NYC Bike Counts Jump 35 Percent

"This unprecedented increase shows we are well on the way toward our goal of doubling the number of bike commuters," said Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. "As these numbers rise, cyclists should take all safety precautions, while drivers must be vigilant when sharing our streets with this growing population."

DOT first conducted screenline counts of cyclists in 1980 and has beendoing so annually since 1984.  Counts were historically taken once ayear, during the middle of the week for a 12-hour period from 7 a.m. to7 p.m. In 2007, DOT expanded the time window to 18 hours and added twoadditional counting dates. The 18-hour count showed that over a quarterof cyclists counted use City streets earlier in the morning and laterin the day than previously believed. While commuter cycling has doubledover the past six years, DOT has found that some facilities have gottenmuch more popular.  The cyclist volume on the Williamsburg Bridge hasquadrupled from 2000-2008 to 4,000 cyclists on a typical day.

DOT's NYC Commuter Cycling Indicator makes use of the most robust data available to estimate the trends in commuter cycling.  While not every commuter cyclist in New York is counted in the screenline, the count locations are high usage areas where trends are easily spotted. The screenline count looks at cyclists crossing the four East River bridges, those entering and exiting the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall terminal, as well as cyclists crossing 50th Street on each avenue and the Hudson River Greenway.

This growth in cycling follows two years of DOT efforts to rapidly expand and improve New York's bicycle network. DOT added 140 miles of new bicycle routes to the on-street bicycle network in 2007 and 2008.