Business owners are usually skeptical when planners start talking about removing parking to make space for bike lanes, but study after study has shown bike lanes are good for business. The latest example from Toronto is now exception.
Eric Jaffe shares news of a new study that analyzes data from the city of Toronto to produce findings that are in keeping with previous studies: bike lanes are good for business.
A group of researchers from the University of Toronto and the Center for Active Transportation conducted surveys of merchants and visitors before and after the installation of a bile lane along a 1.5-mile stretch of Bloor Street that raised local concerns when first proposed.
After requesting information about spending, customer counts, visit frequency, and vacancies, the survey's findings present "good news across the board," according to Jaffe. Monthly spending rose, the number of customers rose, the frequency of visits rose, and vacancies held steady.
After detailing the findings and also providing a few caveats, Jaffe notes the unanswered questions about the effect of bike infrastructure on business:
Just why bike lanes have a neutral-to-positive impact on spending remains an open question. The strongest theory — one supported by the Bloor study — is that while cyclists lacking a car trunk might not make large purchases, they make more total purchases over a given period, since an area is now easier and safer for them to visit.
FULL STORY: The latest evidence that bike lanes are good for business
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