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.

The NYC Government dumped some money into the Fuse Project–a plan to get more city riders wearing lids. This modular foam helmet is what they got in return. It’s basically a skate helmet wrapped in a removable cloth that you can twist around whether you want to look like GI Joe, a jean jacket, or a complete moron. Come on New York; instead of dumping money into crap like this just hand out helmets on the streets. I’ve seen cops handing out helmets to kids in Wisconsin, and these Danish police flag down helmetless bikers and give them a lid and a hug.