Last year, you likely saw a story (or many) saying that biking was way down in Seattle. That was due to the annual release of the Census Bureau’s annual American Communities Survey data, which can vary quite a bit year-to-year. And the 2017 figures were way down.
But as we noted, these numbers were likely just outliers because they ran counter to the ten-year trend. And the 2018 survey results that just dropped seem to confirm that, with walking, biking and transit use significantly up compared to 2017.
Just as it was inaccurate last year to say that biking was down to a ten-year low, it is also inaccurate this year to say that biking increased 35% in just one year. These dramatic ups and downs are almost certainly just statistical noise. In reality, the trend line for bike commuting is on a steady upswing, and the 2018 figures fall much more in line with the trend than 2017:
More people in Seattle are biking as their primary way of getting to work than ever before. Both walking and transit use also continued their climbs in the 2018 survey. Walking to work is now up to an incredible 12% citywide, nearly double the rate in 2005. Public transit is closing in on a solid quarter of commutes, clocking in at 23%.
And all this added together means walking, biking and transit is up to 39%, and driving alone to work continues its steep decline. Now just 44.5% of Seattle workers drive alone to work, down from 53% a decade ago. Even if the 2018 estimates end up being a bit high, Seattle is on trend for walking, biking and transit use to overtake driving alone just a few years from now, a feat very few U.S. cities have accomplished. (more…)