Trends for global cycling
Our 2023 Cycling Data Dashboard, which analyses cycling trends in 14 countries, saw a stable -1% change in cycling traffic between 2022 and 2023. A similar trend was observed between weekdays and weekends (-1% and -2% change).
But is cycling really stagnating? While there may have been a plateau between 2022 and 2023, bicycle ridership still increased by 11% worldwide between 2019 and 2023. Trends also vary from country to country.
For example, in the US, bicycle volumes went up by 1.7% between 2023 and 2022. Whereas counts on recreational bike facilities decreased by 2.1% during this period, counts on commuter paths increased by 6.9%. Bicycle usage is reverting to pre-pandemic profiles, meaning more weekday riding to work and school and less leisure activity.
To find out more, you can see the Dashboard here.
On a different note, bicycle tourism in Europe was as popular as ever. We were delighted to have been able to collaborate with the European Cyclists’ Federation once again to produce the Euro Velo Barometer and analyze the number of cyclists on European cycle routes. Between 2019 and 2022, we measured that bicycle traffic on EuroVelo cycle routes increased by 11%. This represented a 6% increase compared to 2021. This trend can be seen below:
Evolution of bicycle traffic for each EuroVelo route between 2019 and 2022
Eco-Counter continues to grow in 2023!
In 2023, we installed 3500 new systems in the field and counted an impressive 7.5 billion people! We also welcomed 2 new distributors from Mexico and Finland, Nodeon and BKT Mobilario Urbano, to our international team of 33 active distributors.
Of all the systems we installed in natural areas and cities around the world, our iconic Eco-DISPLAY took the spotlight by introducing itself in 108 new cities! This data is updated daily on our web page here.
And what was the most visited site of 2023? In North America, it was the Manhattan Bridge in New York with about 1.6 million passes! Worldwide, of the 436 displays on this page, the Paris – Sébastopol site was the winner with over 4.9 million passes. Will we pass the 5 million mark in 2024? Stay tuned to find out…
Our commitment to developing cycling practices
To support the development of cycling practices, we’ve been able to work with the League of American Bicyclists to help 1 association, the University of New Orleans (UNO) Transportation Institute, carry out in-depth analyses of their bike count data. You can find the results of these analyses in our recent blog post.
On the other side of the globe, we were able to contribute to the success of the Breton « Tout à vélo » challenge, which measured a record 590,621 kms cycled by all participants! The Eco-Counter team was proud to take part, with 29 participants and 4,243 kms cycled.
Finally, one last initiative we were particularly proud of this year: providing electric bicycles to 17 of our staff through a leasing program with our partner Tandem!
We wish you all the best for 2024, and look forward to helping you develop active transportation and preserve natural areas with count data all year round!
