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It isn’t hard to find a restaurant owner or shopkeeper claiming that bike lanes, bus lanes, and plazas cause local recessions. Data day otherwise.
A 2011 study found that while people who drove cars to shop spent more on each individual visit, people who arrived on foot or by bus/transit shopped more frequently and collectively spent almost five times more than those who drove.
A common misconception from shop owners is that they not only overestimate how many of their patrons arrive via car by up to 50% in some cases, but also wildly overestimate the gross financial impact of drivers’ rarer but more individually lucrative purchases.
A single $100 purchase is favorably perceived whereas eleven individual purchases for $10 each barely even registers.
In Portland, cyclists spent an average of $77.66 on average compared to motorists’ $61.03 - a 27% difference.
In Portland, cyclists spent an average of $77.66 on average compared to motorists’ $61.03 - a 27% difference.
Ask any business owner if they’d enjoy a 27% increase in sales at no additional cost to them and they’ll invite you to dinner to chat about it.
Ask those same business owners if they are willing to give up an adjacent parking stall and they’ll run you out of their store.
Ask those same business owners if they are willing to give up an adjacent parking stall and they’ll run you out of their store.
