Portlanders are getting back in the bike saddle.
New data released by the Portland Bureau of Transportation shows bike ridership numbers inched upward by 5% in 2023. Biking was up across every sector of the city last year, particularly in Northwest, East, and South Portland, where counters logged increases of 14.9%, 12%, and 8.4% respectively.
Similar to downtown foot traffic, biking trends have a long road ahead in returning to pre-pandemic levels. Compared to 2019, the number of people riding bikes is still down 32%.
But 5% is still pedaling toward recovery, particularly in light of PBOT’s 2022 bicycle count report, which showed a startling drop of more than 40% since bike commuting peaked a decade ago.
PBOT said the full 2023 bicycle counts report will be released within a few weeks.
