A recent discussion over on the MyBallard Blog about the Missing Link made me ask about the economic impact of cycling.
AAA releases statistics about driving costs. In 2008, a small sedan driven 10,000 miles per year costs on average $5,514 per year to own and operate according to the AAA.
I’ve been able to live without owning a car in Seattle for 4 years now, bicycling as my main mode of transportation. Some of my friends have lived for decades without owning a car, or even driving a car. So far, according to AAA, I’ve probably saved at least $20,000 and looking at my bank account it would seem that I’ve contributed most of that to the local economy.
Okay, now what does that mean in a broader sense?
Seattle.gov says the population in 2008 was 592,800 people. Playing really rough with the numbers, 592,800 people multiplied by $5,514 per year equals $3,268,699,200. $3.2 billion (edit: thanks to Gabriel who pointed out that I had an error when I orginally said trillion instead of billion) dollars spent by the citizens of Seattle for gas, maintainance, tires, insurance, license, registration, taxes, depreciation, and finance charges. This doesn’t count the property tax levys like Bridging The Gap that are used to maintain the roads or the sales tax percentage that is used to fund mass transit. Now, I said I was playing rough with the numbers. We know that about 40% of the population is too young, too old, or otherwise unable to drive, so drop that $3.2 billion down to $1.96 billion. It is still a lot of money.
What does that have to do with Bicycling?
For every 1% of the population that we enable to bicycle, we add $19 million to the local economy.
The Bicycle Master Plan has a goal of tripling the number of cyclists, and the city is budgeting to spend $27 million over 10 years . If it is successful, it will result in between 6% and 8% of the population cycling regularly in the next decade.
The Bicycle Master Plan, conservatively could add at least $50 billion per year to the Seattle economy and yet, we have been bending to the will of Daly Paint, AAA Printing, Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, Ballard Oil, developers like Suzie Burke, etc. and forcing organizations like Cascade Bicycle Club to file lawsuits in order to finish the last section of a world-class bicycle trail that already sees more than 400 commuters per day in some sections.
Yes, Seattle does like bicycling.
Yes, Seattle drivers are much more aware of, and polite to, cyclists than in many other areas.
But why is it such a struggle? This should be a no-brainer!
Sound Transit and King County Metro could solve their budget and ridership overload problems by encouraging more parallel bicycle facilities that give people the option to bicycle. Instead of Bus Rapid Transit on NW 15th Ave, perhaps we just need a really great bicycle path and a new Ballard Bridge. King County Metro has said that their average rider trip distance is less than 5 miles, and that is an easy bicycling distance, so why not do everything possible to encourage cycling?
Edit: Thanks to Gabriel for the math double-checking. It keeps us honest.
Edit again: Thanks to Ken for noticing that I didn’t get all of the math fixed.
