Active transportation - Commuting by biking & walking
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Active transportation measures commuting by biking and walking
Commuting by biking and walking
Commuting by bike: More people are choosing to avoid the hassles of traffic congestion by biking to work and even doing their after-work shopping and errands by bicycle. Commuting by bike provides healthy exercise while getting to work.
Commuting by walking: Walking can improve personal and environmental health, reduce traffic congestion, and enhance one's quality of life, among other things.
The available data on commuting undercounts the contributions of walking and bicycling to commute travel and may undercount its contribution to all travel. Commuting data for walking and bicycling does not capture the use of these modes to get to a bus stop, ferry terminal or commuter rail station. According to the 2017 National Household Travel Survey, 85% of all commute trips began or ended with a walk or bike trip. That source also found that commute trips made up approximately 25% of all trips taken; walking or bicycling may also contribute more to the remaining 75% of non-commute trips.
Source: U.S Census Bureau - American Community Survey
Multi-year trends
From 2018 to 2022, the percentage of Washington workers aged 16 and older who commuted to work by bicycle declined, going from 0.9% to 0.6%. Similarly, the percentage of Washington workers over the age of 16 who walked to work decreased from 3.7% in 2018 to 3.1% in 2022.
Annual highlights
In 2022, 3.1% of all Washington commuters walked to work while 0.6% biked. The percentage of commuters biking stayed the same between 2021 and 2022 while the percentage of commuters walking increased by 0.3 percentage points.
In 2021, 2.8% of all Washington commuters walked to work while 0.6% biked. The percentage of commuters biking decreased by 0.2 percent between 2020 and 2021 while the percentage of commuters walking also decreased by 0.8 percentage points.
In 2020, 3.6% of all Washington commuters walked to work while 0.8% biked. The percentage of commuters biking decreased by 0.1 percent between 2019 and 2020 while the percentage of commuters walking increased by 0.1 percentage points.
In 2019, 3.5% of all Washington commuters walked to work while 0.9% biked. The percentage of commuters biking percentage remained steady between 2018 and 2019 while the percentage of commuters walking decreased by 0.2 percentage points.
In 2018, 3.7% of all Washington commuters walked to work while 0.9% biked. The percentage of commuters biking increased by 0.2 percent between 2017 and 2018 while the percentage of commuters walking increased by 0.3 percentage points.