Bicyclists as Consumers

Abstract

The role of bicyclists as consumers is explored through an examination of the relationship between travel mode and shopping behavior. As cities develop policies to combat congestion and reduce emissions from the transportation sector, tension often develops when scarce road space must be allocated, particularly in dense urban cores. The challenge is to accommodate all travel modes and ensure that local businesses are not negatively affected by infrastructure changes. Previous studies in the United States and abroad focused primarily on consumable goods, not retail expenditures. These studies demonstrated that bicyclists made more frequent purchases than their car-driving and transit-riding counterparts and tended to shop at small businesses close to home, whereas motorists spent more money on single occasions. The objective of this study was to examine differences in shopping behavior between bicyclists and motorists–-two groups that are in perpetual competition for parking space and other infrastructure accommodations–-in downtown Davis, California. Two cross-sectional online surveys in 2009 and 2010 that asked questions about recent shopping in downtown Davis provide the data set. Respondents who biked on their most recent trips downtown spent, on average, slightly more on their purchases each trip than their car-driving counterparts. Bicyclists also made more frequent shopping trips and thus spent more money at downtown establishments than customers traveling by car.

Understanding Economic and Business Impacts of Street Improvements for Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility: A Multi-City, Multi-Approach Exploration

“…The general consensus is that increases in the number or length of bicycle facilities leads to increased levels of cycling (Dill et al, 2003;Pucher et al, 2010), and thus increased volume of consumers travelling to nearby businesses. In addition, surveys conducted in Portland, Dublin (Ireland), San Francisco, and New York all have found that bicyclists and pedestrians tend to spend more compared to drivers in commercial areas because bicyclists and pedestrians tend to visit local businesses more frequently compared to drivers (Popovich et al, 2014;Bent et al, 2009;Lee, 2008;Clifton et al, 2012). These studies utilized business owner surveys or intercept consumer surveys to learn about the various travel modes by which they arrived at the establishments and resulting expenditure behavior in local businesses.…”

Economic impacts on local businesses of investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure: a review of the evidence

“…Both San Francisco studies found that those who arrived on foot and those who arrived by bike, taxi, or other (a lumped category) spent less per trip than motorists on average (Bent & Singa, 2009; San Francisco City Transportation Authority, 2010), though neither tested the results statistically. A study from a smaller California city (Davis) found that cyclists spent more on average on downtown retail purchases than motorists (food service, bar, and other service business purchases were excluded), a difference which was marginally significant statistically (p = 0.128) (Popovich & Handy, 2014). The Portland study found that pedestrians spent more on average at bars than motorists, but less at restaurants and convenience stores, and much less at supermarkets.…”

“…Six of the studiestwo in San Francisco, three in Toronto, and one in Victoriawere done via intercept surveys of adult passersby in downtowns or retail corridors of urban areas. One study utilised crosssectional surveys of residents of an entire city, with questions targeted at consumer spending in the downtown area of Davis, California (Popovich & Handy, 2014). Another study used exit surveys of patrons leaving restaurants, bars, and convenience stores across a range of neighbourhood types in Portland, Oregon (Clifton et al, 2013).…”

“…All eight studies calculated and compared per-month spending by travel mode, which reflects the combination of number of trips and spending per trip. Six of the studies concluded that cyclists and/or pedestrians spent more per month than motorists, though only two of them confirmed that the amounts were statistically different (Forkes & Smith, 2010;Popovich & Handy, 2014). The Portland study found that cyclists and pedestrians spent more, on average, at restaurants, bars, and convenience stores than those who drove, but motorists spent more at supermarkets (Clifton et al, 2013).…”

La bicicleta y su interacción con otros modos de transporte en la normativa urbana chilena

“…En efecto, el usar la bicicleta regularmente ayuda a reducir las emisiones de carbono, un paso fundamental para combatir la emergencia climática actual (EuropEan Commission, 2017;mizdrak & al., 2020). Además, una mayor presencia de ciclistas puede ayudar a mejorar la cohesión social y la resiliencia de las comunidades (Wild & WoodWard, 2021), y ayudar a disminuir la congestión y mejorar la seguridad vial de las ciudades (marshall & FErEnChak, 2019), colaborando a impulsar las ventas de sectores comerciales de tipo local (VolkEr & handy, 2021;popoViCh & handy, 2014). Finalmente, andar en bicicleta regularmente es una forma de actividad física no intensiva que puede reducir el riesgo cardiovascular y mejorar la salud mental y el bienestar (oja & al., 2021; dE hartog & al., 2010).…”