Roads With Bike Lanes really are a Type of Economic Stimulus

Photo: Flickr, CC

Better for Economy Than Vehicle-Only Roads
A brand new report through the College of Massachusetts' Political Economy Research Institute verifies that bike lanes are not only great for our overall health but for the atmosphere, but they're extremely good for the sake of the economy. A few of the ways it brings benefits are: Tourism, increased traffic to local companies, elevated property values, more healthy people, etc.

Photo: Flickr, CC

The reviews states:

Overall we discover that cycling infrastructure produces probably the most jobs for any given degree of investing: For every $a million, the cycling projects within this study produce a total of 11.4 jobs inside the condition in which the project is situated. Pedestrian-only projects create typically about 10 jobs per $a million and multi-use trails create nearly as numerous, at 9.6 jobs per $a million. Infrastructure that mixes road construction with pedestrian and bicycle facilities produces slightly less jobs for the similar quantity of investing, and road-only projects create minimal, having a total of seven.8 jobs per $a million. [...]

Economic benefits include tourism and entertainment-related investing (the industry boon to companies and increases local tax revenues), along with a increase in property values. Other benefits include greater quality of existence, environment benefits for example buffer zones to safeguard ponds from pollution run-off, and minimization of ton damage. A 2008 user survey of the multi-use trail in Pennsylvania demonstrated that more than 80 % of customers bought "hard goods" for example bikes and cycling equipment with regards to their utilisation of the trail, plus some also pur- chase "soft goods" for example drinks and snacks at nearby institutions.

None of the is surprising, but we should be cautious about how exactly we use that information. Bike lanes would be worth building even when they did not give a direct economic benefit - the and environment benefits are sufficient - making this only the cherry on the top.

Via UMASS, ThinkProgress

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