The Economic Benefits of Bicycle Infrastructure Investments
Posted By Sam Ollinger on September 24, 2009
The League of American Bicyclists issued a study listing the numerous benefits gained by the bicycle industry. Key points taken directly from the study are:
- Today the national bicycling industry contributes an estimated $133 billion a year to the U.S. economy.
- Bike lanes can accommodate 7 to 12 times as many people per meter of lane per hour than car lanes and bicycles cause less wear on the pavement
- CalTrans is paying $75 million to repave, not rebuild, just three miles of Interstate 710 in Los Angeles. Thus, for the cost of repaving 3 miles of rough pavement on Interstate 710, CalTrans could sign and stripe 1,250 miles of California roads for bike lanes.
- Replacing a car trip with a bike trip saves individuals and society $2.73 per mile.
Read the entire report here.
What a fascinating study. Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to read the full report.
‘CalTrans is paying $75 million to repave, not rebuild, just three miles of Interstate 710 in Los Angeles. Thus, for the cost of repaving 3 miles of rough pavement on Interstate 710, CalTrans could sign and stripe 1,250 miles of California roads for bike lanes.’
Wow, this comparison is shocking. $75 million to repave 3 miles on an Interstate route? What an unsustainable way to spend our tax dollars.
If you factor in the capital required to offset the carbon dioxide emissions that increased automobile facilitation will produce, the costs of automobile-first planning is even higher. Now, a repave job might not necessarily increase automobile facilitation. However, adding freeway lanes does. There are plans (which recently received funding, btw) to add another lane to the 805 freeway. What a waste. This is merely a gap-solution. Traffic will only get worse on the 805 as automobile capacity increases.
Planners need to wake up and invest in a real, long-term, sustainable solution with economic payback: Bicycle infrastructure.
With regards to the 710 project, it isn’t just a repaving job. The whole freeway, with the exception of bridges, is being upgraded. The roadway surface is being built up, to better hold under the weight of the heavy truck traffic, signs are being replaced, the median is being upgraded, shoulders are being widened when possible as well. So, yeah, $75 million sounds like a lot, but they are doing a lot.