Analysis and blog by Bridget Oshea

Every two years, SVBC surveys you all, supporters of SVBC, to learn more about what can make us the best bike advocacy organization possible. We surveyed you all at the end of 2021 and we’re now ready to share the result. We had 153 respondents and have many valuable takeaways, including the following information on how often our you all ride your bikes for different purposes.

So, SVBC supporters ride their bikes a lot! However, when compared to our most recent membership survey in 2019, there has been a notable decrease in the percent riding bikes to work on a regular basis. Of course, much of this decrease is likely attributable to the people working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. One way SVBC has responded to this change is by expanding the scope of what was Bike to Work Days by making it Bike to Wherever Days. Over 46% of our members attended Bike to Wherever Days in 2021.

Additionally, the survey indicated that there are a lot of ways to get you all riding bikes even more. Being a bike advocacy organization, finding ways to get people biking on trips they would normally take by car or another mode of transportation is a top priority. So we asked you what would make biking more feasible on trips normally taken by car, and these are the results:

More than 78% said more bike infrastructure, like bike lanes
More than 77% said having a trail or protected bike lane

More than 66% said having secure bike parking at the destination
More than 59% said safer crossings at intersections
More than 54% said lower speed/volume of traffic along route
More than 47% said safer biking to transit

Clearly, safety continues to be of the utmost of importance. The main barriers to biking revolve around infrastructure that prioritizes auto transit rather than pedalers. Therefore, it is clear continued advocacy for expanding bike infrastructure and giving people who ride bikes greater separation from cars on the road will get us closer to our goal of getting more people riding bikes.

We also asked what the most important reasons for joining SVBC are. The top three responses were:

To support and enable SVBC to advocate for a pro-bike agenda
Belief in SVBC’s mission

To get more people on bikes

With that being said, we wanted to check-in with our members to see what they would like us to focus on in the coming years. Some of the responses we received from you included:

Continuing advocacy for more protected bike lanes
Improved bike transportation on public transit (CalTrain specifically)

Growing outreach & membership in smaller local teams
Connecting existing bike lanes

Thank you to all of you who participated in this round of the SVBC Supporter Survey. Your feedback helps shape the work and direction of the organization.