Cycling is becoming an increasingly popular activity in America, especially during the pandemic when so many are stuck at home. Bike sales soared in 2020 as people were looking for a safe activity to keep them active during quarantine.
The following visualization from e-bike manufacturer Tower Electric Bikes analyzed a variety of data points to determine the most bike-friendly cities in America as well as the least bike-friendly.
Click below to zoom
The graphic compares the percentage of bike commuters, percentage of recreational cyclists, cyclist fatality rate, as well as a score of how well-connected and accessible each particular city is for cyclists to create an overall Bike Friendliness Score. It uses a pin map visualization to point out each of the most and least bike-friendly cities on the U.S. map, color coding each pin to its Bike Friendliness Score. Below the map is a breakdown of the individual statistics as well as bar charts illustrating each city’s score. All data originated from PeopleForBikes.org.
Topping the list of bike-friendly cities is Crested Butte, CO. The city is generally regarded as the birthplace of mountain biking and attracts recreational cyclists from around the country. While Crested Butte is a relatively small city, many larger metro areas make the list as well like Arlington (#8), Manhattan (#12), and Seattle (#13).
In terms of the least bike-friendly cities, many larger cities with poor bike-friendly accessibility to key destinations top the list. Cities like Los Angeles (#1), Houston (#2), and Phoenix (#3) have low numbers of bike commuters, high cyclist fatality rates, and a lack of bike connectivity to locations like grocery stores and schools, making them less hospitable to cyclists.