Waves of Bicycles in San Jose

waves of bicycles, originally uploaded by Frizztext.

San Jose City is adopting an ambitious new bike plan. The plan sets several admirable benchmarks for San Jose cycling, including a doubling of bike lanes from 250 miles to 500 and an increase in ridership from 1.2 percent to 5.0 percent – all by 2020.

The number of bicyclists remains small, but it's growing. Four years ago, San Jose estimated that 0.4 percent of all commuter trips here were made on a bicycle. Today that figure is 1.2 percent.

The national average is 0.5 percent, and San Jose currently ranks 15th in the nation for bike commuting.

But the goal is more ambitious — 5 percent in 10 years. That would put San Jose on a par with Portland, considered the biking mecca of the nation, with 6 percent of commuters on two wheels.