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#  How Bikeable is LA? Barely, Says 'Bike Score' Survey

May 20 2013

Written by Saul Daniels.

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![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/May-2013/cw11041g.png)PATCH REPORT - Just in time for Bicycle Week L.A., a national survey of America's most bikeable cities has been released by [Bike Score](http://www.walkscore.com/bike), and Los Angeles is graded 54 out of 100. With that rating, Los Angeles ranks as just barely bikeable.

"It has taken Los Angeles 100 years to become the car-centric city it is today and that's not going to change overnight," Glenn Bailey, vice-chair of Los Angeles's Bicycle Advisory Committee, tells Patch.

"But in a city where most trips are three miles or less, accommodating and encouraging bicycle usage makes a lot of sense."

 Bailey said the city has plans that will move the Bike Score higher in future ratings. "We need more bike lanes on major streets, bicycle paths along the public right of ways, and convenient and secure bicycle parking," he said. "We need to better educate drivers and cyclists on their shared rights and responsibilities while on the road. We need to encourage children to walk and bicycle to school. In short, we need to do even more to implement the City's adopted 2010 [Bicycle Plan](http://planning.lacity.org/cwd/gnlpln/transelt/NewBikePlan/TOC_BicyclePlan.htm)."

 Bike Week LA encourages Angelenos to self-propel with [activities](http://www.metro.net/bikes/bike-week/) organized by Metro and other transit organizations. Bike Score is an expanded service of the [Walk Score](http://www.walkscore.com/) website with rates the walkability of addresses around the United States. It quantifies what makes one place less car-dependent than another. The site also offers [Transit Score](http://www.walkscore.com/transit) to rate mass transit access.

● [Click here for interactive map.
 ](https://www.citywatchla.com/file://localhost/Click%20here%20for%20interactive%20map.%5B%5B%20%20%20http/::www.walkscore.com:bike:CA:Los_Angeles%20%5D%5D%5D%0B)

The site was developed at the University of British Columbia, under a grant from the [Canadian Institutes of Health Research](http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/), to measure the bike-friendliness of a city by considering these factors:

 Bike Score provides a 0-100 rating of the bikeability of a location based on the availability of bike infrastructure (lanes and trails), the hilliness of the area, amenities and road connectivity, and the number of bike commuters.

The Bike Score for a city is then calculated by applying the Bike Score algorithm block-by-block throughout the city and weighting the scores by population density. Cities with scores of 70 or higher are considered to be very bikeable, cities with scores between 50 and 69 are bikeable, and cities with scores below 50 are somewhat bikeable.

 ●●●

 **Bike Score : City Ranking**

 **City State \* Bike Score \* Population**

 Cambridge MA **\*** 91.5 \* 105,162
 Davis CA \* 89.4 \* 65,622
 Berkeley CA \* 87.7 \* 112,580
 Boulder CO \* 86.4 \* 97,385
 **Santa Monica** CA \* 82.5 \* 89,736
 Minneapolis MN \* 78.5 \* 382,578
 Fort Collins CO \* 78.3 \* 143,986
 Iowa City IA \* 77.1 \* 67,862
 Hoboken NJ \* 76.4 \* 50,005
 Ann Arbor MI \* 76.3 \* 113,934
 Eugene OR \* 74.9 \* 156,185
 Tempe AZ \* 74.8 \* 161,719
 Pasadena CA \* 71.4 \* 137,122
 Portland OR \* 70.3 \* 583,776
 San Francisco CA \* 70.0 \* 805,235
 State College PA \* 69.7 \* 42,034
 Arlington VA \* 69.6 \* 207,627
 Denver CO \* 69.5 \* 600,158
 Missoula MT \* 68.5 \* 66,788
 Philadelphia PA \* 68.4 \* 1,526,006
 Sacramento CA \* 68.3 \* 466,488
 Salt Lake City UT \* 68.3 \* 186,440
 Boston MA \* 67.8 \* 617,594
 Madison WI \* 66.7 \* 233,209
 Irvine CA \* 66.6 \* 212,375
 Washington D.C. \* 65.3 \* 601,723
 Salem OR \* 65.0 \* 154,637
 Seattle WA \* 64.1 \* 608,660
 Tucson AZ \* 64.1 \* 520,116
 Bend OR \* 63.7 \* 76,639
 St. Paul MN \* 62.9 \* 285,068
 Cupertino CA \* 62.7 \* 58,302
 Northampton MA \* 62.6 \* 28,549
 Wilmington DE \* 62.3 \* 70,851
 New York NY \* 62.3 8,\* 175,133
 Portland ME \* 62.2 \* 66,194
 Lincoln NE \* 62.0 \* 258,379
 **Long Beach** CA \* 61.9 \* 462,257
 Chicago IL \* 61.5 \* 2,695,598
 Albuquerque NM \* 61.0 \* 545,852
 Boise City ID \* 60.8 \* 205,671
 Hartford CT \* 60.5 \* 124,775
 Fremont CA \* 60.4 \* 214,089
 Napa CA \* 60.4 \* 76,915
 New Orleans LA \* 59.7 \* 343,829
 Aurora CO \* 58.3 \* 325,078
 Oakland CA \* 57.1 \* 390,724
 Rochester NY \* 57.1 \* 210,565
 Santa Ana CA \* 56.9 \* 324,528
 Bellingham WA \* 56.7 \* 80,885
 Miami FL \* 56.5 \* 399,457
 San Jose CA \* 56.1 \* 945,942
 St. Petersburg FL \* 55.4 \* 244,769
 Mesa AZ \* 55.0 \* 439,041
 Modesto CA \* 54.8 \* 201,165
 St. Louis MO \* 54.6 \* 319,294
 Plano TX \* 54.2 \* 259,841
 **Los Angeles** CA \* 54.0 \* 3,792,621
 Paradise NV \* 53.1 \* 223,167
 Greenbelt MD \* 53.1 \* 23,068
 Buffalo NY \* 52.5 \* 261,310
 Orlando FL \* 52.1 \* 238,300
 Phoenix AZ \* 51.9 \* 1,445,632
 Lansing MI \* 51.8 \* 114,297
 Las Vegas NV \* 51.8 \* 583,756
 Tampa FL \* 51.0 \* 335,709
 Cleveland OH \* 50.5 \* 396,815
 Grand Rapids MI \* 50.1 \* 188,040
 Anaheim CA \* 49.9 \* 336,265
 Chula Vista CA \* 49.6 \* 243,916
 Sparks NV \* 49.5 \* 90,264
 Riverside CA \* 49.4 \* 303,871
 Henderson NV \* 49.3 \* 257,729
 Columbia MO \* 49.0 \* 108,500
 Houston TX \* 48.8 \* 2,099,451
 Poughkeepsie NY \* 48.5 \* 32,736
 Reno NV \* 48.2 \* 225,221
 Savannah GA \* 48.2 \* 136,286
 San Diego CA \* 47.8 \* 1,307,402
 Alexandria VA \* 47.6 \* 139,966
 Billings MT \* 47.5 \* 104,170
 Green Bay WI \* 47.4 \* 104,057
 Baton Rouge LA \* 46.4 \* 229,493
 Colorado Springs CO \* 46.0 \* 416,427
 Sioux Falls SD \* 46.0 \* 153,888
 Virginia Beach VA \* 45.8 \* 437,994
 Columbus OH \* 45.7 \* 787,033
 Dayton OH \* 45.5 \* 141,527
 Fresno CA \* 45.3 \* 494,665
 Austin TX \* 45.1 \* 790,390
 Honolulu HI \* 44.8 \* 337,256
 Bellevue WA \* 44.0 \* 122,363
 Lakeland FL \* 43.5 \* 97,422
 Tulsa OK \* 43.3 \* 391,906
 Wichita KS \* 43.2 \* 382,368
 Atlanta GA \* 42.7 \* 420,003
 Lexington-Fayette KY \* 42.4 \* 295,803
 Springfield IL \* 42.1 \* 116,250
 Fort Wayne IN \* 42.0 \* 253,691
 Louisville-Jefferson KY \* 41.8 \* 597,337
 North Las Vegas NV \* 41.5 \* 216,961
 Dallas TX \* 41.4 \* 1,197,816
 Omaha NE \* 41.1 \* 408,958
 Arlington TX \* 40.7 \* 365,438
 Indianapolis IN \* 40.6 \* 820,445
 Kansas City MO \* 40.3 \* 459,787
 San Antonio TX \* 40.1 \* 1,327,407
 Greensboro NC \* 39.8 \* 269,666
 Memphis TN \* 39.4 \* 646,889
 Oklahoma City OK \* 39.3 \* 579,999
 Durham NC \* 39.1 \* 228,330
 Raleigh NC \* 38.8 \* 403,892
 Garland TX \* 38.7 \* 226,876
 Pittsburgh PA \* 38.5 \* 305,704
 Fort Worth TX \* 38.5 \* 741,206
 Tyler TX \* 37.5 \* 96,900
 Cincinnati OH \* 36.6 \* 296,943
 Charlotte NC \* 35.2 \* 731,424
 Winston-Salem NC \* 34.4 \* 229,617
 Chattanooga TN \* 31.8 \* 167,674
 Nashville-Davidson TN \* 31.5 \* 601,222
 Birmingham AL \* 28.8 \* 212,237

*(Saul Daniels is the editor of [Chatsworth.Patch.co](http://Chatsworth.Patch.com)m where this report was first posted.)*

*-cw*

CityWatch

Vol 11 Issue 41

Pub: May 21, 2013

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