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At National Bike Summit: It’s about the economy
In these economic times, we can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems. Bicycling and walking programs do that and they are essential to our communities. When every tax dollar has to do the most good, it’s the right time to invest in bicycling. That’s the message at the 2011 National Bike Summit.
We are asking Congress to support continued dedicated funding for vital bicycling and walking programs such as Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, and the Recreational Trails Program.
Our program lays out some of the ways that bicycling is a simple solution to many complex problems (p. 20).
In 2009, we released a literature review of the best research into the economic impacts of investing in bicycling infrastructure. Since then there have been several good additions.
Let’s review:
Cost-effective: Between 1995 and 2010, the Portland region spent $4.2 billion on roadway improvements and $153 million on all active transportation improvements. Since 1990, the City of Portland saw an increase of 14,912 in daily bicycle commute trips and 37,006 in daily auto trips. The cost of a new auto trip in Portland was approximately 22 times the cost of a new bicycle commute trip.
Another new Portland study, by Thomas Gotschi, found that:
By 2040, investments in the range of $138 to $605 million will result in health care cost savings of $388 to $594 million, fuel savings of $143 to $218 million, and savings in value of statistical lives of $7 to $12 billion. The benefit-cost ratios for health care and fuel savings are between 3.8 and 1.2 to 1, and an order of magnitude larger when value of statistical lives is used.
Job creating: A Baltimore study shows that for each $1 million spent, striping bike lanes and signing bike routes creates twice as many jobs as repaving and repairing roads, thank to a favorable labor to materials ratio.
Economy supporting: Bicycle tourism brings in a $1 billion to the Wisconsin economy, in addition to the $556 million from manufacturing, distribution, and retail.
…and then there’s the Green Dividends of…
and Portland.
Let’s use this week to get the word out.
Darren Flusche
League Policy Director
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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March 7th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Bicycling is also a simple and economical solution at the individual level, especially for those adversely affected by the difficult economy, including probably high gas prices this summer. I think the best thing we can do for those individuals who will likely be increasing their transportational cycling this year for those reasons is to increase our education efforts, including marketing and support, to teach them how to effectively navigate in all types of traffic situations, with or without bicycle-specific infrastructure. We know the infrastructure alone cannot guarantee their safety, they need training even with it. This is even more important in these political times when it is inevitable that some infrastructure projects will suffer, despite LAB’s best advocacy efforts. Education is cheaper and more empowering for the individual CYCLIST.
March 7th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Its more than about education or any one thing. We just had a bicyclist run down and killed in Las Cruces today. The State Police spokesperson was quoted in the Las Cruces Sun-News as saying “”There’s an important message for bicyclists here,” Garcia said. “It is recommended that bicyclists visit their local bike stores for brochures and information on recommended routes of travel, instead of riding on open roadways.”
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_17551897
Well, if you live in New Mexico, you know damn well that in a lot of places, there are few if any options other than the “open roadway”. The State Police are sending a chilling message to cyclists–get off the road or die, without any help staying alive from the NMSP. There is, to be sure, no indication that the cyclist was doing anything wrong, either.
Its about more than facilities vs. education and we have to pull together in the realization that the problems we face will require multidimensional solutions and the dimensionality of the solutions may differ from place to place. Clearly, one of the problems we face in the Land of Enchantment is with a very cynical State Police agency that simply doesn’t think cyclists belong on the road.
March 7th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Of the six “E”s
[http://www.bikeleague.org/images/equity_statement_1-05-09.pdf]
the one that takes the longest to implement is engineering.
Just like a couple years ago, many people are going to be Encouraged by rising fuel prices to try cycling in the next few months. There’s no chance of getting a meaningful amount of Engineering done before then.
The public is going to need some Education, law Enforcement needs to understand the actual laws, and Equality needs to be promoted. Wrap it up this year with some Evaluation to see how we did.
March 7th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
I’m not really sold on selling economic impacts. I don’t think it plays in the Midwest. Sure Wisconsin biking brought in a billion, but that’s one-fifth of what hunting and fishing did. And the automotive industry in Wisconsin brought in 35 times more jobs.
My Summit message for the Detroit representatives is likely environmental justice, especially in light of the increase fuel prices.
March 8th, 2011 at 11:50 am
[...] interest money and cable madness), it’s always important to hammer away at this point. And the League Of American Bicyclists is doing exactly that, highlighting lots of research on how biking pays off [...]