Improve Access to Transit

According to data collected from the 2001 Nationwide Household Transportation Survey (NHTS), public transit in America captures 1.76 percent of all personal trips, amounting to about 6.4 billion linked transit trips and 7.7 billion unlinked transit trips. Transit captures about 5.1 percent of all work trips. These percentages are higher in large cities and among persons who do not own a car or do not have a driver's license.

Bicyclists are a great potential market for transit services. People will generally bicycle three to four times as far as they will walk, and this could extend the catchment area of a bus stop or train station from a half mile to two miles. Thus, it is critical that transit stops and their surrounding environments be safe and accessible for bicyclists, in order to protect bicyclists as well as better support and encourage transit use. This section discusses common transit concerns and solutions for transit planning and transit stop design.

This video, from the Chicago Transit Authority, shows how bicycles can be incorporated into daily trips by bus and train.