Bike commuting is on the rise in Salt Lake City

Bike commuting in the Salt Lake metro area rose by about 19% in the past two years, according to new census data.

• Now bike activists and city leaders are trying to get more of us on two wheels.

Driving the news: Only about 0.7% of workers in the Salt Lake Valley biked to work in 2021, according to the new American Community Survey.

• Yes, but: That's actually a higher percentage than in most cities and an increase from 0.5% in 2019.

Details: Salt Lake ranked No. 47 of about 250 metro areas tabulated in 2021, and had a higher bike commuting rate than the national average of 0.5%.

Catch up quick: City leaders have been trying to promote more bicycling for years, reducing speed limits on most streets and adding bike-friendly infrastructure.

The latest: Mayor Erin Mendenhall led dozens of cyclists into downtown Wednesday for a "Bike to Work Day" while activists spearhead their own projects.

• A Salt Lake City mom is fundraising to buy bikes for kids at Rose Park Elementary in hopes of launching a "bike bus" where kids ride in a group for safety, FOX13 reported.
• The nonprofit Bicycle Collective brought its Bike Prom back last week after a pandemic hiatus to promote cycling safety and raise funds for a new building in the Granary District.

Zoom out: While a lot of Utah's bike promotion is centered in Salt Lake, Logan actually has the state's highest rate of bike commuters.

• With 1.3% of residents biking to work, Logan ranked No. 14 in the nation, alongside its fellow college towns of State College, Pennsylvania, and Eugene, Oregon.