According to a recent report from PeopleForBikes and Alliance for Biking & Walking, protected city bike lanes can actually encourage local business success. As trends show workers moving into U.S. cities (rather than out into suburbs), and businesses catering to a younger workforce that relies less on cars, cycling infrastructure has becomes integral to strengthening local businesses and encouraging long-term economic growth for the entire city.

A lot of what delays cycling infrastructure is the presumption that it only benefits cyclists. It can be hard to justify to citizens who don't cycle that bike lanes and bike-share programs will benefit the city at large, and not just the "cyclist" demographic. But cities have begun to take notice of the positive change that cycling infrastructure can help bring to their local businesses, in very concrete ways.

The report focuses on statistics from cities with expanding networks of protected bike lanes: Austin, TX; San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR; Chicago, IL; and Washington, DC. Here are the main takeaways (you can read the full report here):

Denser populations need to do more with less, transit-wise.

• Inner-cities are developing and growing. To cope with a densifying population, city leaders have found that cycling infrastructure is the most efficient way to get more people around in less space.

Companies and cities are catering to a younger workforce.

• To appeal to today's highly-skilled post-Gen-Y workforce, employers are crafting themselves within the downtowns and city-centers that their recruits prefer. The younger generations of workers are driving less in favor of cycling or public transit. Both companies and cities can benefit from practicing the urban preferences of their workers, to become more competitive and also increase employee (and citizen) loyalty.

Biking is good for you and can decrease insurance costs.

• The white-collar work taking place within these densifying cities is sedentary. Cities can incentivize healthier living by making cycling easier and more accessible to everyone, eventually lowering company costs.

Protected bike lanes reduce traffic congestion.

• Inner cities can't easily create more roads, but adapting existing roads for cyclists gives commuters transportation choices, ultimately making cities more accessible.

Cyclists are great for retailers.

• People who use bikes to run errands tend to stop by retailers more often, spending at least as much (if not more) money than any other customer, plus they require less parking space. Overall, proximity to protected bike lanes can increase business traffic and potential spending.

The report also cites higher property value for real estate adjacent to protected bike lanes, and increases in bike traffic once a city made a preexisting bike lane into a protected one.

Cycling infrastructure can encourage businesses while limiting expansion, and manage congestion while increasing efficiency. While there are many cities outside of the U.S. with very refined biking cultures and infrastructures, the U.S. stands to benefit most not from directly imitating those models, but by understanding which successful elements it can use to develop its own cycling culture, bespoke to its developing cities.

About PeopleForBikes:



PeopleForBikes is the leading national bike movement, uniting millions of individuals, thousands of businesses, and hundreds of communities to improve bicycling in the U.S. The PeopleForBikes Green Lane Project works closely with cities to build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Join the movement at PeopleForBikes.org.

About Alliance for Biking and Walking:


Alliance for Biking & Walking is the North American coalition of over 200 state and local bicycling and walking advocacy organizations. The Alliance creates, strengthens and unites leaders who are transforming communities into great places to bike and walk.