Why Invest in Bicycling?
Supporting bicycling is a smart investment. Through savings in healthcare, absenteeism, fuel, congestion, pollution, and road maintenance, putting more people on bikes saves money. A proven way to get more Americans riding bikes is to build safe places to ride, which is why Bikes Belong works to maximize federal support for bicycling.
Research has consistently shown that bicycling facilities offer a positive return on investment. For every $1 spent on bike infrastructure, cities save around $5. As an example: by 2040, the city of Portland, Oregon will have saved $3.40 in health care expenses alone for every dollar it invested on bicycling.
To make it easier for advocates to communicate the value of biking to federal policymakers, we developed a series of 10 case studies on U.S. bike facilities. This project, titled “The Federal Investment in Bicycling: 10 Success Stories,” tells the stories of a geographically diverse group of bike facilities—ranging from bike lanes to singletrack trails—that were built at least in part with federal funding. You can see these projects featured in the rotator at the top of this page. Click on an image to read more about the project. Or, view and download a PDF of the project.
For more about the benefits of investing in bicycling, visit these resources:
- Bikes Belong Statistics Library
- America Bikes “Investment Works” Factsheet
- America Bikes Talking Points Factsheet
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