Safety & Ridership
“Can this be Vehicular Cycling Heaven? Cycling in Provincetown—both through the center and through the wider roads with higher speed limits—has made me feel considerably more comfortable about sharing the road with cars.” — Lovely Bicycle
Year-Round Commuting By Bicycle
Provincetown has the most bicycle commuters in Barnstable County both by percentage and in total number.
Our 12.8% bike commute figure compares extremely favorably to commute rates in other nearby Bicycle Friendly Communities, with Nantucket and Falmouth both at 2.7%.
Commuting stats are based on the town’s very small year-round population, so they don’t even begin to take into account the number of people riding bicycles for errands and daily tasks or the huge number of riders in the summer season.
Falmouth BFC Report Card (PDF) »
Nantucket BFC Report Card (PDF) »
2015 Cape Cod Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety Plan (PDF) »
Peak Bikes Per Hour
In the summer months, the number of people on bicycles skyrockets. Volunteer efforts to quantify this are showing a steady increase in the peak number of bikes per hour at two key locations in town.
Between 2013 and 2016, the count of bicycles at 170 Commercial Street increased from 285 to 380 per hour. Over the same time period, the number of bicycles at 150 Bradford Street grew from 150 to 200 per hour.
Bike Crashes
Analysis of the Provincetown Police Department’s logs from 2013 to 2017 shows an overall decrease in reported annual crashes by 16%. Over three-quarters of reported crashes happen during the summer months of June, July, and August, when the town’s population explodes to over 60,000.
A look at the types of bike crashes in 2015—bike/bike, bike/pedestrian, bike/car, or single rider—shows that over half of the reported crashes were single riders.
Slow, Low-Stress Streets
In 2019, bike advocacy group PeopleForBikes recently ranked Provincetown’s street network as #1 in the nation out of over 500 cities and towns. Their “bicycle network analysis” is a data-driven approach to understanding the level of stress you’d encounter on streets. It also considers whether important destinations including health care, schools, shops, and transportation hubs can be reached by bike.
The town’s street network scored 85 points on a 100-point scale, higher than all of the Platinum-ranked Bicycle Friendly Communities in the nation.
Bikes on Public Transit
It’s easy to get in, out, and around Provincetown with a bike. All public bus service and ferries to town allow bicycles to be brought on board, either on racks, in luggage compartments, or on deck.
For the 2017 summer season, the town’s Harbormaster reported that just over 5,700 bicycle tickets were purchased for ferry trips between Provincetown and Boston. Each of the Boston ferry services offers multiple daily trips from May to October. (Ferry service ceases due to the presence of endangered whales who winter in Cape Cod Harbor.) Bicycles ride for free on the Plymouth to Provincetown ferry. The bus station and ferry terminal at MacMillan Pier provides over 100 free outdoor bicycle parking spaces.
All Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority buses are equipped with front racks for two bikes and they can be used free of charge.
Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority »
Plymouth to Provincetown Ferry »
Bay State Cruise Company »
Boston Harbor Cruises »