Ithaca was recently ranked as number one for people who walk to work.

The census data released last week shows that between 2008 and 2012, about 40 percent of people in the city walk to their jobs.

Ithaca has a large population of college students, which was included in the study.

Karim Beers, a committee member of Bike Walk Tompkins, says students walk their classes because many have to pay to park on campus.

“By starting to charge for parking, to reflect the costs that the university had to put up to provide that parking, folks started deciding ‘hey, maybe I won’t drive my car,’ and they started walking, biking and taking the bus more,” he said.

Beers says that’s because the city takes good care of their sidewalks.

“The City of Ithaca has done a fantastic job of investing in sidewalk infrastructure. So, if you go downtown, I mean the Commons is the jewel in the crown, but it’s just so pleasant to walk there and you don’t feel like you’re going to get run over,” he said.

The data also shows 68.7% of workers use a car to get to work in Ithaca.