As recent as a decade ago, the number of people in the U.S. commuting via car was steadily on the rise. Those numbers have begun to come down, and the city of Lexington is on par with national trends.
In a town like Lexington, city Biking and Pedestrian Coordinator Scott Thompson says about one percent of area residents bike to work on a regular basis. "So, if you maybe bike once a week or a few times in the summer or maybe a couple times in the spring, you would still list a vehicle as your primary mode. So we know people use bikes for commuting maybe more than that number reflects," said Thompson.
Thompson says car travel consistently increased nationally for about six decades and then dropped a bit in the last 10 years. He says it's difficult to predict if the trend will continue. "Are we gonna, kind of, go back to the future? Is this just a bump in the road and then we're gonna continue to grow in vehicle miles traveled over time, the way we've done in the last six decades?" asked Thompson.
Thompson says 80 percent of Lexington area residents drive alone to work.