Transport for London has recently published a study on the economic benefits of walking and cycling. Although the results are not surprising, it is an important data point and a good argument for those of us who are cycling enthusiasts, care about the livability of cities, and hope to improve the situation.
The TfL research shows that retail businesses are benefiting from increased walking and cycling traffic. Improving street design to accommodate better those road users can increase retail spend by up to 30%. As a result, businesses on those streets are able to generate higher revenues.
“People walking and cycling visit high streets more frequently and spend more money there compared to people in cars”. And if you think about it, it is logical – cars are expensive to buy and maintain, and almost impossible to park in a city. It means that car drivers (doing the same jobs) have less disposable income to spend on shopping, and additionally, it is a big effort to find a spot to park the car near a shopping street.
Data show that people who walk to the high street spending up to 40% more than people who drive. And bike parking delivers 5 times more retail spend per square meter than car parking.
Businesses tend to overestimate their customers car use. I have seen this in Brussels, in local council discussions over the renovations of place Jourdan. And this research confirms the same: while businesses in Lea Bridge road think that 63% of their customers come by car, the actual percentage is only 20%. There is aso higher walking and public transport use than businesses think.
Politicians of other cities may be inspired by these conclusions.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305900617300636
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/walking-cycling-economic-benefits-summary-pack.pdf
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/street-appeal.pdf