
Commuting by Bicycle is down? - drpgq
http://www.davemabe.com/2018/09/30/commuting-by-bicycle-is-down/
======
rpearl
On Friday I decided to count the number of _drivers_ running reds, since
everyone gives cyclists a hard for doing so.

My commute in San Francisco involves crossing 16 streets. It's not very far,
about 2.5 miles.

On Friday I observed 35 cars run red lights--not even "it's yellow and time to
speed up because drivers don't give a single flying crap about safety" but
literally the cross traffic lane is green.

Cars are a terrible unsustainable mess, ruining the environment and ruining
city livability. It's not surprising that the risks they impose on the rest of
the world are resulting in less people willing to bike

~~~
edejong
Strange. Here in the low lands (Netherlands) almost no cars cross red lights.
Ever. Unless they are half asleep perhaps, but it just doesn’t happen.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
It's the same in the UK although they do all drive above the speed limit.

~~~
CalRobert
Definitely not the UK, but there's enough cultural similarity between the UK
and Ireland (where I live) that your comment shocked me. People don't care _at
all_ about red lights here and run them constantly. Taxis are especially bad
offenders. They also park on the footpath, blocking prams and wheelchairs.

------
CalRobert
I commuted by bike all the time my entire adult life, save a period of three
months with no alternative. Then I got tired of getting screamed at and nearly
being killed all the time, as well as hearing coworkers joke about murdering
cyclists, and changed country. But that's one less bike commuter in the US.

~~~
gameswithgo
Yep, my experience was much the same. Still in the USA but only ride mountain
bike trails now.

------
honkycat
It's because US cities are poorly planned, crumbling shit-holes with 4 lane
highways criss crossing them. People are extremely hostile to bikers in most
US cities, and there are literally no consequences to killing them much of the
time.

American cities are so unpleasant to exist in on the ground level people
prefer the safety of their smog machines at all times, even if you are going
half a mile down the road for a carton of milk.

Everything is designed to funnel you out of the city into your extremely
inefficient suburb so you can stop by taco-bell and wal-mart on your 50 minute
commute home.

But hey, the answer is more roads right? Not incentivizing people to have less
roads on the highway?

~~~
abakker
Aside from your last line, I basically agree with you. I walk on sidewalks, or
drive. Biking in the city is just not my thing.

Conversely, I love cycling. I've been a bike mechanic, and my wife and I ride
mountain bikes all the time. to me, it's just not worth going out on the
street. The mindset is somewhat like, "if I'm going to get hurt cycling, it
might as well be fun, and my own fault".

One point that you miss, at least in SF, is the considerable expense of having
your bike stolen all the time. friends that commute either bring their bike
into a dedicate secure area for work, or expect to have parts/the whole thing
stolen. I used to cycle to the gym on a beater bike in a low traffic area, and
when that beater bike got stolen, I gave up on any cycle commuting for
anything.

------
rootusrootus
I don't know what would drive the national trend, but here in Portland, which
is a relatively bike friendly city, commuting by bike is [for a lot of people
at least] a commitment and not a convenience. It takes longer, requires more
prep before you leave, recovery time at your destination (shower, change
clothes, whatever), etc. And in the winter when it's very cold and wet, it is
especially unappealing. But ... we are a mid-size city, and the same people
who have the luxury of commuting to an office by bicycle frequently also have
the luxury of choosing their hours to avoid traffic. Figure in the recent
surge in EV adoption and maybe a lot of folks who biked because it was the
greener option are now feeling less guilt about using their car.

~~~
tokai
>requires more prep before you leave, recovery time at your destination

I don't understand these as a dane. Almost all that commutes by bike goes
without showers when they arrive. Just ride a little slower. Also why would it
take longer to leave? Taking on a pair of rain pants is about 40s.

It is unappealing to ride in the winter though, nothing is going to change
that.

~~~
rootusrootus
This is probably extremely variable by region. Everyone I know at our office
who commutes takes a shower on arrival and most wear different clothes when
riding that they pack with them.

~~~
tokai
So everyone rides in lycra bike wear? Here people commutes in their daily
wear. Even in skirts and high heels. Maybe the mean commute distance is very
different.

~~~
rootusrootus
Yep, everyone here (small sample size, completely anecdotal of course) wears
some form of bike-specific clothes. Couple of the guys actually wear lycra,
some just wear sport clothes appropriate for the weather.

Portland is not a very dense city except in a small number of residential
blocks in and around downtown. There are many neighborhoods of mostly single-
family (or small apartment complexes) in the <10 mile distance which accounts
for the majority of bike commuters in my experience.

~~~
tokai
Just looked up some stats. Apparently the mean length of a bike commute here
is 4.5km. The bulk of all bicycle rides (for transportation) are under 7km.

The source is not in English:
www.modelcenter.transport.dtu.dk/-/media/Centre/Modelcenter/2017-Faktaark_cykeltrafik_180523.ashx?la=da

------
jmcphers
I think it'd be interesting to see the distribution of commute distances over
the period in question. Anecdotally the #1 reason people tell me they don't
commute on their bike is that they're busy and it just takes so much longer
than driving because their workplace and home are so far apart.

My suspicion is that a part of the drop is due to the slow shift away from
suburbs. Bike commuting from a suburb can be great (I've been a year-round
commuter for over half a decade). However, the exurbs are too far away for
bicycles, and inside urban areas you often have lots of other choices for
getting to the office.

~~~
gowld
This doesn't match my experience. I see bikers mainly in the city bikeways,
just not in the most crowded and well-transit-served downtown core. In suburds
the miles add up too quickly and take up too much time. It may depend on how
dense your cities are.

Biking _looks_ time consuming, but if you use it as time for exercise and
sunshine-time you would otherwise be doing on your free time, it's almost 0
marginal cost.

~~~
jgust
And in some cases is actually faster than driving/ride-share/public transit
door to door.

~~~
MereInterest
It definitely depends. The time of my commute itself is about the same,
whether I bike or drive. However, there is about a 10 minute difference from
additional activities that are not needed when driving. When I bike (~80% of
the time), I need to account extra time for strapping my bag to my bike,
attaching/removing easily stolen accessories, donning/removing reflective
vest, and changing from biking clothes to business casual after arriving.

Thankfully, my commute is short and summers aren't too hot, so I don't yet
need to add an additional 10-15 minutes for showering after arriving.

------
jakelarkin
Anecdotally I've seen many people stop biking because its not safe and the
risks become apparent to them over time. 5 people I know have been seriously
injured biking in San Francisco. When you consider the risk of getting door-ed
at 15mph or getting haplessly mowed down by blind merging open-wheel trucks,
it's quite physically dangerous. Until we have a broad deployment of protected
bike lanes, its just not worth the risks.

~~~
zumu
I'm a long time bike commuter who's stopped recently for those exact reasons.
My biggest axe to grind is that American cities keep investing in bike share
programs and other "bike friendly" initiatives that have no impact on rider
safety.

~~~
reaperducer
_American cities keep investing in bike share programs and other "bike
friendly" initiatives that have no impact on rider safety._

That a broad generalization based only on your specific experience.

Chicago, for example, continues to build bicycle lanes separated by concrete
medians, bollards, and in the case of the big new developments in the South
Loop, bike lanes separated from traffic and sidewalks by trees.

The biggest downside to cycling in Chicago is the winter. Not just the cold
and wind, but the fact that snow from the sidewalks is often shoveled into the
bike lane.

I'm sure there are other American cities doing the same thing.

I think the one advantage unprotected bike lanes have is that they're easier
to maintain. Re-paving is simplified. And you don't have to invest in tiny
bike lane snowplows.

------
sidlls
I commute by bicycle. I used to love it but I getting harder in the Bay Area.
Between skate boarders, gig economy taxis, scooters, and zombie pedestrians
and vehicle drivers face deep in their phone compounding danger upon danger
I'm finding it less appealing as time passes.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
> _zombie pedestrians_

As a cyclist, this makes me think you're part of the problem. If a pedestrian
seriously endangers you, 9 times out of 10 it means _you_ fucked up. Maybe
they fucked up too, but it wouldn't have been a problem if you were paying
attention.

If nothing else, we have a lot more experience noticing and avoiding
pedestrians than they do with us. If we want to improve bicycle awareness and
acceptance, we all need to behave responsibly.

~~~
jpm_sd
My worst cycling injury (separated shoulder) is due to an oblivious pedestrian
stepping directly out in front of me from between parked cars. For years I've
wished I had just run her down instead of dodging and taking the impact
myself.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Sorry about that. It does happen; that's the 1 out of 10. I assume she was
walking in front of a van or other tall truck, so you couldn't see her?

------
unicornporn
Not in Stockholm. The western part of town saw a 19% increase this summer. The
central parts had a 16% increase[1]. This I believe has to do with massive
investments in infrastructure. Bike lanes have become more crowded, but I must
say that it's a joy compared to cramming yourself into an overcrowded subway
train.

[1] [https://www.stockholmdirekt.se/nyheter/rekordmanga-har-
valt-...](https://www.stockholmdirekt.se/nyheter/rekordmanga-har-valt-cykeln-
i-sommar/reprhj!Vm7ft9uH3mU2gNia2M5MA/)

------
spiralpolitik
One explanation might be that the jobs are being added in places that are
inaccessible to cycling because of lack of infrastructure.

Example: Downtown San Francisco is largely inaccessible to cycling from the
East Bay as there is no cycle lane on the old part of the Bay Bridge and
insufficient capacity on BART and Ferries for large number of bikes.

------
abrowne
I have no numbers, but it's not my experience in Minneapolis, where I see more
people riding, at least some of the time. (And most don't ride all year here,
although winter bike commuting is also more popular in my experience.)

There certainly are bad drivers, but I don't encounter things other commenters
have mentioned, like people yelling. In fact I've noticed better behavior by
drivers in the last ten–15 years, like people in cars much more willing to
yield when I'm crossing a road from a bikeway.

More recently the city has been adding more protected bike lanes, and is now
working on better maintenance in the winter, which is ok now but the biggest
downside.

------
kjell
I'll add my experience as a primary bike commuter for 5+ years in the US. I do
own a car and drive it maybe twice a week, mainly for transporting things that
would be difficult on my bike or when the weather is bad.

I perceive people behind the wheel to be increasingly reckless, entitled, and
disrespectful. A lot of the reasons for this are already mentioned so I won't
rehash the issues of distraction by smartphone, "sharing economy" de-
professionalization of shared transportation, and driver resentment towards
anybody not in a personal automobile claiming their lawful space on the road.

Somebody needs to mention that each and every person who drives a car is
contributing to undeniable, irreversible climate destruction, and plausibly a
future earth that won't be able to support human prosperity. EVs really are
not much better than ICE vehicles - replace some fossil fuel consumption with
enormous mineral extraction and it's a toss-up at best.

There are also a lot of (in)equity issues in our current transportation system
that need to be sorted out. Cars reinforce the wealth gap by virtually
ensuring economic success for those who can afford them while leaving those
who can't out in the cold. Eisenhower's "drive" (pun intended) to build the US
interstate system adopted and encouraged common, preexisting local policies
that carved up any neighborhood where minority communities could begin to take
hold, replacing them via eminent domain with freeways for white suburban
commuters.

In sum, cars are bad. But they're so deeply seated in the collective USA brain
stem that I'm not sure we will be able to do much to improve the situation.

------
analog31
It would be interesting to see if there is a corresponding trend in overall
commuting distances. If people are commuting further for some reason, than
bike commuting becomes less of an option. One reason could simply be labor
market churn, and the fact that it might be easier to change jobs than to
change housing.

I've been a year round bike commuter, but am fortunate to have worked the same
job for 20 years. Likewise for my spouse. But that's pretty rare.

I doubt that I could justify bike commuting on solely practical grounds. I
gain a great deal of enjoyment from it, and it's my main source of exercise.

------
entwife
It could simply be explained by sampling variability. The OP refers to
American Community Survey, bicycle commuters are just 5.5 out of 1000. The OP
does not list margins of error for the reported rates of commuting.

------
bobthepanda
Isn't population growth also more concentrated in metros where pedestrian and
cyclist infrastructure is much worse?

Moving from New York to Seattle, the biking infrastructure there is appalling.

~~~
toast0
Which of your two cities are you claiming appalling bike infrastructure?

I just moved to the Seattle area, and the bike infrastructure doesn't seem bad
(my path includes Bainbridge Island and Colman Dock -> SLU). Bainbridge
doesn't have great infrastructure on my path, but it has low traffic and bike
aware drivers. Downtown has slow drivers, generally bike aware, and a pretty
good amount of bike lanes, although some were thoughtfully put on the curb
side of parking, which means unaware passengers get out without noticing me,
and intersections mean I'm coming into the stream of traffic that might be
turning right, but the parked cars make it hard for both of us to see each
other. I didn't bike to work in the bay area, because my commute would have
been on high traffic, high speed streets with frequent traffic lights and poor
bike infra.

I haven't experienced New York though -- maybe you're saying its bike infra is
appalling?

~~~
bobthepanda
New York has many parking protected lanes, so even though the driving culture
is much more aggressive, I find it doable.

Seattle has a great trail system, which is wonderful until you're trying to
get off the trail. East-west travel within Seattle is particularly appalling.
There's a lot of painted bike lanes, which I don't feel very comfortable in,
particularly in Seattle where the driving culture is passive-aggressive and
unpredictable (as opposed to New York, where it's aggressive but pretty
predictable, so avoiding negative consequences is pretty easy)

~~~
toast0
Parking protected lanes seem pretty bad if there are frequent intersections or
driveways. It's pretty nice going upwards on Western Ave (by Pike's Place),
because there's not much reason for cars to turn there, and it ends at an all-
way stop sign that always requires caution. However, the other one I run into,
on 9th ave going north between Harrison and Republican is really hard to
navigate.

On the one hand, people's dogs run into the street to urinate, on the other
hand, I have to slow down every time I approach the intersection, because I
have no visibility of the flow of traffic because of the parked cars; and the
flow of traffic has no visibility of me because of the parked cars, so I can't
even get upset at drivers who are ready to make a right turn there and don't
give me space.

~~~
bobthepanda
9th and Western aren't parking protected; parking is on the inside of the bike
lane, between the curb and the bike lane. Parking protected lanes have parked
cars between the roadway and the bike lane. [https://www.stlouis-
mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/news...](https://www.stlouis-
mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/news/images/Example-Parking-Protected-
Bike-Lane.jpg)

Parking protected would be something like 2nd, where the parking is on the
outside of the curb; similar configurations can be found on part of Broadway,
and Dexter south of Mercer St.

~~~
toast0
Western Ave is parking protected going north up the hill by Pike place [1];
actually on closer look, a lot of that isn't allowed to park on, but it starts
with parking and then they disallow parking later. 9th Ave has one terrible
block where it's parking protected going north just north of Denny [2] --
google imagery is a bit inconsistent here, it looks like they changed this
between July 2017 (looks like a configuration I would like) and September 2017
(current configuration).

[1]
[https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6082691,-122.3410045,68m/dat...](https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6082691,-122.3410045,68m/data=!3m1!1e3)

[2]
[https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6220637,-122.3397978,3a,75y,...](https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6220637,-122.3397978,3a,75y,23.25h,83.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slSWVU0Csdth6gVZXRPNRjA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

~~~
bobthepanda
In general, New York tends to having parking protection go up until the
intersection, where it is usually replaced by a right turn lane. Which is not
the worst; it avoids the pitfalls you describe by "daylighting" the
intersection. New York does the same near driveways, but there aren't that
many driveways in Manhattan for fairly obvious reasons.

Seattle, on the other hand, has way more driveways than I'm used to; they also
tend to be so close to the curb, with poor lines of sight coming out of the
driveway, that they have to have those blaring sirens warning about cars
pulling out.

IMO, a bunch of several-thousand-pound cars is much more in terms of
protection than the flimsy flexposts you see around Seattle. I just don't feel
as comfortable biking around here.

------
alex_steinberg
Not in São Paulo. The trend now is to use e-bikes for commuting, specially in
financial and technology districts, mostly because of our warm weather and
hilly city.

------
btrettel
Cycle commuting is probably at least a bit of a fad over the past decade,
maybe a fading fad. I say this as a dedicated cycling commuter for about 10
years. So I think this might explain part of a decline, assuming it is
statistically significant.

While many US cities have made some efforts to increase cycling, I think they
focus too much on new infrastructure and too little on quality infrastructure
and enforcement against dangerous drivers.

Just look at illegal parking in the bike lane to know how important cycling is
to the city. In Austin, nothing has changed with regards to this in the 5
years I have lived here. The reason is clear to me: the city is happy to give
cyclists lip service, but anything that might involve actual effort or
possibly making drivers irritated doesn't happen (unless it's new
construction).

I have gone through cycling stop sign enforcement efforts twice, once on bike
to work day! [http://www.kut.org/post/austin-police-ticket-47-campus-
area-...](http://www.kut.org/post/austin-police-ticket-47-campus-area-
cyclists-bike-ut-day)

I always stop, and as I recall I got a thumbs up from one cop on bike to work
day.

In contrast I have never run into any of the enforcement efforts against drunk
or distracted driving. I am confident such things occur, as I have asked the
police about it before and they explained their procedures. But I get the
impression that drunk and distracted driving are not taken as seriously as
they should be. Based on what they said, I should periodically run into the
distracted driving enforcement near schools (so they can write double price
tickets), but I am still waiting 4 years later.

I also was assaulted by a driver once while riding in a lane marked for bikes.
(Physical assault; they did not hit me with their car.) I called the police,
who to their credit showed up promptly and took my statement. They didn't do
anything else, though. A cop later told me that if I wanted anything to come
of this, I'd have to file at municipal court and pay a fee. I talked to a
lawyer who said nothing would come of this, even though I have the entire
incident on my helmet camera. The city police chief in the past said they take
complaints from cyclists at municipal court seriously:
[https://bicycleaustin.info/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1511](https://bicycleaustin.info/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1511)

But I am not seeing it. Why would I make what is effectively a $100+ donation
to a police department who only cares enough to give me lip service? If they
actually wanted to get more cyclists to report bad drivers, they'd reduce or
waive the fee for cyclists.

A lot of progress needs to be made in the US to make cycling a better option.

------
Markoff
when lived in Beijing used to commute by bike 3.5km to work, could make it in
15-18 minutes including 3-4 major junctions beating the bus even without
counting waiting time, Beijing or Bangkok are perfect cities for biking in
theory, completely flat as pancake plus in Beijing with bike lane separated by
small fence, sadly pretty much every ride end up being angry about electric
courier/freight tricycles using bike lane or blocking it, ebikes riding
dangerously, cars blocking it, driving there to beat traffic jam or straight
driving there in wrong direction against me and many other dangerous
situations, it's miracle i didn't have accident even when following laws
because most of the other people just don't do that

now in Prague with pretty much zero bike lanes and hilly terrain so i don't
really bother even trying to bike here, people in general respect rules more,
but there are still plenty BMW/audi/Mercedes drivers who think laws are only
for poor people

------
pge
I wonder if some of this is the way the data are collected. The survey asks
about primary mode of commuting. In the DC area at least, I think (from
observation) there are a lot more multi-modal commuters using bikeshare, uber,
or e-scooters depending on circumstances, weather, etc. These commuters may
not classify themselves as bike commuters as a primary mode, which would
impact the numbers.

------
51lver
I bike to a nearby bus station and bus from there to work. I love it. Makes me
feel great, but there really is no place for bikes where I live. We have bike
lanes, but not on the main roads. We have sidewalks, but I don't want to
bother pedestrians. We have some really fun trails, but again those are hard
to share with pedestrians. So that leaves me in with the cars, which stinks.

------
kasey_junk
The working from home angle is what did me in. I used to target 80% of my
commute on a bike (in Chicago so gave myself some leeway for the winter).

Now I work from home that ratio. When I do go to the office it’s at a much
lower % than previously because the habit provides a boost.

------
wavesounds
My theory is that traffic is getting worse in most major cities as more and
more people are choosing to live their. Having more cars on the road makes
biking less and less safe therefore people fall into the "if you cant beat em
join em" mentality.

------
codeulike
Maybe people are bikesharing?

------
jpm_sd
I commute by bike year-round and have been for three years. Every day lately I
think about going back to an EV - I had a leased Leaf for commuting to my
previous job.

I'm getting tired of being a second class citizen on the road, tired of near-
misses with people staring at their phones while driving, and tired of not
being able to carry much of anything. I have panniers but it doesn't do much
good for quick trips to the hardware store or the supermarket on the way home.

(edit: I am in the US)

~~~
TulliusCicero
Please, you're not a second class citizen on a bike in the US.

You're really more like third class; second class would be walking, where at
least you have physically separated lanes most places and your own signals.

~~~
throwaway5250
Bicyclists are allowed to terrorize pedestrians with impunity. And indeed, you
can easily get a ticket for jaywalking, but you'll never get one for riding a
bicycle against traffic, failing to stop at a stop sign, etc.

~~~
SamBam
Oh boo... let's not start a pro-/anti-bike fight. The data and conclusions
here are interesting enough and can be discussed without that.

~~~
throwaway5250
I was merely pointing out that the parent poster's characterization of
bicyclists as third-class citizens is wildly counterfactual.

~~~
TulliusCicero
It's not. Just look at the infrastructure investment. Bikes are _lucky_ to get
an order of magnitude less money than walking, or two orders of magnitude less
money than cars. Cities spend a few tens of thousands striping a handful of
haphazard miles of painted bike lanes, then spend hundreds of millions
widening freeways, then pat themselves on the back for how bike-friendly they
are. It's absurd.

It's true that many cyclists behave poorly, but look at countries like Denmark
or the Netherlands where they actually support biking, and the cyclists there
behave normally. Almost like people don't respect a system that clearly
doesn't respect them.

Take a Dutch person and ask them to bike in the US, and see how quickly they
either adopt the aggressive habits of American cyclists or just give up
entirely.

~~~
throwaway5250
I live in one of the most bike-friendly cities in the US (according to
Bicycling magazine). The behavior of bicyclists here, as far as riding safely
and in a law-abiding manner, is _far worse_ than other cities I've lived in.
Every day when walking down a sidewalk, I'm buzzed by one of these idiots
riding by at high speed. I've seriously considered getting a "rear-view"
mirror just to protect myself.

Though I've cycled thousands of miles in prior years, I no longer do, partly
because I don't want to be associated with such behavior.

