Topic I: City Influences On Biking & Walking (Cities)

This section – Cities in Context: Influences on Biking and Walking – compiled contextual information that may be helpful as you look for potential explanations of differences between states in data related to bicycling or walking found elsewhere in this chapter.

Many of the contextual data were chosen because of studies showing a correlation between that data and rates of bicycling and walking. An example of this is population density which the 2014 Benchmarking Report explored. ¹ Other contextual data were chosen because of the importance of better understanding demographic or other structural differences between states. An example of this is state general revenue per capita which may provide insight to the relative resources of a state government but is not directly tied to biking or walking-related issues. This type of contextual data was first compiled in the 2016 Benchmarking Report.

The following definitions may be useful:

• People of Color means all people who are not reported as “White alone, not Hispanic or Latino” by the Census Bureau. White alone, not Hispanic or Latino are individuals who responded “No, not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino” and who reported “White” as their only entry in the race question. ²
• Poverty means persons who individually or in a household have an income that is equivalent to the federal poverty level or less. The federal poverty level is set by the Department of Health and Human Services each year to determine eligibility for a variety of federal programs, such as Medicaid. When the report refers to low-income persons, low- income means workers making 150% of the federal poverty level or less. In 2018, the federal poverty level for an individual was $12,410 and for a family of 4 was $25,100. ³