I found this interesting article on The Atlantic about the areas of growth in bicycle commuting. While we’ve all seen the large number of articles regarding the growth of cycling commuting, it is interesting to see the geographic concentrations of this growth. Unfortunately, Oklahoma City shows no growth (we sit at a 0.1% so not any room to drop either). However, Tulsa shows 200% growth, though that only represents an increase from 0.2% to 0.6% of the population, but that is still substantial growth.
As OKC expands the city’s bicycle trails network under MAPS 3 into a system that can start to be used for transportation, it will be interesting to see if we can see similar amounts of growth as Tulsa.
4 responses to “Who's Bike Commuting and Where”
Better for the growth to be slow and deliberate than to suffer the growing pains and motorist violence Portland’s dealing with.
I am encouraged to be seeing more cyclists out during my commute to and from work. I saw two of them this afternoon, and one this morning (at 6:15 AM). I know that two of the three were doing the work commute, as one works downtown and one works at Baptist Hospital. I am of the opinion that the cyclists I am seeing are drops in the bucket compared to the many that might consider commuting by bike if they felt they could safely do so.
I’ve been commuting by bike since about mid-August when the heat was in full effect. I’m thoroughly enjoying the weather now, and hope to keep riding through the winter. My commute is 6 miles one way, so it’s not too demanding. I’m using a 1984 Fuji equipped with fenders, lights, rack with panniers, and some Vittoria Randonneur tires from right here in OKC.
I’ve ridden to work off and on for the past few years, but never stayed with it longer than a few weeks. I’ve since decided to stop making excuses, and commit to riding. Now I don’t even consider driving and my daily rides are something I actually look forward to throughout the day. I’ve seen a few other bicycle commuters and I know that there are several others, but right now it’s pretty lonely out there. I hope to see more in the future.
I’ve commuted to work via bicycle on and off since 1974, then non-stop since & year round since Nov 2007. The distance was 12 miles each way in SLC back in the early 80’s and 8 miles each way later. I’ve lived in Here Edmond, OK, since 1996. My commute here is just five miles each way. An east-west commute so prevailing winds aren’t much of an issue. Spring to fall when daylight is longer, I often take in a longer ride, 20-35 miles going home, joining a group ride along the way when possible.