One of Bike Santa Cruz County’s first projects under our new name was the publication of the 2015 State of Cycling report. The report brings together the work of bike organizations throughout the county in 2014, and showcases the cumulative impacts of
biking. Through the report, we hope to show that high rates of participation and economic impacts make bicycling a major force in Santa Cruz County, and make the case for more investment in bicycle infrastructure, programs and events.
Read the full report here: 2015 State of Cycling Report
Highlights from the report include:
- According to the most recent census data, the City of Santa Cruz ranked second in California for bike to work trips, ahead of San Francisco, Palo Alto and Berkeley.
- There were nine organizations that did some kind of cycling education and together they reached more than 5,000 youth and adults in Santa Cruz County.
- Bike industry in Santa Cruz County was estimated to generate more than $800M and employ more than 1,000 people.
- Revenue-generating bike events raised nearly $300K and drew more than 13,000 participants.
- We saw tremendous wins for advocacy and new bike infrastructure, including the first green lane treatments in the County, the first two segments of the Soquel Demonstration Forest Flow Trail completed, and the completion of the Arana Gulch Trail.
Big thanks go to all the organizations that contributed data for the report, and to the Santa Cruz County Cycling Club, Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz and Cyclists for Cultural Exchange for their generous grants to fund printing the report. Our hope is to repeat this report annually, and track the growth of cycling through the county in years to come.
The report was written by Bike Santa Cruz director Amelia Conlen, Grace Voss of the Santa Cruz County Cycling Club, and Manu Koenig of Civinomics. Design and layout were done by Lisa Hochstein.