We're walking: Study finds New Yorkers in 4 boroughs walk, bike more than rest of US

I’m walkin’ here — and so are a lot of New Yorkers.

According to a new analysis from analytics firm StreetLight, four of New York City’s five boroughs rank among the top U.S. counties for active transportation, or getting around by walking or biking.

Manhattan leads the nation by a wide margin: Nearly 60% of trips on the island are taken on foot or bike rather than by car, according to StreetLight. By comparison, 73% of trips in San Francisco, which ranks seventh, still happen by car, the analysis found. StreetLight excluded communities with low population density to avoid skewing the results by including places that have a lot of recreational activity but lack big populations year-round.

“New York is a city in the United States that's done the most to help support safe walking and cycling,” Michael Replogle, former deputy commissioner at the city's Department of Transportation, said. “It has the best public transportation system in America, bar none. Thanks to things like congestion pricing and supportive revenues from the state, the city is carrying it forward — that shows up in these numbers.”

Following Manhattan on the list are the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. Comparatively vehicle-friendly Staten Island is closer to the nation’s average, with 87% of daily rides in the borough being taken by car.

Nationwide, the report finds that active transportation is still the exception. In more than two-thirds of counties studied, walking and biking account for fewer than 10% of daily trips.

Hudson County in New Jersey ranks fifth overall. That puts it just ahead of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, where Boston is located. Hudson County also ranked ahead of Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania's Philadelphia County.

Hudson is the most densely populated county in New Jersey — which, in turn, is the most densely populated state in the country. Cities like Jersey City, Hoboken and Union City have compact, walkable grids and short trip distances that favor active travel, Replogle noted. Many residents also rely on PATH trains and NJ Transit, making walking a built-in part of their commutes.

Overall, the Northeast dominated the list, the study’s authors found. The data shows “population density has an especially strong positive correlation with active mode share,” StreetLight the report stated.

Another New York county in the top 10 is Tompkins, home to Ithaca. College towns like Champaign County, Illinois, and Monroe County, Indiana, also rank high. Universities remain some of the country’s most reliable hubs of walking and biking, experts and the study's authors say.

Notably missing from these rankings are large metropolitan areas like Chicago and Los Angeles, whose sprawling counties don’t have the same density as many that topped StreetLight’s charts.

Stefanie Seskin, director of policy and practice at the National Association of City Transportation, a nonprofit made up leaders from nearly 100 major North American cities and transit agencies, said it’s hard to make apples-to-apples comparisons among counties of varying size and types of land use.

She said she didn’t feel public transportation was fully accounted for in StreetLight’s analysis, citing how highly ranked San Francisco's commuting rate is still one of the highest in the nation. StreetLight did not return Gothamist’s request for comment.

But overall, Seskin said, “the findings sort of underscore what feels like common knowledge —  when you have a good infrastructure, sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and supportive transit, you'll see more people out walking and biking.”