The city's 2008 bike count numbers are in, and--as usual--it's good news for cycling.

Highlights (in addition to the one in this post's headline) include:

- Bicycle traffic in Portland has nearly tripled since 2001.
- Helmet use is at an all-time high, and has risen steadily since the 1990's. In 2008, 80% of recorded cyclists wore helmets, up from 63% in 1997 and 76% in 2007.
- The proportion of women riders is at an all-time high. In 2008, 32% of all cyclists were female, up from 26% in 1997 and 31% in 2007.
- Bicycle counts conducted in March were approximately half those of the summer, but are nearly identical to the summer counts recorded in 2002.

Plus, there are "16,700 daily trips" across the Willamette river's bridges by bike each day--a 178 percent increase since 2000. I'm just digging into the report myself, and am especially looking forward to data from non-bridge points in the city, but you can download the full report here!