Seattle wants more of them.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

An ongoing "bike backlash" and "war on cars" pushed by the local media, biking as a wedge-issue in political campaigns, fear from politicians about doing "too much" for bikes — sounds like Portland right? Well, Seattle (not to mention New York City and many others) suffers from the same illusion. Now, a new survey commissioned by Seattle's Cascade Bicycle Club could help tamp down this pervasive — yet false — narrative.

According to a memo (PDF) about the survey from public opinion research firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, the results provide, "absolutely no evidence of widespread anti-cycling sentiment in Seattle." The memo goes on to explain that (among other things) 78% of those surveyed ride a bike at least once a year, 45% ride monthly, and 60% say they'd like to ride more*.

While the perception of people who ride bikes has become the butt of jokes, the Seattle survey found that people, "overwhelmingly report positive feelings towards the City’s bicyclists." 78% say they have a "favorable opinion" of people who ride bikes, including 38% who said "very favorable" (just 19% said their opinions of people who ride are "unfavorable"). (more...)

A Metro survey aimed at the 8,000 members of their Opt In Panel drew swift and critical reaction from active transportation advocates yesterday.

The survey was introduced as "some questions about infrastructure projects and economic growth in the Portland-metropolitan area." Despite its intentions, the questions and phrasing rubbed some Opt In members the wrong way and they went to Twitter to share their reactions.
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Survey says. Give us more!
(© BikePortland)

A Metro 'Opt-In' survey on active transportation shows that a majority of respondents from around the region feel it's important to make greater investments in dedicated bicycle infrastructure. The survey, which was answered by 3,865 members of the Opt-In feedback panel, was to help inform in Metro's first ever Active Transportation Plan they'll begin to develop next year. (more...)

Results of 2011 Auditor's Community Survey.

The City of Portland Auditor's Office released results of their 2011 Community Survey this morning. The survey gauged Portlanders feelings on a number of City services, from public safety and the quality of parks, to transportation.

In addition to qualitative questions about how safe people feel while bicycling, the survey also asked Portlanders how they get around. (more...)

Portland residents judged bike safety
and many other livability issues
in the survey.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Auditor's Office has released results of their 20th annual Community Survey. The survey was sent to 9,800 randomly selected households this past summer, and 3,663 valid surveys were returned.

The survey asks a range of questions about general community and livability. The purpose is to inform City Hall and city staffers about how people perceive their neighborhoods so the city can look to improve those perceptions through programs or policies. Of particular interest to us is how people rate the quality of roads and the safety of bicycling in their neighborhoods. This year, there were two new questions on the survey directly related to transportation mode. (more...)

The Options Division are
the ones who deliver the
SmartTrips packets to
your door by bike.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The Transportation Options Division inside the Bureau of Transportation is a key piece of Portland's success as a sustainable city. "Options" (as it's known around here) is the marketing arm of the city's transportation program and there the ones you see at street fairs and hundreds of events throughout the year. Their mission is to provide information, resources and tools to encourage Portlanders to, "make good choices about how to get around."

One of their primary responsibilities is to send out bike maps and other bike information whenever someone requests it. When I moved to Portland in 2005 (totally unaware of the institutional support for biking in this city) I surfed the City website and found the Options page. Wanting to know how to get around by bike, I filled out a request for some free bike maps (now they have this handy online form). (more...)

Graph from survey results on travel mode
into the central city.
Click to enlarge
(Kittelson & Associates, Inc.)

As part of their ongoing Central Portland Plan and the Central Portland Transportation Plan, the City's Bureau of Transportation commissioned an analysis of parking conditions in the central city.

As part of that work, Kittlelson & Associates, Inc. (the planning firm the city hired), did a survey to find out which travel modes people use to get to the central city. [Note: The boundaries of the "central city" used in this analysis were Johnson/Naito Parkway/Burnside and 15th in the northwest and Burnside/Naito/Jackson and 18th in southwest.]
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This chart from the City Auditor's 2008 Service, Efforts, and Accomplishments survey shows that in some NE Portland neighborhoods, 29% of residents use a bicycle as their primary or secondary mode to get to work.
-- More graphics below --

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[via Streetsblog and WashCycle]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released results from a "first of its kind" national survey that was designed to gauge behaviors and attitudes about bicycling and walking.
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