Richmond's big cycling spike
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Pandemic-era cycling fever appears to be sticking around RVA.
Driving the news: The average number of daily bike trips per 1,000 people in the Richmond metro area jumped 68.5% between 2019-2022, from eight in 2019 to 14 in 2022.
- In fact, Richmond had the fifth-highest increase in the nation for pandemic-era cycling gains.
- That's per a new report from mobility data firm StreetLight Data, which uses GPS and other location information to measure urban transportation patterns, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Alice Feng report.
Why it matters: Richmond has made significant progress in building protected bike lanes in the last few years with more than 60 miles completed and more on the way, per the city.
Yes, but: Whole swaths of the city, and much of the surrounding counties, are still without protected lanes.
The big picture: The annual nationwide average for daily bike trips grew by 37%. Increases happened in almost every major U.S. metro area between 2019-2022.
By the numbers:
- Most cycling is concentrated in and around big cities — the 100 largest metros accounted for 77% of bike activity nationwide in 2022, up from 72% in 2019.
- Bike trips increased at least 25% between 2019-2022 in every metro area with about 5 million or more residents, StreetLight found.
Driving the news: Urban cycling took off during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic largely because people were looking for ways to get around or get exercise without exposing themselves to infection.
- In some cities, bike share programs, like Citi Bike (New York), Capital Bikeshare (Washington, D.C.) and Divvy (Chicago), exploded in popularity during the pandemic, making two-wheelers easier to access.
- Meanwhile, Richmond's program slowed its expansion plan during the pandemic due to funding, and still only offers 25 stations, well below the 40 planned when the service launched in 2017.
Zoom in: When it comes to growth in bike use, the New York City area is king, with 43 more trips per 1,000 people in 2022 compared to 2019.
- That's likely at least in part because of a boom in "deliveristas," who crisscross the city with hungry denizens' Grubhub and Uber Eats orders.
Reality check: Nationwide growth in bike activity flatlined between 2021-2022, at around 9 million total daily trips.
- Still, even holding steady as a post-pandemic normality is a win for bike advocates — and a sign that the COVID bike boom is here to stay.
The bottom line: "The flatline in 2022 is a warning that continued investment in safety-focused active transportation infrastructure — especially to support community connectivity, in addition to recreational access — will be critical to re-animating growth," per StreetLight's report.