The number of people getting around by bicycle is growing steadily. According to American Community Survey, conducted annually by the Census Bureau, the number of bike commuters grew 0.3 percent between 2005 and 2009.

You're right. That's almost nothing. But bear in mind that's the median for the entire country, which includes a whole lot of rural and exurban areas where bike commuting isn't viable. Bike commuting is still an infinitesimally small percentage of all commutes, accounting for just 0.55 percent of commutes last year, according to the League of American Bicyclists.

But if you look only at urban areas – where bike commuting makes far more sense – the gains are huge. Given the Obama Administration's emphasis on bike-friendlier transportation policies, the growth almost certainly will continue.

The League of American Bicyclists dove into the numbers and found bike commuting in the 70 largest cities (.pdf) in the United States climbed 35 percent between 2005 and 2009. Kansas City, Missouri, saw the biggest increase, climbing an astonishing 1,095 percent. Indianapolis followed with a jump of 392 percent. New Orleans rounded out the top three with an increase of 155 percent.

All told, 1 percent of all commutes made in those 70 cities last year was made by bicycle. That continues a trend seen since 2005.

Overall, Portland, Oregon, is the bike commuter capital of the country. Almost 6 percent of commutes are made on two wheels. It was followed by Minneapolis – recently named the bike-friendliest big city in America – and Seattle.

There was some concern among bike advocates that the gains seen in 2008, when gas prices went nuts, would be lost as fuel prices came back down. There were some slips – the number of bike commuters in Portland dropped by 2 percent, for example – but the loses weren't as great as feared.

These numbers are not perfect. The American Community Survey looks only at people who bike commute regularly; it doesn't consider people who might ride just once or twice a week. Data from the 2010 Census will be available next year and should provide greater understanding of our collective commuting habits down to the neighborhood level. And with cities like New York creating their own surveys and reporting further gains in bike commuting, the ACS figures are almost certainly on the conservative side.

Statistics aside, the number of bike commuters will almost certainly continue to grow. Earlier this year the Transportation Department decreed that the needs of cyclists and pedestrians must be placed alongside those of motorists in funding transportation projects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are pushing "active transportation" systems to promote public health. And urbanists and city planners are increasingly embracing transit-oriented development, which stresses compact pedestrian- and transit-friendly communities.

Any way you look at it, bike commuting is growing more popular due in part to grassroots activism and a growing commitment from cities to embrace cycling as a viable means of getting around.

*Photo: JPChamberland / Flickr. Bike commuters riding in Seattle.

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