cyclists at the time. I don't think I'm alone.

If you doubt cyclists are held in low esteem, just review the Comments thread of any online mainstream news article involving cyclists. Often, the majority of the comments are disparaging of cyclists.

Now, whether the image is fair, or if we can or want to do anything about it is a whole other discussion. But if we are truly interested in understanding why ridership is low, we probably should understand how we are perceived by the general public.

DrIsotope

Such is the wonder of that thing called "public perception." Most drivers regard cyclists as obnoxious lawbreakers who follow only their own rules, and shouldn't even be on public roads at all. "Roads are for cars!" I'm not a cycling ambassador, so I have no desire to enlighten the driving populace. I'll just gradually become what they all think I am.

JoeyBike

I drive a motor vehicle better and safer than anyone i know. Rules of the road were designed for cars and make sense for cars. So i follow the rules. Bikes are NOT cars so all bets are then off.

Boondocksaints

Because I live in Manhattan and taking the train to work takes 30 minutes. If I rode, it would actually take longer.

Gresp15C

In my locale, cycling is popular enough that everybody knows someone who rides. I think that's what it takes for cycling to gain momentum.

In terms of objections to riding, people can talk about safety, but e-bikes are selling like hot cakes. So maybe safety isn't the issue after all.

jefnvk

Says pretty much everyone. I haven't met too many people who admit to being horrid drivers.