Skip to main content

New York sees a boom in cycling

According to New York City Department of Transportation’s (NYC DOT) 2016 Cycling in the City brief, New York City has seen a recent dramatic increase in cycling, with the claim that the city has seen a 320 per cent increase in daily cycling between 1990 and 2014 and a 68 per cent growth in daily cycling between 2010 and 2014. The brief uses data collected by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as part of its annual Community Health Survey, where 25 per cent of adult New Yorkers (almost 1.
May 10, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
According to 5590 New York City Department of Transportation’s (NYC DOT) 2016 Cycling in the City brief, New York City has seen a recent dramatic increase in cycling, with the claim that the city has seen a 320 per cent increase in daily cycling between 1990 and 2014 and a 68 per cent growth in daily cycling between 2010 and 2014.

The brief uses data collected by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as part of its annual Community Health Survey, where 25 per cent of adult New Yorkers (almost 1.6 million) reported riding a bike at least once in the last year, and 12 per cent (778,000) rode at least several times a month, a number that has expanded by 49 per cent since 2009.

It claims that this growth has also contributed to safer cycling: data show that the risk to New York City cyclists of a serious injury or fatality has been reduced 72 per cent over the last fifteen years.

City officials claim this is mainly due to the efforts made to expand the city’s bicycle infrastructure since the mid-1990s, when NYC DOT established a bicycle program to oversee development of the city’s cycle network.

Since then, NYC DOT has built a cycle network that serves an ever-growing number of New Yorkers and, since 2010 has expanded and enhanced the on-street bike network by nearly 300 miles, including more than 40 protected lane miles, with a record 12 miles installed in 2015. The report indicated that NYC DOT is on track to install even more protected lanes in 2016, with over 15 new miles planned.

Brooklyn has seen the greatest percentage growth in cycling; between 2010 and 2014, cycle commutes increased by 75 per cent, from 10,494 to 18,317. In the same period, cycle commuters in Manhattan increased by 68 per cent, from 8,997 to 15,088, alongside Queens which also saw a 68 per cent increase from 3,764 to 6,342.

Meanwhile, the city’s bike share program, Citi Bike, saw a 23 per cent growth in daily use between 2014 and 2015, from 22,172 in 2010 to 27,287 in 2014. According to CEO and President of Motivate, which operates Citi Bike, the company plans to expand into new neighbourhoods, growing to 12,000 bikes by the end of 2017.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Copenhagen to showcase ITS in action at ITSWC 2018
    December 18, 2017
    As delegates head for the 2017 ITS World Congress in Montreal, we talk to Copenhagen mayor Morten Kabell about why his city is the ideal location for next year’s event. It may have been a long time coming but the ITS World Congress will be in Copenhagen in 2018 and there can be few more fitting places to host the event. By any number of metrics - interconnected transport, cycle commuting, safer streets, reduced pollution, sustainable energy and quality of life - the Danish capital has implemented what m
  • Apps help passengers avoided overcrowded public transport
    May 30, 2013
    David Crawford reviews innovations in the comfort zone. Anyone who rides public transport knows that, perhaps second only to delays, overcrowding is a critical part of the passenger experience,” says Nir Erez, CEO of Moovit, the Israel-based social transportation app developer. The app is aimed at taking real-time user feedback on transit and making it available to a wider audience of travellers. Currently available on iPhone and Android, it plans to add Windows 8 and other platforms in the future. Moovit i
  • Chicago pop-up lanes keep buses moving 
    September 29, 2020
    Two 24-hour dedicated routes support essential workers, says CDoT
  • Caltrans takes the long view of transport
    October 21, 2016
    Caltrans’ Malcolm Dougherty took time out of his schedule at ITS America 2016 in San Jose to talk to ITS International about current and future challenges. As director of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) since mid-2012, many would say that Malcolm Dougherty has one of the best jobs in transportation. Caltrans is one of the most progressive and innovative transport authorities, implementing policies to encourage cycling, piloting new