Good News for Lexington in the Bike/Ped World

Each year the U.S. Census Bureau collects information from a sample population of the United States through the American Community Survey.    In 2012, it studied cities with a population of 65,000 and greater.  The League of American Bicyclists then analyzes this data to assess the state of bicycling across the country in the “Where We Ride” report.  As a caveat, the Survey only records commuting to work on a bike if it was the primary mode of transportation to work.

From 2005 to 2012, Kentucky increased bicycle commuting 97.7%.  Lexington-Fayette County ranked 38th out of the top 70 largest cities with the highest share of bicycle commuters, showing a 92% growth from 1990 to 2012 and a 16.7% growth from 2000 to 2012.  Lexington is also one of the top 50 cities where bike commuting is growing the fastest, one of the top 20 bike cities in the southern region, and ranked 2nd in percentage of bike commuters in cities with a population of between 300,000 and 1 million.

We are relative late-comers to understanding the importance of  alternative modes of transportation for the health of our community.  We are working to catch up.  The good news is that we are making progress.