Economic Statistics

This section contains:

• Economic benefits of the bicycling industry and tourism
  
• Economic benefits of bicycling facilities and transportation
  
• Cost of inactivity, overweight, and obesity
• Cost of automobiles and dependence on foreign oil
  

Economic benefits of the bicycling industry and tourism

• The US bicycle industry is a $6 billion industry.   - National Bicycle Dealers Association, 2008, Industry Overview 2007

• In 2005, 19.8 million bicycles were sold in the U.S., 4.4 million more than all the cars and trucks purchased in the U.S. that year.   - National Bicycle Dealers Association, 2008, Industry Overview 2007; U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2008, Table 1-12

• Bicycle-related economic activity provides $90 million and 850-1150 jobs for the city of Portland, Ore.  From 2006 to 2008, the value of the Portland bicycle industry increased 38%.   - Alta Planning + Design, September 2008, The Value of the Bicycle-Related Industry in Portland

• Bicycle tourism brings $66.8 million to the Maine economy.   - Maine Department of Transportation, 2001, Bicycle Tourism in Maine: Economic Impacts and Marketing Recommendations

• Bicycling brings summer business to ski areas: 161 U.S. ski areas open trails to mountain bikers in the summer, and 84 run lifts for cyclists.   - National Ski Area Association, 2008, personal communication

• The Wisconsin bicycle industry brings $556 million and 3,420 jobs to the state.               - Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Department of Transportation, The Economic Impact of Bicycling in Wisconsin

• Bicycling brings more than $1 billion to the Colorado state economy.   - Colorado Department of Transportation Bicycle/Pedestrian Program, 2000, Bicycling and Walking in Colorado: Economic Impact and Household Survey Results

• Bicyclists in the northern Outer Banks region of North Carolina bring an estimated $60 million annually to the area's economy, nearly nine times the one-time expenditure of $6.7 million of public funds to construct bicycle facilities in the region.  1,400 jobs are created and/or supported annually by the bicyclists' expenditures.   - North Carolina Department of Transportation Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation, 2004, The Economic Impact of Investments in Bicycle Facilities: A Case Study of the North Carolina Northern Outer Banks

• In a survey of visitors to Portland, OR, 78% said that the city's bike-friendliness was a factor in their decision to visit there.   - Portland Bicycle Maps and Information Survey, 2009, City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, Transportation Options Division, reported via BikePortland.org

• The quality of bicycling in the northern Outer Banks region positively impacts vacationers' planning:

- 12% report staying three to four days longer to bicycle

- 43% report that bicycling is an important factor in their decision to come to the area

-53% report that bicycling will strongly influence their decision to return to the area in the future

- North Carolina Department of Transportation Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation, 2004, The Economic Impact of Investments in Bicycle Facilities: A Case Study of the North Carolina Northern Outer Banks

Economic benefits of bicycling facilities and transportation

• The Virginia Creeper Trail generates $1.59 million in annual spending, supporting 27 new full-time jobs.  - United States Department of Agriculture, 2004, in Trails and Economic Development, 2007, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

• In a survey of recent transplants to Portland, OR, 62% said that the city's bike-friendliness was a factor in their decision to move there.   - Portland Bicycle Maps and Information Survey, 2009, City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, Transportation Options Division, reported via BikePortland.org

• Through improvements in health, reductions in congestion, and by enhancing the ambient environment, a 50% increase in the number of trips by bicycle in England would generate benefits worth £1.3 billion by 2015.  - Cycling England, 2008, in Bike for All, "It pays to invest in bikes, Cycling England tells councils"

• A fall 2008 study estimated that cycling saves British commuters an average £34 ($51) a week or collectively up to £111.2 million ($167 million).  - Sainsbury's Home Insurance, 2008, "Over three million commuters start cycling to keep costs down"
  

• A £10,000 investment in cycling infrastructure takes just one additional regular cyclist to recoup its cost. A £100,000 investment takes 11 additional regular cyclists.  - Cycling England, 2008, in Bike for All, "It pays to invest in bikes, Cycling England tells councils"

• The more often an employee cycles and the longer the distance traveled, the lower the rate of absenteeism.  - TNO, 2009, "Reduced sickness absence in regular commuter cyclists can save empoyers 27 million euros"

• In Minneapolis-St. Paul, for every 400 meters closer a median-priced home is to an off-street bicycle facility, its value increases by $510.   - Krizek, K., 2006, Two approaches to valuing some of bicycle facilities' presumed benefits, Journal of the American Planning Association, 72, 309-19

• The benefits of investments in cycle networks are estimated to be at least 4-5 times the costs, making such investments more beneficial to society than other transport alternatives.   - Saelensminde, K., 2004, Cost-benefit analyses of walking and cycling track networks taking into account insecurity, health effects, and external costs of motorized traffic, Transportation Research Part A, 38, 593-606

• 48% of Dutch HR managers report that their organization promotes cycling to work.   - TNO, 2009, "Reduced sickness absence in regular commuter cyclists can save empoyers 27 million euros"

• A recent CDC study found that community-based physical activity interventions, such as new bike paths and trails, are "money well spent", meaning they are more cost-effective than traditional preventive strategies in reducing new cases of many chronic diseases and improving quality of life.  Interventions like enhanced access to bike paths reduce new cases of disease by:

- 5-15 cases per 100,000 people for colon cancer
- 15-58 cases per 100,000 for breast cancer
- 59-207 cases per 100,000 for type 2 diabetes
- 140-476 cases per 100,000 for heart disease

-Roux et al., 2008, Cost effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35, 578-588

-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008, "New CDC Study Finds Community Physical Activity Programs are Money Well Spent"

Also, check out the many studies on the economic benefits of trails on the American Trails website.

The cost of inactivity, overweight and obesity

• One billion extra gallons of gasoline are consumed annually due to overweight and obesity in the US.   - Jacobson, S., and D. King, 2009, Measuring the potential for automobile fuel savings in the US: The impact of obesity, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 14, 6-13

• The annual individual medical cost of inactivity ($622) is more than 2 ½ times the annual cost per user of bike and pedestrian trails ($235).   - Wang, G., et al., 2004, Cost analysis of the built environment: The case of bike and pedestrian trails in Lincoln, Neb, American Journal of Public Health, 94, 549-53

• In 2000, overweight and obesity cost the U.S. $117 billion.   - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity

• Obesity costs a company with 1,000 employees $285,000 per year.   - Finkelstein, E., et al., 2005, The costs of obesity among full-time employees, American Journal of Health Promotion, 20, 45-51

• The annual cost of obesity to employers ranges from $175 for every overweight male employee to $2,485 for every grade-II (BMI 30-40) obese female.    - Finkelstein, E., et al., 2005, The costs of obesity among full-time employees, American Journal of Health Promotion, 20, 45-51

• Obese workers are more likely to report lost productive time than normal-weight workers, costing U.S. companies an estimated $42.49 billion in lost time.   - Ricci, J., and Chee, E., 2005, Lost productive time associated with excess weight in the U.S. workforce, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 47, 1227-34

• A study from the Netherlands determined that employers could save 27 million euros by encouraging employees to cycle to work more.  - TNO, 2009, "Reduced sickness absence in regular commuter cyclists can save empoyers 27 million euros"

• Workers with a higher BMI are more likely to report short-term disability in the workplace.  - Arena, V., et al., 2006, The impact of body mass index on short-term disability in the workplace, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 48, 1118-24

• A study of over 2,000 workers concluded that physically active commuting to work is effective at improving physical fitness and raising HDL (good) cholesterol, and also that it can be successfully promoted by low cost measures.   -Vuori, I., et al., 1994, Physically active commuting to work--testing its potential for exercise promotion, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 26, 844-50

•  If cycling participation increased enough to reduce obesity by about 3%, national medical expenditures could be reduced by $6 billion.   - Rashad, I., 2008, Cycling: An increasingly untouched source of physical and mental health, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series, 12929

• It costs three to four times more to enroll a sedentary adult in a structured exercise program than to teach them how to integrate moderate-intensity physical activity into their life [e.g. bicycling for transportation].   -Sevick, M., et al., Cost-effectiveness of lifestyle and structured exercise interventions in sedentary adults: Results of project ACTIVE, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 19, 1-8

• Every one-pound increase in the average weight of American car passengers increases fuel consumption by 40 million gallons.   - Jacobson, S., and D. King, 2009, Measuring the potential for automobile fuel savings in the US: The impact of obesity, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 14, 6-13

• By building a bicycle trail, it costs just $98 to help a person become more physically active.   - Wang, G., et al., 2004, Cost effectiveness of a bicycle/pedestrian trail development in health promotion, Preventive Medicine, 38, 237-42

The high cost of automobile and foreign oil dependence:

• In 2006, 17 cents of every family dollar went to automobiles.   - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006, in Arends, B., 2008, "A real auto bailout: Escape your car," The Wall Street Journal Online, December 22, 2008
  

• It costs $100,000 to buy and drive a Ford F-250 the average amount (15,000 miles/year) for the typical amount of time (5 years).   - Leonhardt, D., Big vehicles stagger under the weight of $4 gas, The New York Times, June 4, 2008

• The average annual operating cost of a bicycle is $308, 2.25% that of an average car ($13,646).   - Bike cost from Moritz, W., 1997, Survey of North American bicycle commuters: Design and aggregate results, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1578, 91-101.  Automobile cost based on U.S. average of 40.2 daily person miles traveled (2001 National Household Travel Survey) and direct driving expense of $0.93 per mile (Commute Solutions)

• Americans spend more on transportation than any other category except housing.  On average, 18% of household expenditures are for transportation.   - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, and Department of Transportation, 2009, Pocket Guide to Transportation 2009

• In 2005, congestion caused 4.2 billion hours of travel delay and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel, equaling a cost of more than $78 billion.   - Schrank, D., and T. Lomax, 2007, The 2007 Urban Mobility Report, Texas Transportation Institute

• The average American household spends an entire three months' pay on transportation.  - Center for Neighborhood Technology, 2009, in AZ Central.com, 2009, "Average cost of transport consumes 3 months' pay"

• Excess air pollution in parts of California costs $28 billion annually (up to $1,600 per person) in health care costs, school absences, missed work and lost income potential from premature deaths.  - Hall, J., et al., 2008, The benefits of meeting Federal Clean Air standards in the South Coast and San Joaquin Valley Air Basins, California State University Institute for Economic and Environmental Studies (IEES)

• The US is responsible for a quarter of global oil consumption.  The transportation sector accounts for two-thirds of this.   - US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2007, in Jacobson, S., and D. King, 2009, Measuring the potential for automobile fuel savings in the US: The impact of obesity, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 14, 6-13

• In 2005, the average annual delay for every person using motorized travel during peak periods was 38 hours.   - Schrank, D., and T. Lomax, 2007, The 2007 Urban Mobility Report, Texas Transportation Institute

• In 2000, 76% of workers (97.5 million people) drove to work alone.   - Reschovsky, C., 2004, Journey to Work: 2000, Census 2000 Brief, US Census Bureau

• Cars are used for 75% of trips under one mile.   - Blomberg, R., et al., 2004, Pedestrian transportation: A look forward, TRB A3B04: Committee on Pedestrians

• The average amount of time an American spends in a vehicle is slightly more than an hour a day.   - Hu, P., and T. Reuscher, 2004, Summary of Travel Trends: 2001 National Household Travel Survey, U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration

• Between 1995 and 2001, Americans spent about 10% more time in their vehicles but traveled about the same number of miles.   - Hu, P., and T. Reuscher, 2004, Summary of Travel Trends: 2001 National Household Travel Survey, U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration

• The average American household spends more on transportation than on clothing, health care, and entertainment combined.   - Bureau of Labor Statistics in "The Costs of Owning a Car," Motavalli, J., The New York Times, 18 March, 2009

• In 1990, the average urban American drove 2 ½ times as much (11,155 +- 1,470 km) as an urban European (4,519 +- 707 km).   - Kenworthy, J., and F. Laube, Patterns of automobile dependence in cities: An international overview of key physical and economic dimensions with some implications for urban policy, Transportation Research Part A, 33, 691-723

• Only 5% of households with an income of $20,000 to $39,999 have no motor vehicle.   - Pucher, J., and J. Renne, 2003, Socioeconomics of Urban Travel: Evidence from the 2001 NHTS, Transportation Quarterly, 57, 49-77

• If all Americans ages 10-64 were to bicycle instead of drive for 60 minutes a day, gasoline demand would be reduced by 48 billion gallons, equal to 35% of 2005 domestic oil consumption.   - Higgins, P., and M. Higgins, 2005, A healthy reduction in oil consumption and carbon emissions, Energy Policy, 22, 1-4

• The U.S. transportation sector is almost entirely dependent on petroleum as an energy source.  Nearly two-thirds of the petroleum used in the U.S. is imported.   - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, and Department of Transportation, 2009, Pocket Guide to Transportation 2009