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.

Road Riding Events Survey
We conducted a survey of U.S. recreational bike-event promoters in order to estimate the size, number, and direct economic impact of these rides in 2008, and also to learn more about how these events benefit communities and causes nationwide.

Retailers and Advocacy
To better understand how bicycle retailers perceive and support bicycle advocacy—local, regional, and national—we surveyed 116 retailers from 34 states. 

BMX Access in Skateparks
Freestyle BMX is growing increasingly popular, but some skateparks deny access to bike riders. To see how bikers have successfully gained access to skateparks and how skateparks have safely and effectively managed bikers and skaters, Bikes Belong surveyed nearly 100 skatepark managers from 30 states. 

Bicycling Research Symposium
Bringing together bicycling’s top academic professionals, Bikes Belong held an unprecedented Bicycling Research Symposium in Boulder, CO, on May 1, 2009.

A review of bicycle safety campaigns
Bikes Belong conducted a review of campaigns to see what successful bicycle safety campaigns have in common and what tactics should be used in the future to achieve success?

Quantifying the federal investment in bicycling
To justify increased federal funding for bicycling, we must demonstrate that the prior federal investments have been well spent. So we teamed with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy on a research project to quantify the positive results of federal bike spending on communities and health.

Gas prices and bike sales
As gas prices soared in the spring and summer of 2008, we conducted a survey of more than 150 bicycle retailers from nearly 40 states to see if their summer 2008 sales reflected an increase in the use of bicycles for transportation.

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.

Benchmarking bicycle advocacy
Bikes Belong funding, together with a sizable grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is supporting the Alliance for Biking and Walking’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.

Do trails lead to sales?
We conducted a survey of Bikes Belong members to determine whether new trails built near their shops led to increased bike and equipment sales. 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.