Philly Ranks High on List of Big Cities Where People Bike or Walk to Work
If you walked or biked to work today, go ahead and give yourself a high five: The Alliance for Biking and Walking just released their Bicycling and Walking in the U.S.: 2016 Benchmarking Report, a biennial report for which they collect and analyze data from all 50 states to see just how we’re stacking up when it comes to biking and walking. Good news: We’re doing prettttty darn good here in Philadelphia. We came in at a solid number seven on the list for big cities that bike or walk to work, with 10.6 percent of the population pedaling or hoofing it into the office. Woop, woop!
Big cities that beat us out include Boston, D.C., San Francisco, New York, Portland and Seattle. When you separate biking and walking, where we fall on the list changes a bit: According to the report, 8.5 percent of Philadelphians walk to work, which puts us at sixth in the country for big cities. Then, on the biking end, 2.1 percent of Philadelphians pedal their way into work, which puts us at 10th place for big cities. To give you some comparison, a whopping 6.1 percent of the folks in Portland, which came in at number one, bike to work. But I mean, anyone who’s watched Portlandia knows that.
There are a few reasons why this news is awesome: For one, the report found that places with more cyclists on the roads had lower rates of bicycle fatalities. Plus, places where more people biked and walked to work also saw higher rates when it came to folks getting the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity each week. I mean, talk about killing two bird with one stone, right?
Now, what do you say we welcome some friendly competition into the whole biking-and-walking game and make it our goal to beat out Boston, which snagged first place, come 2018? There, 16.7 percent of the population is getting their active commute on. We can take them, right?
Like what you’re reading? Stay in touch with Be Well Philly — here’s how:
- Like Be Well Philly on Facebook
- Follow Be Well Philly on Twitter
- Follow Be Well Philly on Pinterest
- Get the Be Well Philly Newsletter
