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Bike/Ped Projects Create 46% More Jobs Than Road-Only Projects
Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects create more jobs per dollar spent than other road construction projects, according to America Bikes‘ press release and the new study, Pedestrian and Bicycle Infrastructure: A National Study of Employment Impacts, conducted and released this month by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
The report builds on an earlier PERI case study of Baltimore, Md. and is the first national study to compare job creation of bicycling and walking infrastructure with other roadway construction projects. Using actual bid price and cost data, the study compares 58 projects in 11 cities and finds that bike projects create 46 percent more jobs than road projects without bike or pedestrian components.
On average, the “road-only” projects evaluated created 7.8 jobs per million, while the “bicycling-only” projects provided 11.4 jobs per million. For example, a roadway-focused project with no bicycle or pedestrian components in Santa Cruz, Calif. generated 4.94 jobs per $1 million spent. In contrast, a bicycle-focused project in Baltimore, Md. produced 14.35 jobs per million. The PERI reviewers attribute the difference to the simple fact that bicycle and pedestrian projects are often more labor intensive.
“It’s no secret that investing in transportation infrastructure creates jobs and helps the economy,” said Caron Whitaker, campaign director at America Bikes. “This study proves bicycle and pedestrian projects are no exception — in fact, they are especially efficient in creating jobs.”
The study arrives as Congress is writing a six-year Surface Transportation bill, and struggling to continue robust reinvestment in infrastructure while moderating federal spending. Funding for bicycling and walking is part of that debate.
“This report adds to a wealth of studies demonstrating the many economic benefits of investing in bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs,” said Andy Clarke, League president.
Meghan Cahill
League Director of Communications
Cahill joined the League in December 2008 and has a BA in Media Communications with a concentration in Italian Studies from the College of Charleston.
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June 21st, 2011 at 3:28 am
Thank you Meghan, for your comprehensive report. Our Mayor was recently quoted as decrying the “bicycle community’s” not ‘stepping up’ t support the infrastructure while simultaneously voicing concern for job growth. I sent him this link for reference.
Hal
June 21st, 2011 at 8:20 am
[...] New Study Shows Bike/Ped Projects Create 46% More Jobs Than Road-Only Projects [Bike League Blog] [...]
June 21st, 2011 at 9:59 am
[...] Bike/Ped Projects Create 46% More Jobs Than Road-Only Projects [...]
June 21st, 2011 at 10:58 am
[...] to putting people to work, all projects are simply not created equal, says Meghan Cahill at the League of American Bicyclists in her overview: On average, the “road-only” projects evaluated created 7.8 jobs per million, [...]
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:47 pm
[...] are already being used by advocates like America Bikes and the League of American Bicyclists to argue for more bike lanes, and to steer tight infrastructure dollars toward bike plans at a time when an increasingly [...]
June 27th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
[...] Meagan Cahill notes a new study showing that projects to build bike and pedestrian infrastructure create signficantly more jobs than more roads for just cars: On average, the “road-only” projects evaluated created 7.8 jobs per million, while the “bicycling-only” projects provided 11.4 jobs per million. For example, a roadway-focused project with no bicycle or pedestrian components in Santa Cruz, Calif. generated 4.94 jobs per $1 million spent. In contrast, a bicycle-focused project in Baltimore, Md. produced 14.35 jobs per million. [...]
June 28th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Yes, but why do they create more jobs?
“Thus in the projects we studied, the infrastructure with higher labor intensity of production will create more jobs for a given level of spending. This is the primary reason why pedestrian-only and bicycleonly infrastructure create more jobs than road-only projects. For the former types, a greater portion of
the spending is used to employ construction workers and engineers, both labor-intensive industries. In the
latter, a greater proportion of the total spending is used for materials such as asphalt and stone products. Thus, for example, a bike path which requires a
great deal of planning and design will generate more jobs for a given level of spending than a road project
which requires a greater proportion of heavily mechanized construction equipment and relatively less planning and design.”
In other words, it has nothing to do with the economic effects of increasing bicycling and walking, but only the need for planning and design needed to carry out projects labeled as bike or ped.
It’s very misleading to suggest that it’s the bicycling and walking that is responsible for creating jobs.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Perhaps marking bike lanes creates more jobs, but are cyclists any safer? My experience says no.
July 1st, 2011 at 10:53 am
I have a little problem with your latest email request for support on funding.
I saw the blog about how bike projects employ more people than road projects but there is a point where enough is enough.
We have almost 10% unemployment, we have a debt in the US and our states that is staggering. To request that the little money available go to biking is a little too much.
If there was a coordinated effort to direct those funds to reduce traffic, to improve pedestrian access, and reduce dependency on Oil (of any kind) I would have no problem with the request. We do not have such a plan.
This is where you, the League should be in a leadership role. Most of these funds would go towards recreational paths and not traffic abatement plans.
In effect this would be frivolous spending in a time where when need to be frugal.
I support the League and it efforts, I understand the focus, but, really????
July 11th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
[...] never mind that building transportation infrastructure creates jobs, and bike infrastructure creates even more; then again, so do transit projects, which are also on chopping [...]
September 9th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
[...] would they do this, I hear you ask. After all, bike projects create jobs; bike projects improve safety; more bicyclists means less congestion, cleaner air, less oil [...]