Experience Downtown Blog

By The Numbers: Milwaukee Bikes to Work

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Today is Bike to Work Day, and Milwaukee is joining the national celebration! Bublr, Milwaukee’s bike share program, is offering free 30-minute rides between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, May 18. If that wasn’t enough to shift your gears, did you know that approximately 2,500 Milwaukee residents bike to work on an average day?

According to the American Community Survey, the number of Milwaukee workers who commute by bike has increased from 0.7% during the 2005-2009 period to 1% during the 2012-2016 period, which is higher than the national average of 0.6%. In addition, in an average year, more than 500,000 pedestrians and bicyclists pass an automatic trail counter on the Oak Leaf Trail, near the Brady Street pedestrian bridge.  

To learn more about biking to work, we turned to Robert Schneider, associate professor with the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Department of Urban Planning. With over 20 years of coast-to-coast experience in the bicycle and pedestrian transportation profession, Schneider now calls Milwaukee home.

“Given my perspective on practice and research from other parts of the country, I play an important role in helping to communicate that leading cities are changing their local transportation systems fundamentally.” Schneider states, “Communities are renewing their downtowns, neighborhood commercial districts, and main streets as places to be rather than zones to drive through.”

Schneider’s research cites that the number of Bublr users has increased from approximately 5,000 in 2014 to more than 91,000 in 2017. According to Schneider, recent additions like new Bublr bike share stations make downtown more accessible with other neighborhoods. “Downtown Milwaukee has more than a dozen Bublr bike share stations that make it possible for workers, visitors, and residents to bicycle conveniently between places like the lakefront, Intermodal Station, Milwaukee Public Market, MSOE, Schlitz Park, Wisconsin Center and Red Arrow Park.”

Interested in learning more about biking to work? In early June, the Wisconsin Bike Federation will launch Milwaukee Bike Week, with free cycle-centric events like the City of Milwaukee’s Mayor and Alder Ride on Monday, June 4 at Red Arrow Park. For more details, click here. 

Happy Trails, Milwaukee! 

Gabriel Yeager is a Downtown Environment Specialist for Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21.
Acknowledgement: Robert Schneider, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Dept. of Urban Planning