Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Baltimore

Better Bike Infrastructure Expands Economic Opportunity: Report

Accessibility to jobs in Baltimore by bike facilities. Map: University of Minnesota Accessibility Observatory

In the American cities with the best bike infrastructure, cyclists are able to reach 75 percent more jobs on safe dedicated bike facilities, a new report shows.

University of Minnesota researchers mapped how many jobs the average person in every major U.S. metro area is able to reach by biking on both "low-stress" facilities -- like trails and protected bike lanes -- and "medium-stress" bike facilities, bike regular bike lanes and some minor streets with sharrows.

"Job density" in obviously higher in certain metro cores, but the report also shows that smart investments in bike infrastructure can put economic opportunities safely within reach for people on bikes.

Here are the cities that offered the bike access to jobs:

Top 10 cities for bike access to jobs. Data: University of Minnesota Accessibility Observatory
Top 10 cities for bike access to jobs. Data: University of Minnesota Accessibility Observatory
Top 10 cities for bike access to jobs. Data: University of Minnesota Accessibility Observatory

Although the Top 10 list primarily shows the cities with the highest overall employment, bike infrastructure can have a big impact on cities rankings, say the authors, Andrew Owen and Brendan Murphy.

For example, "the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area is ranked 14th largest by total employment ... but ranks 12th and seventh by access to jobs on low-stress and medium-stress bicycle networks, respectively.

"Conversely, Houston ranks fifth by total employment, but 32nd by access to jobs on both low-stress and medium-stress bike networks," they said.

Overall, Portland, Minneapolis and San Francisco offered the largest increases in bike access on special facilities. They each out average residents within 75 percent as many jobs on bike infrastructure as were available to a cyclist by biking on an unimproved road system.

Onward down he list, there was a lot of variation. The average Atlanta resident, the ranking shows, can reach 4,127 jobs in a half hour by "low-stress bikeway." By comparison, the average Denver resident can reach 18,104. Tampa residents can access on average 2,318 in the same time frame. But in Washington, D.C. it is 15,463.

Data: University of Minnesota Access Observatory
Data: University of Minnesota Access Observatory
Dallas bike access

Cities that want to improve accessibility to jobs by bike can either add bike infrastructure or increase the concentration of employment by where people live, Owen and Murphy say.

The Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota has also used this research method to measure job accessibility in metro regions by car and by transit. Check out the full study to see how your city ranked.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Tuesday’s Headlines Turn Up the Heat

Triple-digit heat, fueled by climate change, is warping rail lines, interrupting construction work on transit lines and causing burns on sidewalks.

July 16, 2024

These Are the Most Dangerous Congressional Districts for Pedestrians

The deadliest congressional districts in America are dominated by BIPOC communities — and federal officials need to step up to save the most vulnerable road users.

July 16, 2024

Delivery Worker Minimum Wage Shows Promise … For Some, Data Shows

New data from New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection shows minimum wage is bringing order to a previously wild industry.

July 15, 2024

Monday’s Headlines Go Through Basic Training

An NYU study looks into why the U.S. is lagging behind on high-speed rail, and one transportation expert ponders the impact on growth.

July 15, 2024

Sustainable Transportation Advocates Need to Talk About Sustainable Urban Design

A new book hopes to act as a "magic decoder ring" to our built environment — and a powerful tool to understand how sustainable transportation networks can fit within them.

July 15, 2024
See all posts