This morning at Union Station officials kicked off “Bike Week L.A.” a week-long effort this week to encourage people to bicycle as a way to commute to work and for recreation. See full details of Bike Week L.A. here. 

Los Angeles City Councilman and Metro Board Member Mike Bonin joined with the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition to announce the results of the LACBC’s biannual survey of bicycle riding. The report found that bicycle riding in the City of Los Angeles has increased 7.5 percent since 2011. The count also found that:

• The busiest time for bicycling is the evening commute period, suggesting that most people are riding for transportation.
• People strongly prefer riding on dedicated facilities like bike paths and bike lanes over streets with no bicycle facilities.
• Fewer than one in five bicyclists are female while female ridership is highest on bike paths and bike lanes, suggesting that the lack of safe and comfortable facilities is causing a gender disparity among bicyclists.
• Bike lanes improve bicyclist behavior, cutting sidewalk riding in half compared to streets without and reducing wrong-way riding as well.
• This report shows that as ridership continues to grow in Los Angeles, not everyone feels safe riding without better bicycle facilities.

Download the full report here.