HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-26-10 South Bend tops Indiana cities in bicycle commuting
Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
May 26, 2010
5 A.M.
South Bend tops Indiana cities in bicycle commuting
Contact:
Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564
or Chris Dressel, Bicycle Coordinator, 235-9371
In a Bike to Work Week ceremony today to formally open the city’s first downtown
bicycle lanes, Mayor Stephen J. Luecke announced that South Bend became Indiana’s
leading city for commuting by bicycle, according to 2008 U.S. Census statistics.
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South Bend also ranks 6 in the Midwest behind mostly college towns – Minneapolis,
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Madison, Wis., Ann Arbor, Mich., Champaign, Ill., and Iowa City, Iowa – and 36
among the 453 largest U.S. cities.
Members of the South Bend area bicycling community greeted the achievement by riding
new downtown bicycle lanes along much of Colfax Avenue during the morning rush
hour. The news conference was part of an organic blueberry pancake breakfast hosted by
the LaSalle Grill on the 100 block of West Colfax for Michiana Bike to Work Week.
In addition, members of the Bike Michiana Coalition presented the mayor with a $2,500
check to underwrite the cost of painting bike lanes along Colfax, one of the first bike-lane
priorities identified by bicycle commuting advocates.
According to the Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey, an estimated 2.29
percent of South Bend commuters traveled to work by bicycle in 2008 – a percentage that
exceeds national averages, including for cities designated as “Bicycle Friendly
Communities.” The 993 South Bend residents who used a bicycle to get to work
surpassed every other Hoosier city except Indianapolis, whose 1,125 cyclists represented
only 0.30 percent of the capital city’s workforce. Bloomington’s 1.84 percent was the
state’s second highest.
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“Cyclists in the greater South Bend area are riding to work in greater numbers than ever
before, motivated by higher gas prices, health benefits and greater availability of safe
routes established by the City of South Bend,” Luecke said. “We will continue to work
with our partners in the bicycling community, such as the Bike Michiana Coalition, to
increase bicycling alternatives and make South Bend a more livable community.”
Colfax Avenue is not the only downtown street to receive painted, five-foot-wide bicycle
lanes this spring. Bicycle lanes also have been installed on Jefferson Boulevard between
William and St. Joseph streets. The Colfax effort is part of the City’s “Cultivate Colfax”
improvements from Lafayette Boulevard to Jacob Street, which seeks to promote
development, support arts-related and other businesses, and enhance pedestrian, bicycle
and motorist safety.
“I’m excited to see the new bike lanes added to our stretch of Colfax Avenue,” said Mark
McDonnell, owner of The LaSalle Grill.
A 2007 study by the Michiana Area Council of Governments showed that the average
speed of vehicles on Colfax near Sycamore Street was 39 mph, despite a posted speed
limit of 30 mph.
“I am thrilled by the addition of bike lanes to Colfax Avenue,” said Paul Meyer,
executive director of The South Bend Clinic. “The avenue now serves a wider population
of users – motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. The businesses on Colfax will get a second
look from passers-by, and the Clinic’s employees will have another choice – a healthy
and safe one – in coming here.”
Bicycle lanes have been added along the entire 1.3-mile segment of Colfax, between
Lafayette Boulevard and Jacob Street. Between Michigan and Hill streets, there are two
traffic lanes with a continuous left-turn lane.
“The new Colfax Avenue bike lanes into downtown South Bend are fantastic. They
provide a safe route to and from downtown for bicyclists to commute to work, shop, visit
a restaurant or enjoy other venues in the East Race and downtown South Bend area,” said
Judy and Bill Lee, president and treasurer, respectively, of the Bike Michiana Coalition.
“On behalf of the Bike Michiana Coalition, we applaud South Bend officials for their
forward thinking in providing for a safer, healthier, economical and environmentally
friendly form of transportation.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey, 0.55 percent
of Americans use a bicycle as the primary means of getting to work. In 2008, the average
bicycle commuter share for Bicycle Friendly Communities, those designated by the
League of American Bicyclists for their pro-bicycling policies, was 1.5 percent.
The statistics, a conservative measure of bicycle ridership, do not account for recreational
or shopping trips by residents using bicycles. The question, which asks workers the
principal mode of travel they used to work in the previous week, also may undercount
total bicycle ridership.
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Bicycle commuters’ 2.29 percent of all workers in South Bend for 2008, the most recent
year available, represented a dramatic increase from 1.07 percent in 2007 and 0.70
percent in 2006.
When Paul Taylor first moved to South Bend from Chicago in 1978 and continued his
established practice of commuting by bicycle, he felt as if he was the only cyclist on the
road. “Now, in my ride to and from work, I see several people each day. And my bike is
no longer lonely, being joined by several other bikes at the bike rack, especially when the
weather is good,” said Taylor, a member of the Bike Michiana Coalition. “The Census
data showing a dramatic increase in South Bend folks who bike to work proves that it’s
not my imagination: People really are recognizing that the simple bike is a great mode of
transportation.”
“This independent data suggests that South Bend is Indiana’s most friendly city for
bicycle commuting,” said South Bend Bicycle Coordinator Chris Dressel. “And our 132
percent increase from 2007 is nearly 10 times the national rate of increase.”
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