Agenda - 02-22-1999 - d2b - Laserfiche WebLink

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• H. CURRENT CONDITIONS A. Use Data and Safety Problems COMMUTER PROFILE or DESIGN CYCLIST In the May /June 1997 issue of Bicycle USA (magazine of the League of American Bicyclists) an article was published that profiled what they estimated to be typical bicycle commuters (see Section G. of the Bicycle Transportation Plan Supplement for the complete article). The Task Force reviewed this article. A local survey would be preferable, but the funds and work program to perform such a survey were not included in the project design for the development of this plan. As reported in the article; "What `Average' Bike Commuters Revealed in Note that 20% of the respondents were female. In the results that follow female responses appear "[ ] ". The survey results indicate that the `average' bike commuters are 40 [37] year -old professionals (59 %[53]) with a household income in excess of $45,000 per year who bike commute 10.6 [10.2] months per year. The average annual bicycle commuting distance was 1,921 [1,581] miles while these same cyclists rode an average of 3,387 [2,854] miles for all trip purposes. Just under 10% reported having an accident in the previous 12 months. Our man [and woman] -in -the- saddle has bike commuted an average of 8.7 [6.4] years and make 8.2 [7.9] one -way commute trips per week. They reported their average bike commute each -way as 7.4 [6.4] miles and taking 30.9 [30.0] minutes. There were two hardy souls who claimed 42 [and 41] years of bike commuting. For 71% [67 %] bicycling was their primary commuting mode. For the rest, weather (39 %[37 %]) and needing.a car at work (8 %[7 %]) were the two major reasons they didn't bike commute more often." ESTIMATED ORANGE COUNTY BICYCLE COMMUTERS There is no valid estimate of the total number of cyclists that commute to work by bicycle at this time for Orange County. There are however two reasonable travel behavior surveys that have been performed in Orange County by a local major employer and by the regional (three county) transit authority that indicate the potential bicycle commuter base in Orange County. As demonstrated below, these travel surveys indicate that the current amount of bicycle commuters in Orange County is in excess of 3,396. Since 1995 only these two surveys have been performed to determine travel behavior in Orange County. The major employer survey (University Commuting Study for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, performed by the University of North Carolina Department of Public Safety) was performed to determine the commuting preferences of the studenti and employees of UNC. This survey indicated that there are approximately 3,396 persons commuting by bicycle per day during the academic year (514 employees or 3.7% of total employees and 2,882 students or 16.5% of total students). Any questions about the survey should be directed to Raymond Magyar, UNC Transportation Planner, at 962 -5028. 7 27