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Bike lanes create more jobs than other road projects, per $ 1 mil
According to a new report by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst says that building bike lanes and pedestrian projects, and bike boulevards, creates more job per million dollars spent than road repairs and road resurfacing.
The study, “Estimating the Employment Impacts of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Road Infrastructure,” which examines the costs of engineering, construction, and materials for different types of projects in the city of Baltimore, concludes that, for a given amount of spending, bike lanes create about twice as many jobs as road construction. The difference lies in the varying labor intensity and the ratio of engineering costs to construction expenses across project types. Footway repairs and bike lane signing are labor intensive, meaning that a greater share of the total cost goes to pay people than in material heavy road projects. “Each $1 million spent creating on-street bike lanes directly creates 7.9 jobs and creates a total of 14.4 jobs when we include the indirect and induced effects,” the author, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, writes, “The two categories of road repairs have the lowest employment effects, with 3-4 direct jobs and approximately 7 total jobs created for each $1 million.”
Here’s the report’s conclusion:
Investment in transportation infrastructure of all types will generate employment in various industries throughout Baltimore and the State of Maryland. In this case study we find that investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure create the most employment for a given level of expenditure. While road construction projects create approximately 7 jobs per $1 million spending, pedestrian projects create over 11 jobs for the same level of spending, and bicycle projects create up to 14 jobs. Other studies have shown that investments in bicycle and pedestrian facilities can reduce carbon emissions and improve quality of life. Here we find that these investments bring an additional benefit to the community: they are an important source of job creation.
View the full report here.
This new data is just the latest indication that investing in bicycling infrastructure is good for the economy. It should come in handy in March at the National Bike Summit.
Darren Flusche
League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
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January 7th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Darren, did the report talk about total integrated economic impact per 1 million spent? I’d be more interested in the long term effects of a million bucks spent on bike-ped infrastructure vs. a million spent on traditional road projects. Those construction jobs end when the ribbon is cut. We need to think over the long haul.
My hunch is that if these facilities are utilized for new trips or new activities, a million spent on bike-ped goes farther than on patching potholes or adding traditional lane capacity because a million dollars can generate more infrastructure for cyclists than for motorists on the basis of lane cost per mile. But that is just a hypothesis.
Dewan Karim, in the last blog entry, mentioned Portland getting a big economic bonus out of its bike infrastructure. Is there a good reference for that, i.e., who did the number crunching?
January 7th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
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January 12th, 2011 at 1:02 am
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January 16th, 2011 at 10:12 am
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January 19th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
They call this a case study? Show me the science… show me the math. When the full version of the case study is only 4 pages, I get REAL skeptical, especially since I’d LOVE to reproduce the math myself.
January 19th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Thanks for posting. Ride safe everyone.
January 21st, 2011 at 12:18 pm
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March 8th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
It takes all sorts to make a world.
April 26th, 2011 at 2:06 am
bike lanes are made of PAVEMENT that need to be maintained and fixed.Bikes do not pay taxes and insurance(like cars do).Until that is achieved I dunno why you bikers are complaining all the time?Construction jobs are employing a small amount of workers.I have full respect for construction workers, but they are not teachers, sciencist…etc.
Until trough the taxation is only on OUR drivers side(we pay it for all), you (Cyclist) should be Happy that you are not riding your bikes on the gravel and grass.
April 26th, 2011 at 2:09 am
another misconception from blogosphere…
May 25th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
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August 27th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
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September 8th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
electronic engineering jobs…
[...]Bikeleague.org Blog » Blog Archive » Bike lanes create more jobs than other road projects, per $ 1 mil[...]…
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