Philadelphia has earned itself another national distinction – it has been recognized as one of the United States’ most bike-friendly cities. The BetterDoctor blog listed the top 50 cities for bikers recently; Philly snagged the number ten spot on that list. According to the blog, 2.14% of Philadelphia commuters bike their way to work and the city earned an overall score of 57.21 out of 100 for biker comfort and convenience. Those are impressive numbers, believe it or not. The top biking city, Portland, Oregon, pulls only a score of 87.59, with 6.14 of its workers choosing two-wheeled transportation.
Philly loves its bikers. (Flikr: Markus Spiering)
BetterDoctor arrived at the numerical scores using three factors – the percentage of commuters who head to work by bicycle (weighted at 40% of the total score), the number of deaths per 10,000 bikers (30% of overall score) and whether the city boasts ongoing improvements to support bikers (30% of total score).Philadelphia gained points for its 205 total miles of bicycle lanes within the city, as well as the presence of the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia. There is also Mayor Nutter’s brand new bike share program, which will officially launch on April 23rd. Nutter says that providing residents with strong transportation options is part of what makes a city great.Cities on the West Coast overwhelmingly won out on the list, and those with awesome climates tended to do best of all. If you look at the top ten biking cities, they all tout temperate climates – not too hot and not too cold.Cities that ranked as least bike-friendly included Fort Worth, Texas at number one, followed by Detroit, Michigan and Jacksonville, Missouri.
