Retailers serious about boosting their businesses should support local campaigns that step up pedestrian traffic around their stores. Cities with a strong infrastructure that encourage urban biking and hiking are seeing a boost in economic, environmental, and overall health. Co.Exist’s short list of biking benefits includes fitness, cutting road accidents, reducing carbon emissions, and increasing energy security. Not to mention the time it can cut off the morning commute.
The League of American Bicyclists highlights additional incentives for promoting pedal-friendly pathways. Property rates increase for homes close to bike paths and monthly fuel expenses decrease when people power is predominately employed. Communities like Boulder, Colorado, Davis, California, and Portland, Ore. are paving the way for cyclists and pedestrians as other cities are starting to catch on to their strategy.
The Outer Banks of North Carolina spent $6.7 million to set up a biking infrastructure along its beaches and now sees a $60 million a year return on that initial investment. The state of Wisconsin accounts for 20 percent of manufacturing, distribution, retail, and other services in the overall U.S. bicycling industry which contributes $556 million and 3,418 jobs to the Wisconsin economy.
Triple Pundit examines how building bike paths have helped improve retail business specifically in the East Village of New York highlighting a survey from Transportation Alternatives which notes nonautomotive consumers “spend the vast majority of retail dollars, and are increasing in number thanks to the implementation of protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements.” By making riders feel secure in their routes, more women are inclined to bike and shop locally.
“Streets that promote bicycling and walking mean more business for local shops and restaurants,” said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “When it comes to the impact bike lanes have on local businesses, it’s a case of ‘if you build it, they will come.’ It’s no surprise that in the East Village, which is home to some of the city’s best street safety improvements, bicyclists and pedestrians play a critical role in the local economy.”
Surprising to some but common sense to others, the Transportation Alternatives survey points out:
- Aggregate weekly spending by public transit and non-motorized transportation users account for 95 percent of retail dollars spent in the study area.
- Drivers and motorized transportation users spend only 5 percent of the total retail dollars in the neighborhood.
- People on bike and foot spend the most per capita per week, $163 and $158, respectively, at local businesses. Car and subway users spend less per capita, $143 and $111, respectively, although the volume of subway riders makes them the second highest total spenders of any transportation mode.
- People who travel by foot or bike as their usual mode of transportation visit the neighborhood the most often. Sixty-one percent of walkers and 58 percent of bicyclists visit the neighborhood more than five times a week, compared to 44 percent of drivers and 34 percent of subway riders.
"Those arguments are critical for convincing businesses to allow bike infrastructure in front of their shops, because they are very aware of parking, and they have the perception that most people arrive by car. That’s not always the case. You can fit many more bikes in a spot than cars," League of American Bicyclists policy director Darren Flusche says. "You can see that in a vibrant business district that there’s a lot of foot traffic and bicycle traffic, and you instinctively understand that it’s really good for business. But you need these numbers to have credibility when you are making the case."
Kelly J. Clifton, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Portland State University, Portland, Ore., and her associates detail the implementation of several pro-biking programs to encourage retail growth such as:
- Bike corrals
- Built in storage accommodations in condos, apartments and dorms
- Bike sharing programs
- Bike valet parking
“Cyclists are greater spenders on average,” Clifton writes. “Patrons who arrive by automobile do not necessarily convey greater monetary benefits to businesses than bicyclists, transit users, or pedestrians. This finding is contrary to what business owners often believe.”
Business owners who advocate for better bike and foot traffic access watch more business walk in their door.
Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.
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