Portland, Oregon, is well known as the bicycle capital of the United States. With an extensive network of bike lanes and bike-commute-friendly routes, the city is a haven for bike enthusiasts from hipster to executive. It might surprise you, however, that based on recent survey data only 6% of Portlanders actually commute to work by Bike. It might surprise you even more that just over a decade ago, this number was just 1.8%. And while a 6% bike-commute rate is tops in the country (Seattle and San Francisco are tied for second at 3%), European cites like Copenhagen (36%) and Amsterdam (22%) show that a much larger mode split is possible.
Ridership in the Rose City continues has increased, in a large part, due to the extensive work of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. The BTA sponsors several events throughout the year, the most popular of which is the Bike Commute Challenge, which has over 12,000 participants annually. September was Challenge month and the more seasoned cyclists at Hennebery Eddy challenged the office to reach 100% participation. With one-way commutes as long as 27 miles and as short as 4 blocks, every Hennebery Eddy employee commuted to the office at least once. Congratulations to Watershed Sciences, Inc., the winner in the medium size category with a commute percentage of almost 91%. Despite not winning our category we are happy with our performance, and look forward to improving in 2013.
Hennebery Eddy Architects by the numbers:
- Riders – 38 (100% participation)
- Trips – 213.5
- Miles – 1,888 miles
- Calories Burned – 92,512
- CO2 Saved – 1,848 lbs
- Total Commute Percentage – 32%