This curb-protected bike lane on SE Oak Street on the corner of Washington Av. in Minneapolis is intended to make bikers less nervous about riding through traffic. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Bike commuting in Minneapolis is continuing to rise, according to the latest Census data released this week. The latest info from the American Community Survey shows that about 5 percent of city workers now bike commutes, a slight increase over the year before.

The uptick comes as the city has boosted its investment in bike lanes, particularly those that are protected from cars. The city has the densest bike lane network in the nation, according to a national advocacy group, with 226 miles of them as of earlier this year.

Minneapolis' share of bike commuters ranks third in the nation among cities of more than 100,000 people who are employed. It falls just behind Madison, and about 2 percentage points behind Portland. Among all cities, Davis, Calif. has the highest share of bike commuters – a whopping 19 percent.

Minneapolis has a goal of reaching 15 percent by 2025.

St. Paul, meanwhile, is playing catchup. Two-point-one percent of St. Paul workers bike commuted there in 2015, which was a record for the city. That's about double the share in 2006.

Steve Brandt contributed to this story.

Bikers in Dinkytown have their own lanes to negotiate the traffic. Minneapolis has the densest bike network of the nation's 50 most populous cities. It's so far ahead that it has 30 more bike lanes per square mile than runner-up Boston, and five times the median for those cities]. Richard Tsong-Taatarii/rtsong-taatarii@startribune.com ORG XMIT: MIN1603091726521961 (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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Eric Roper

Curious Minnesota Editor

Eric Roper oversees Curious Minnesota, the Minnesota Star Tribune's community reporting project fueled by great reader questions. He also hosts the Curious Minnesota podcast.