We all know how much of an easy city Boston is to get around in, but what about nationwide? Perhaps our generally smaller city is a reason why many find it more efficient to walk or bike to work. Parking which is often expensive could also be a factor, however the central reason seems to be because of the safety of walking and biking, the popularity of it and the increasing accessibility and affordability of bicycles.
It comes to be known that Boston was ranked as number one out of 51 cities in 50 states nationwide for the most biked and walked city! We were far and away the greatest walking city, with 13.9% of commuters walking. This can be compared to the second highest city of Washington, D.C. with 11.4% of people walking to work. For those who prefer to ride a bicycle, there were 1.5% of people in Boston who took this ever so popular form of transportation. This figure did not end up as one of the top cities with Portland, Oregon having 5.5% of commuters riding bicycles.
With the Hubway in Boston (which we discussed a couple of weeks ago), there is much reason to ride instead of drive. With the expansion of Hubway bicycle stands to places outside the city such as Somerville, Brookline and Cambridge, the demand for such bicycles is sure to continue to rise. Having more outlets where individuals can rent these bicycles outside of Boston only further encourages them to choose this emission-free way to get to work.
These results came from the 2012 Benchmark Report and took critical information from pedestrian and biker surveys, government agencies and advocacy groups. Boston was also found to have the least amount of biking and pedestrian fatalities. This is truly astonishing as one would think the city with the highest mass of people participating in this form of commute within a small, dense city would have the highest number of accidents. This evidently was not the case, we can proudly say.
While biking is gaining speed as an option for transportation, there still needs to be more bike lanes for Boston to increase this percentage enough to challenge the cities like Portland where it is slightly more frequent. Nonetheless, biking, walking and continuing to have a fit, Green and efficient city is really setting Boston apart from all the rest!
More Information: Bostinno.com
