More people are biking in Cambridge than ever before, according to a recent report. The growth rate in bike activity corresponds with the city’s investment in a “safe, comfortable, and connected” bike network expansion, which surpassed 100 miles of lanes in 2024.
The report, published by the city’s transportation department Feb. 10, uses a variety of data from bike counts at key intersections and lanes, Bluebike stations, and U.S. Census and city surveys. The report calculated that just over 10 percent of Cambridge’s approximately 121,000 residents commute to work by bike, up from 8.2 percent reported in a 2009 to 2013 census survey.
Record numbers
The report notes that more than 21,000 people biked through the city’s 16 count locations in 2024, as opposed to just over 6,000 in 2004, a 250 percent increase. The report points to the use of Bluebikes and the implementation of safer and more connected bike lanes as key factors driving the increase in bike activity.
The report also highlighted a sharp rise in children biking. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of children riding on their own or as passengers jumped 283 percent. Intersections where bikeways are physically separated from vehicles, like Cambridge St. and Hampshire St., had the highest number of child bicyclists.
“There are parts of town in Cambridge and Somerville that have really great bike infrastructure,” said Nick Fernandez, a North Cambridge resident, in a phone interview. “When we go far distances, we have the kids on the back of the bike with us. When we go shorter distances or where there are trails that are totally protected, we’ll have our son on his bike,” Fernandez said.
However, certain sections, such as Mass. Ave. around Porter Square “are way too chaotic” for his nine-year-old, he said. “I would not let [my son] bike on it at this stage.” He said he hopes the city will continue to improve the bike lanes.
Fernandez and his wife Dawn commute mostly by bike with their two children and are part of Cambridge Bike Safety’s weekly bike bus group. The couple sees great benefits to biking with their children. “The community involvement that occurs when you’re out and about being a pedestrian or a cyclist, it really humanizes you and allows you to see the things that are actually going on,” Dawn Fernandez said.
Safer biking
Increased biking has not corresponded with a jump in injury rates. In fact, the citywide annual bike crash rate in 2024 was 41 percent lower than in 2004. “This means a person biking is less likely to be injured in Cambridge than before,” the report said.
The number of crashes has increased since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, but remain below pre-pandemic peaks, the report said. “This has resulted in more stable bike crash rates in recent years despite continued growth of the estimated bike miles traveled.” It was noted thatbike crashes tend to be under-reported and can be inconsistently classified by reporting police officers.
The report shows that bike crashes are concentrated in areas with the most biking activity along major streets and at complex intersections where major bike routes connect. All areas with concentrated crashes reported “have recently received or will receive separated bike lanes,” as required by the city, the report says.
Amy Flax, a local cyclist, said in a phone interview Monday that she plans her routes “to be as much as possible in protected bike lanes. I feel much better doing that.” Flax said she was not surprised by the rise of biking. “If you build it they will come, and I think that is what’s going on. I think the numbers will continue to increase a lot.”
Flax uses both a car and a bike around Cambridge. “There certainly are people who feel that cars are more important,” Flax said. She said she bikes because it is good for her health and for “how important it is for the future of sustainable transport and climate change.”
As a person in her 70s, she said “there are a lot of people with gray hair who are biking more and more. In my mind, there’s no question that the more protected lanes are built, the more comfortable people feel, and that includes seniors.”
Continued efforts by the city
The record bike activity reported comes as Cambridge continues bike safety and lane expansion efforts. In 2016, the city council unanimously adopted the Vision Zero Action Plan in an effort to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. It has since lowered the speed limit for cars to 20 mph on most streets.
The Cycling Safety Ordinance, passed by the city council in 2019 and amended in 2020, requires the city to include separated bike lanes, which include physical barriers and clearer lane markings, when certain streets are reconstructed. Those areas were identified in the Cambridge Bicycle Plan, first published by the city in 2015 and updated in 2020, as key sites for improving and establishing a safe bike network.
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20mph speed limits and no turn on red signs are routinely ignored by the majority of Cambridge drivers. And to be sure, some bicyclists have their own rule-following issues. The city has done well with its policy-making, but until enforcement catches up with existing policies, we won’t be able to take street safety to the next level.