Bike Commuting In Chicago Rises, Census Says

Census: Bike Commuting On The Rise In Chicago
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 12: A cyclist rides past a Bank of America branch on September 12, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Bank of America, in an attempt to reduce expenses by $5 billion per year by 2014, announced today plans to lay off 30,000 employees, or about ten percent of staff, over the next few years. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 12: A cyclist rides past a Bank of America branch on September 12, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Bank of America, in an attempt to reduce expenses by $5 billion per year by 2014, announced today plans to lay off 30,000 employees, or about ten percent of staff, over the next few years. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Story by Ted Cox, courtesy DNAinfo Chicago:

CHICAGO — The number of people who bike to work in the city jumped by about 2,300 cyclists, or 13.7 percent, between 2011 and 2012, new U.S. Census data estimates show.

In all, 19,147 Chicago residents — 1.6 percent of commuters — say they use a bike for the longest part of their daily trip to work, according to the census numbers from the 2012 American Community Survey.

In an earlier report, the Census warned that it may be underestimating the number of cyclists "because of relatively small sample sizes."

Cyclists complained that the Census allows those surveyed to only check one mode of transportation. So if a commuter uses a bike to get to an "L" stop and the remaining portion of the trip is longer, the commuter is recorded as using mass transit.

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