More Bicycle Infrastructure Equals More Riders

New York, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon are tops in the nation for the number of bicycle commuters, thanks to improvements in bicycle infrastructure, including dedicated bicycle lanes and bike share programs, reports Laura Bliss in CityLab. However, the cities with the greatest percentage of commuters bicycling are smaller, mostly college towns where the infrastructure built for students has been adapted by full-time residents.

More surprisingly, Bliss notes, is that the greatest increase in bicycle usage has occurred in the Rust Belt cities of Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati, which have seen their share of bicycle commuters grow 403.2 percent, 361.3 percent, and 350.1 percent, respectively, between 2000 and 2014. "With growing numbers of cyclists responding to new features, all of those cities have plans to expand their bike infrastructure."