Protected Bike Lanes Mean Business

The Alliance for Biking and Walking and People for Bikes released a report this week that definitively states how and why protected bike lanes—in D.C., lanes like the cycletracks on Pennsylvania Avenue, 15th Street, and L Street—generate business for nearby storefronts. We often tout the proximity to bike lanes as an economic benefit; the Alliance and People for Bikes’ work in this report demonstrates this clearly. Read the report here. According to the Alliance:

“[Fifteen] entrepreneurs and business leaders from major U.S. cities explain how protected bike lanes—on-street lanes that are physically separated from automobile traffic by curbs, planters, parked cars or posts—has meant big benefits for their companies. The report combines this original reporting with an overview of the latest academic and technical research to find changes associated with four mega-trends.”

The report draws four key conclusions as to why protected bike lanes are significant drivers of commerce: 1. Americans—especially young people—are driving less and biking more. 2. Americans are flocking to urban areas, congesting city streets and creating market demand for solutions that increase street flow without adding gridlock. 3. With health care costs at an all-time high, companies are scrambling to get more employees exercising regularly. 4. In shopping districts, the most valuable customers are those who stop by often. Read the full report here.