Press Releases
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2026
Contact: (212) 839-4850, press@dot.nyc.gov
Bicycle Ridership Over East River Bridges Reaches All-time High for Fifth Straight Year
An average of more than 28,500 trips were taken over the city’s four East River bridges each day in 2025
NYC DOT average daily cycling rates over the city’s four East River Bridges. Credit: NYC DOT.
NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn today announced bicycle ridership over the city's East River bridges reached an all-time high for a fifth straight year in 2025. An average of 28,853 cycling trips were taken across these city bridges each day, according to NYC DOT's annual bike traffic counts, which are conducted from April 1 to October 31 each year. These cycling counts include the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Ed Koch Queensboro Bridges, and represent a key metric for judging city cycling rates. This year's record-breaking bridge ridership represents a 30 percent increase over the nearly 22,000 average daily riders who used the spans at the same time 10 years ago, and nearly 18 times greater than the ridership recorded in 1980, when the city first began recording bridge cycling levels.
"Cycling is an affordable, efficient, and fun way to get around the city—and these record-breaking numbers show that when we build safe cycling infrastructure, more New Yorkers choose to bike," said NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn. "This is a great reminder of why we will be doubling down on safe street designs and deliver bold new ideas to take cycling and street safety to the next level."
NYC DOT develops its daily cycling ridership for East River bridges by averaging the total daily cycling volumes during warm-weather months, from April to October, excluding holidays and rainy days. Some other key takeaways from 2025 ridership:
- The Brooklyn Bridge continues to climb in ridership growing from 2,652 cyclists in 2021 to 5,625 average daily riders in 2025—a 112 percent increase since opening the bike-only lane.
- The Williamsburg Bridge remains the busiest city bridge for cyclists, serving a daily average of 9,464 riders in 2025—a 10 percent increase from cycling ridership on the bridge last year.
- In September 2025, an average of 31,687 cyclists rode over the East River Bridges each day, marking the busiest month for bridge ridership in recorded history.
In 2025, NYC DOT doubled the amount of cycling and pedestrian space on the Queensboro Bridge. The city continues to improve East River bridge bike access, most recently by announcing it will finish the Ashland Place bike lane and fixing a notorious bump at the offramp of the bike lane on the Williamsburg Bridge