Bikes Mean Business

Increased “people traffic” from cycling, walking, and transit use enhances the business environment by providing more opportunities for commerce.

In particular, people who are cycling and walking move more slowly and have more opportunities to stop and shop, and thus are more likely to buy from local businesses as part of going about their daily lives.

Here’s what recent research has found:

  • In the fall of 2013, the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition conducted transportation surveys of downtown businesses and consumers; results of the surveys found high levels of walk, bike and transit trips to downtown Victoria, and strong public and business support for investments in walking and cycling infrastructure.

  • Between 2015 and 2017, Toronto’s The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) studied the local economic impacts of removing on-street parking to install a bike lane on Bloor Street in the city’s downtown core. Findings included an overall increase in economic activity and a tripling of shopping trips by bike, disproving the myth that on-street parking is essential to downtown businesses.

  • After the New York City Department of Transportation added protected bike lanes to 9th Avenue, businesses saw a 49% increase in retail sales. This is particularly dramatic when compared to local businesses throughout the whole of Manhattan which only saw a 3% increase in retail sales.

  • In San Francisco, two-thirds of business owners on Valencia Street thought bike lanes had a positive impact on sales four years after the city had installed them.  40% believed that the lanes helped attract new customers to the neighbourhood.

  • “In Portland, OR, people who traveled to a shopping area by bike spent 24% more per month than those who traveled by car. Studies found similar trends in Toronto and three cities in New Zealand.” – Protected Bike Lanes Mean Business

  • After a complete street including protected bike lanes was installed on Oakland's Telegraph Avenue, retail sales in a district that has sometimes struggled were up 9%, thanks in part to 5 new businesses. 

  • After removing parking, installing protected bike lanes and making streetscape improvements along Broadway in Salt Lake City, retail sales rose 8.8%, compared to 7% citywide.