The latest figures from a local group charged with monitoring transportation patterns suggest that bicycles are gradually assuming a role of dominance on our area streets. Since 2006, the average number of bicyclists across Cuyahoga County has increased by 50 percent, according to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.
The group’s report arrived at its figures by counting bicyclists at 17 locations for four-hour periods on nice days in 2006 and 2010.
“Whatever the reason, we are delighted that more people are using their bikes as a form of transportation rather than just for recreation,” says NOACA director Howard R. Maier. At the current rate, experts predict, three-fourths of all Northeast Ohio workers will be wearing sweat-soaked bike shorts on the job by 2016.