Bike ridership down in 2009

There were fewer bike riders on Portland’s streets and bridge in 2009.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s annual Portland Bicycle Count Report showed that the number of bicycle trips counted in 2009 decreased at similar rates to that of transit and automobiles. The bureau attributed the decrease in bicycle trips to the high unemployment rate and low fuel prices of 2009 compared to 2008.

The percentage of Portlanders who ride bikes, though, does not appear to have significantly changed.

Summary of the 2009 Bicycle Count:

• For the first time since 1995, the number of bicycle trips counted decreased in Portland.

• Bicycle traffic on Portland’s four bicycle-friendly bridges (Broadway, Steel, Burnside and Hawthorne bridges) and at 101 non-bridge locations showed a one-year decrease of 6 percent and 5 percent respectively. The total number of bicycle trips in Portland (combined bridge and non-bridge) decreased 5 percent compared with 2008.

• Although the number of bike trips on the four bridges were down, so was the number of trips made by drivers and transit riders. Because of this overall trend, bicyclists still represented approximately 13 percent of all vehicles crossing those bridges — the same percentage as in 2008.

• Bicycles represent 21 percent of all vehicles on the Hawthorne Bridge, up one percentage point from 2008. Bicycles represented 12 percent, 18 percent and 5 percent of all vehicles on the Broadway, Steel and Burnside bridges, respectively, compared to 14 percent, 15 percent and 5 percent in 2008.

• Adjusted for the 2009 decrease, the overall trend in bicycle traffic is up, increasing 180 percent since the 2000/2001 counts.

• Helmet use decreased from 80 percent of all bicyclists in 2008 to 77 percent in 2009. Helmet use in 2009 continues to be more prevalent among female riders (82 percent) than male riders (74 percent).

• Female riders represented 31 percent of bicyclists citywide, a one percentage point decrease from 2008.