U.S. cities promote bicycling as gas prices soar

of bike lanes, more than 11,000 bike racks and 50 miles of dedicated bike paths along Lake Michigan, Gomberg said.

Around 1.5 percent of personal trips in Chicago are made by bike and the city aims to boost that to 5 percent by 2015.

In Washington, the proportion of people biking to work rose from 1.2 percent in 2000 to an estimated 2 percent in 2006, said Jim Sebastian, who heads the U.S. capital's bicycle and pedestrian program.

Bike lanes in Washington now stretch to 33 miles -- 11 times longer than in 2001 -- and more than half of the city's subway stops now have bike racks.

Later this summer, Washington plans to launch the first U.S. bike-sharing program in which users will pay $40 a year for a swipe card enabling them to pick up a bike from racks around the city and then return them to any other rack.

(Editing by Daniel Trotta and John O'Callaghan)