The 2008 American Community Survey found that bike commuting in the U.S. has gone up 43% since the 2000 census. The percentage of people who commute to work primarily on a bike in the U.S. is at about .5%, so don’t go all bragging on the phone to your friends in Holland just yet. In 2000, bike commuters made up only .38%, and now we’re .55% strong. .55%!

While the increase looks minimal, keep in mind that the change is among people who “use bikes as their primary means of commuting to work.” The small number actually represents a lot of people ditching cars to commute, and likely the number of casual commuters has gone up even more.