Streetsblog.og has a fantastic article using US Census data that tie walking and biking commuting to household income. Making bicycling and walking safe is not for a primarily wealthy contingent, it’s primarily about providing safe transportation for those who have no other options.
from the article:
The U.S. Census Bureau just released its first-ever report exclusively on walking and biking. Using data from the American Community Survey, the report shows how rates of active transportation vary by age, income, education, race, and the availability of a vehicle. It’s a lot more detail than the usual Census data release on how people get to work, which only breaks active commuting down by gender.
The Census report shows that low-income people bike and walk to work the most, hands down. Of those who make less than $10,000 a year, 1.5 percent commute by bike and 8.2 percent walk. In the $25,000-34,999 range, those numbers are halved. Then at the highest earning levels, active commuting rates start to creep back up. The income stats provide more evidence that safe walking and biking infrastructure isn’t mainly the concern of geared-up weekend warriors with expensive bikes.
Read More: http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/05/08/low-income-americans-walk-and-bike-to-work-the-most/