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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Study Shows Big Jump in Seattle Bike Commuters
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
10/31/2007 8:40:00 AM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alex Fryer (206) 684-8358
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Study Shows Big Jump in Seattle Bike Commuters
SEATTLE - The number of bicyclist entering downtown during the morning commute jumped 31 percent since 2000, according to a recent count released today by the Seattle Department of Transportation.
“More and more people are choosing to leave the car in the garage and find a different way to get to work,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “We are making it easier and safer to get around Seattle by walking and biking and we are starting to see the results. By taking a bike instead of a car, people are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and leaving the city and the planet a better place.”
In April, Nickels released Seattle’s Bicycle Master Plan to significantly expand the city’s network of bike lanes, make it easier and safer to ride throughout the city and reduce greenhouse gases. The downtown count, along with surveys around other parts of the city, will set a baseline for the goal of tripling the number of bicyclists by 2017.
“The goal of this effort is simple,” Nickels said “We want to make Seattle the best and the safest city in the nation for bicycling.”
So far this year, the city has installed more than 18 miles of new bicycle lanes and shared-lane markings, or “sharrows”, and 30 additional miles of improvements are planned for 2008.
Seattle’s Climate Action Plan calls for an increase in bicycling as one means to reduce harmful greenhouse gasses and meet the goals of the Kyoto Protocol. A study of 2005 data released earlier this week shows that Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions had fallen to 8 percent below 1990 levels.
“We are building a true transportation network in Seattle, one that recognizes that there really is more than one way to travel through this city,” said Grace Crunican, director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. “This increase in bike commuters is great news. We know that the safer and easier you make it to ride a bike in Seattle, the more people will do it.”
For the downtown survey, volunteers at 29 locations recorded the number of bicyclists passing by, counting 2,273 during the morning commute. The top five locations for bicyclists to enter the Center City are, in order: Dexter Avenue N, Colman Dock, the Alaskan Way Path, the Elliot Bay Path, and Pine Street. The complete results of the 2007 Downtown Bicycle Counts can be viewed at: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikeinfo.htm.
Other citywide counts will focus on key bicycle locations such as multi-use trails and entry points to the city. Counts will also be taken on the increasing number of streets with bicycle facilities, such as bicycle lanes and sharrows.
Construction of new on-street bicycle facilities is one key strategy identified by both the Climate Action Plan and the Bicycle Master Plan to increase the number of people cycling in Seattle.
Visit the mayor’s web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s inside view on efforts to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm
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Office of the Mayor
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