Allez3

Jim from Boston

I was not aware that Olmstead had designs that far “West” though I know he had designed Belle Isle in the Detroit River. He certainly is well-known for his work on the East Coast, particularly NYC and Boston.

I previously posted to this thread:

livedarklions

The increased commuting I'm seeing is in Nashua. I'm pretty much never riding in Boston outside of the weekend, but agreed that the recreational ridership down there is huge.

In some ways, I think MUPs are becoming the functional centers of a lot of MA towns.

Fastfingaz

Now for what it's worth,,,,,,,,, but has anyone here heard or read about a massive undertaking going on , on the East coast as far as constructing a bicycle path from New York all the way to Florida,,,, and it's already started, its well on its way,,,,,,

DropBarFan

Would this be the East Coast Greenway? Anyway a NYC-FL bike trail would be very nice.

newenglandbikes

In much of New England, we lack the appropriate infrastructure for biking. The original roads lack shoulder space.

Jim from Boston

That comment by @newenglandbikes doesn’t really answer the OP’s question, and IMO is not a deterrent to the many cyclists around here.

As a cyclist who grew up in Michigan, and has ridden cross-country, the Metro Boston, and New England region is among the best, for me as an all-season commuter, road and touring cyclist.As former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, "You Go To War With The Army You Have---not The Army You Might Want Or Wish To Have At A Later Time.”…You ride the Roads you have---not the Roads you might want or wish to have at a later time.

newenglandbikes

Hi Jim from Boston. Good points and more power to you for being an all-season commuter. It's difficult for me to not consider "New England" the area north of Boston since that's where I live and bicycle. But, I appreciate your reminder that there are cities and areas in New England that are suitable for all-season bike commuting. I think Boston is an outlier when compared to a lot of New England areas since they've invested so much in Boston bike infrastructure. The population there, unlike a lot of New England, also skews pretty young.

However, to revisit the question,"Is Cycling Growing or Declining in Your Area," I'd still say that it's declining. However, that response would be more appropriate after qualifying my area as "Northern New England" or the area north of Boston. There are several factors that contribute to my assertion. First, the overall population in Northern New England is the oldest in the US, which means that there are simply fewer younger people in the area (compared to say Portland, Oregon or Boston, MA) who bicycle (and will brave the cold weather or shoulder-less roads). So, the first thing is the demographic, which isn't helping the region grow its base of new cyclists. And even if there were more millennials in our area, studies suggest that they don't bike any more than previous generations.

Second, there is also the more general issue in the US of fewer bicycle sales. See the following quote from the NBDA. These data aren't from this year, but they're relatively current.

The National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA) recently published a report that really brings this to light. It focused on the continuing decline of bicycling and bicycle sales in the U.S. for the past 12 to 14 years. In 2000, 43.1 million people rode bicycles six or more days which is 148 riders per thousand population; by 2014 this had declined to 35.6 million or 111 riders per thousand.

The point is that overall, fewer people in the US are riding bikes compared to in the past.

Many more current studies point out that more people bike where there is good bike infrastructure and a comprehensive transit system. So, the third question is whether we have improving bike infrastructure in New England (north of Boston).

When assessing my area (Northern New England) there hasn't been a tremendous amount of investment in biking infrastructure or a comprehensive transit system when looking at the region as a whole. Boston is probably on the top of the investment chart, while larger areas such as Portland, Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn , Manchester have also been on the upward swing. It's typically active bike associations or city planners who are leading the charge with improved cycling infrastructure, but it's fair to say that compared to most parts of the country, northern New England isn't growing their base of bicyclists via improved infrastructure since these organizations aren't typically well funded. This is especially the case in the rural parts of New England and in areas where the winters are long (=all of New England) and the tax base is thin.

While I've also been a year-round bicycle commuter for many years even through snowy conditions, I wouldn't say the number of people like me or Bill is growing in my area. And, if you add in downhill bicycling, touring or e-bikes, these can be costly sports that aren't necessarily accessible to a broad cross section of the population. It's hard to know whether cycling resembles skiing in this way, but studies definitely show fewer millennials are skiing, which is causing an overall downward trend in the number of skiers. One recent study points out that Millennials cycle just as much as GenX, but for slightly different reasons, " Overall, millennials do not bike more than GenXers. Of the adults we surveyed that were physically able and knew how to ride a bike, 74% of millennials had not ridden in the past 30 days, essentially the same as for GenXers (72%, Figure 1). Of those who did ride, Millennials rode an average of 6.3 days and GenXers rode an average of 7.8 days, a non-significant difference. Both generations are riding more than older generations. Only two percent of both generations regularly commuted to work by bike, while millennials were more likely to commute on foot or transit."

Also, compared to where I came from (Oregon) and moved to (Northern New England), I'd definitely say bicycling isn't growing. For hundreds of miles in each direction here in Northern New England, there are very few sidewalks, dedicated bicycle paths and appropriate infrastructure for road biking. There are definitely cyclists in the area and the cycling can be world class, but are there more of them than in the past or compared to other parts of the US? No, not likely. I should also say that there is a decent amount of off-road bicycling although much of it is unimproved. One can also hop on the East Coast Greenway, Acadia Carriage Trails and numerous other phenomenal bike paths. But, are those bike paths seeing a significant number of new users? Hard to say, but they represent weekend getaway options more than local infrastructure.

The other issue that might complicate things with this question is whether ebikes are considering "real" bicycles. In many parts of the country, the popularity of ebikes is picking up and trail managers are trying to figure out whether they should afford them the same privileges as motorless bicycles. If their popularity grows and they're granted access to more trail systems, it's possible the number of "traditional" cyclists will shrink in areas where these become more ubiquitous. Will that mean that the number of cyclists has gone up or decreased?

I guess the question is whether Northern New England is bucking some of the national trends. One data point or trend is the percentage of people who commute to work. Here's a recent window into that measure, "All that said, in 2017, according the ACS, the share of commuters cycling to work actually dipped by 4.7 percent compared with the previous year. Less than 1 percent of American commuters regularly use their bicycles to get to work. But 84 percent of the seventy largest cities in the US have seen an upward cycle commute trend over the past 12 years." And taking Maine as an example of a Northern New England state, even though Maine has ranked high as a "bike friendly" state, they recently dropped in their ranking because the new criteria prioritized cycling infrastructure more than in previous years as part of their evaluation formula.The most interesting aspect to these numbers—and certainly not a new one—is the uncovering of a profound cycle commuting gap. In the five US cities with the highest share of cycle commuters (Davis, Santa Cruz, and Palo Alto, all in California, along with Boulder, Colorado, and Somerville, Massachusetts), an average 11.7 percent took bicycles to work last year. But in the next five (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Berkeley, California, Miami Beach, Florida, Portland, Oregon, and Ames, Iowa), just 7 percent do. Take cities 20 to 25 (Redwood City, California, San Francisco, Bloomington, Indiana, Portland, Maine, and Salt Lake City), and just 3.1 percent of those cities take bikes to work. You’re either a cycling city, one that opens its streets to two-wheeling—or hardly one at all.


“I shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m always a little bit surprised by the difference between the regions and just how far ahead Western cities tend to be compared with every other region,” says Ken McLeod, the League of American Bicyclists’ policy director, who wrote the report. In the West’s top 20 cycling cities, an average 5.9 percent of commuters cycle to work. But just 2.2 percent of workers pedal to the office in the Midwest’s top 20 cities; it’s 2.1 percent in the South. Maybe most surprising of all: in America's East, known for its dense, urban places that should be hospitable to cycling, just 2.5 percent of those in the region’s top 20 cycling cities actually ride to work.

In this last study, note the reference to the Eastern part of the US (probably more Mid Atlantic here) being almost equivalent to the South in terms of cyclists commuting to work. If you controlled for Boston, I'd bet that number would be well below 2% in most of New England.

Flip Flop Rider

bike infra-structure is increasing. more trails, and bike lanes painted on the roads. will it replace people using cars? no way

Jim from Boston

Hi @newenglandbikes,

Thanks for that considerable reply, especially after your pithy original post.

As I posted earlier on that thread support (at least in Boston) for cycling is growing and getting better.

I-Like-To-Bike

Conversely "you" (i.e. the vast majority of Americans) do not ride on the roads "they" have and probably never will despite the best wishes of cycling enthusiasts.

Jim from Boston

Yes that’s true, despite the best wishes of “us” cyclng enthusiasts.

newenglandbikes

Thanks Jim. I was dipping my toes in the forum before investing any time. Any specific paved trail you'd recommend in Boston as a "must visit"?

Best,
Chris

Jim from Boston

Say no more. I have posted a Cycling Guide to Metro Boston (link) including reference to MUPS and trails.

Juan Foote

I am not really sure.

Atlanta itself just underwent a HUGE cycling infrastructure improvement as a region under the last Mayor. We saw the bike rental fleets appear and shortly be followed by the rental scooters and such. I would say that in general there has been growth there.

I live in a suburb just south of there. When I moved here part of what I liked was the local trail system, bike paths/lanes, share the road signs, etc. There was up until the last year a cycling club that met at a local church up the road and I saw the groups as well as individual riders around the area a lot. Over the past year in particular I cannot recall seeing another cyclist on the road anywhere outside a park. I think the local group quit meeting. From my own perspective, changes in the area demographic and leading up to the no phone while driving law, it got so downright scary to ride around here that I haven't. It probably still goes on, I am just not seeing it.