The global urban bicycle boom

Over ten minutes one day last fall, an Economist reporter stood on a busy Montreal street at rush hour and counted 132 passing bicycles and only 82 cars. That wasn’t a fluke. It’s a sign of our times. We’re in a global surge of cycling – not as a pastime or sport but as a transportation staple.

Oslo has seen an 80 percent increase in cycling in the past ten years. Cyclists now outnumber cars in London’s financial district two to one. New York’s bike share program hosts about a quarter million rides every three days. In Paris, cyclists outnumber motorists citywide.

Bicycles are familiar staples in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Bogotá. But they are also a rising presence and policy preference in Addis Ababa and Rio de Janeiro. Overall, cycling has grown about 20 percent globally since 2019.

Why? It massively cuts down on traffic congestion; it’s vastly more energy efficient; and it’s cleaner. The e-bike boom has also made it more practical for more people.

Sources: The Economist; CNU’s Public Square; Fix the News; Discerning Cyclist; Institute for Transportation and Development Policy