CENSUS UNDERCOUNTS WALKING AND BIKING

-> The U.S. Census is the most widely cited source of data about how Americans get around, but it only asks about commute trips, and commuting only accounts for about 16 percent of total household travel. What happens when you measure the other 84 percent? Researchers at the University of Minnesota set out to design a better way to track how people move around the Twin Cities region.

The UMN team found that driving decreased in the region between 2000 and 2010, while biking and walking grew. Cycling rose over that period from 1.4 to 2.2 percent of trips. Thats about 190,000 daily trips, or a 58 percent increase. Meanwhile, walking grew from 4.5 to 6.6 percent of trips, a 44 percent increase, or almost three quarters of a million daily trips. Residents of the Twin Cities region typically make about 12 million total daily trips. Whats especially interesting is that the share of biking and walking trips in the UMN survey is much bigger than what the Census indicates about two to three times larger. [http://bit.ly/1rW2snN]

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.