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bike lanes They're apparently good for cyclists make it safer riding and encouraging people to ride Travel more on two wheels, More people riding instead of driving is also better for the environment reduce noise pollution From cars. Yet, since bike lanes are often change street parkingIt's understandable that business owners would be wary that building bike lanes downtown would drive away customers. As business Insider reportsHowever, research actually shows that these fears are unfounded.
For example, take a 2012 study that looked at two shopping districts in Seattle that got new bike lanes. One replaced three parking spaces, while the other replaced 12 parking spaces. Sales tax data showed that spending in the former generally tracked with other areas that did not have bike lanes, while the latter saw a fourfold increase in sales. Saying there are bike lanes in other districts might be too far-fetched. Reason Sales increased, but apparently, adding bike lanes and removing parking spaces had no impact on sales.
This is not the only study that has reached the same conclusion. A study in New York City the following year found that business increased more in pedestrianized areas than in the rest of each borough. A bike-friendly neighborhood in Manhattan saw sales increase by nine percentage points, while one in the Bronx increased by 32 percentage points. In Brooklyn, the jump in sales was even greater, increasing by 84 percentage points.
Now, not everyone studies it business Insider The review found a huge increase in sales in every bike-friendly district. Additionally, some types of businesses performed better than others. After all, cyclists probably aren't going to the furniture store to pick out a new sofa or frequenting the gas station. In general, however, study after study has found that after adding bike lanes to a neighborhood, business remained about the same, with some businesses benefiting much more than others.
As insider That said, there's no reason why local governments can't set aside some money to compensate individual businesses if they see a decline in sales after bike lanes are installed. Even if this doesn't get every single business on board the bike lane train, research shows that cities should go ahead and build bike lanes anyway. As one researcher concluded, “[o]nce a highway is changed, normally after six months or a 12 months, nobody remembers what it seemed like. That is the brand new regular.”