Research to Learn More about Bicycling

To quantify the impact of our investment in bicycling—through federal advocacy, national partnerships, grassroots grants, and promotion—we support a number of important research initiatives.

Bicycle commuting and health

Bikes Belong awarded funding to Humboldt State University (California) for a study that will measure the effects of bicycle commuting on health. Conducted in conjunction with local bike advocacy, planning, and transportation groups, the study will evaluate and quantify specific health and fitness benefits of commuting by bike.

Benchmarking bicycle advocacy

Bikes Belong funding, together with a sizable grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is supporting Thunderhead Alliance’s efforts to benchmark the success of bicycle advocacy groups at securing federal funding for bicycling projects and getting that funding spent on the local level. Compiled by researchers at Rutgers University, the data will help us better understand the impact of bicycle advocacy on ridership as well as establish best practices for advocacy initiatives.

The first Benchmarking Report was published in August 2007. To learn more and view the PDF, visit the Thunderhead Alliance website.

Do trails lead to sales?

At Bikes Belong, we’ve long been convinced that new trails lead to more sales. However, we wanted to prove it with hard facts. First, we conducted a survey of Bikes Belong members to determine whether new trails built near their shops led to increased bike and equipment sales. They said yes. But we didn’t stop there.

We also commissioned the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research to design a Harris poll in order to gather more information about the relationship between local trails and bike sales.

Click here to see the results of these surveys.

The Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program

How does our investment in federal funding affect the bicycle industry? To help answer this, Bikes Belong commissioned Boulder Sports Research to track bike sales in four cities that were chosen to receive funding for bike and pedestrian enhancements through the federal Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program (NMTPP). Sales will be tracked from 2006 through 2009, with results available in 2010. This pilot will also measure health, ridership, congestion, and energy savings in these cities.