NYC Biking Boom Stretches Back Years, Study Finds

NEW YORK CITY — Grab a bicycle, New York City — everyone is doing it.

More than 1.7 million New Yorkers pedaled in and across the boroughs at least once during 2020 — a record, according to a new Department of Transportation study.

This bike boom is common knowledge for New Yorkers, who saw the city's streets transform as the coronavirus pandemic struck. But the study — "Cycling in the City" — provides a wider context.

“Our fellow New Yorkers are seeing the light and embracing transportation on two wheels – helping us fight congestion and climate change at the same time,” Hank Gutman, the city's Department of Transportation commissioner, said in a statement. “This report lays out the facts. Cycling is here, and it is here to stay."

Daily cycling in New York City grew 116 percent between 2009 and 2019, according to the study.

Those daily trips numbered 530,000 last year, the report found.

And New York City far outpaced its fellow large cities in terms of bicycle commuters. In 2019, 52,696 people commuted to work on a bicycle on a three-year average, according to the study.

"Cycling to work in NYC has grown more than 5x faster than peer city average (2014-2019)," the report states.

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