BUSINESSES SOMETIMES line up against bike projects because they worry building out bike lanes will hinder their customers who arrive by car.
But a Portland State University study finds that cyclists are often more valuable customers: People who arrive at bars, restaurants, and convenience stores by bike spend more money than people who come by car, by transit, or on foot.
Civil engineering professor Kelly Clifton and her research team spent the summer interviewing drinkers, eaters, and shoppers around Portland.
Over the course of a month, Clifton’s team found, cyclists spent the most per person at convenience stores and bars, and tied transit riders when it comes to dining at restaurants. That’s because while people who drive to convenience stores, bars, and restaurants tend to spend more on each visit, they make significantly fewer visits than those who arrive by bike, bus, or foot.
Those findings come with some caveats: People who drive to the supermarket still spend significantly more than people who arrive by any other mode—which makes sense, given that hauling groceries home is more convenient by car.
And most businesses don’t make most of their money from people who bike; most customers arrived at the surveyed businesses by driving. But the minority of customers who do arrive by bike spend more money over time.
The study, funded by the city, PSU, Metro, Travel Oregon, and nonprofit Bikes Belong, is significant in collecting hard numbers that suggest building bike and pedestrian infrastructure could be good for business. Clifton notes that installing a bike corral increases the number of biking customers by more than six percent. For every mile a business sits from a low-traffic, bike-friendly street, the number of its biking customers decreases by 5.5 percent.
One thing that’s not clear from the numbers is why cyclists spend more.
“Is it the choice to cycle or the characteristic of the cyclist that explains spending?” asks Clifton.
The study points out a bunch of factors that influence how much money the average Portlander spends at specific businesses. For every minute you spend in a bar, for example, you spend about 20 cents more. If you have children at home, you’re likely to spend about $3 less at the same bar.
It could be that cyclists often line up with the factors that make people likely to shell out cash—like having higher incomes. Interestingly, when researchers factored out income, which affects how much people spend, pedestrians were the most likely to part with their cash.
It could be just that cyclists have more disposable income, spending gas and car insurance money on delicious beer and tacos instead.
When I didn’t have a car, I didn’t pay car insurance, a car payment, parking costs, the occasional ticket, and general car maintenance and repairs. Also, I didn’t have kids back then, so not only was I awash in cash, but I also had time to spend it!
Young people who live car-free are a huge stimulus to local business. Can you imagine Hawthorne, Belmont, Division, Mississippi, Williams and SE 28th if there weren’t young, child-free hipster slinging their money around? Not only would these neighborhoods be boring, they’d also be commercially blighted.
My wife and I still frequent these strips whenever we go out, and the money we spend, with 4 mouths to feed, is a lot bigger. But now going out is a rare treat, and gone are the days when we’d hit a different breakfast joint every weekend.
The quicker the local business associations realize the value of young, car-free, child-free hipsters and roll out the red carpet for cyclists, the better off they’ll be. And the rest of us will benefit, too, because our neighborhoods will stay vibrant, dynamic and at least a bit more socio-economically diverse.
Actually Steve SE 28th was just fucking fine before all those ass clowns showed up. Im ok with it mind you, its still better than areas of gentrified North Portland and the Pearl, and it does benefit the economy but you are giving these tools way too much credit. I am sure that entitled 20 somethings without real jobs are not the driving force behind this, sorry. Socio-economically diverse? Not really. @jake, ouch! That was pretty funny though
Is putting a bike corral in front of an auto-repair shop good for them and how so specifically? We need to realize that not all businesses are created equal, though I don’t disagree that “bike stuff” in neighborhoods heavy in restaurants and entertainment is not a good thing, but my quick read of this article reveals a somewhat scarce analysis of this issue.
Maybe the study addressed this better than this article reveals.
I’m not a young 20 something hipster without a car. At mid-50 I haven’t owned a car in 20 years and can get around by bike just fine regards of the weather. I really appreciate the fact that businesses are making room for bike corrals and people like me. When businesses eliminate two parking spots for a bike corral, they increase their customer base by ten-fold. Imagine one car with two maybe three occupants verses enough space for ten bikes, some of which are tandems or multi-person (yes kids), it makes sense to embrace the two wheel clientèle.
As for the study’s results, I think the jest of it is to rethink the cyclist as a consumer, regards of age or demographics. If the burbs embraced the bike culture the way the inner city has, and does, they might find their population leaving their cars at home for most trips or errands and maybe lose that spare tire most sport around their waists.
@WS – Businesses only get bike corrals if they request them from the city. So unless an auto repair shop thinks it will help their business and requests one, they won’t wind up with one.
I get the feeling not many people read the article before commenting.
Alas, what’s new.
Considering that car advocates claim that cycling vs. driving is a wash in cost because “cycling causes you to burn more calories, and then eat more,” it is impossible to conclude that cyclists spend less on groceries than motorists. Simple math.
Hahahaha! I’m *hungrier* as a cyclist, that’s why I spend more. Just in case anyone’s planning to take a survey. Well, and I have more disposable income that isn’t sucked up by automotive b.s.
I live in Estacada, work in South Carolina half the year (no work in Oregon for guys like me), and when I’m home I bring my bikes TO Portland and ride/spend like I’m on vacation every opportunity I get. Throw me into the statistics:
I work 6 months per year, make 3x the “median income” for Portland, own a pile of cars, live 30 miles away, and I ride my bike like it’s going out of fashion. I spend lots of money on restaurants, food carts, etc. I am attracted to the Portland bike scene precisely because of the “lifestyle” perpetrated by the throngs of young carefree bikers. There’s nowhere else like it. Portland needs more bike-oriented infrastructure. Why? So guys like me can SPEND MORE MONEY.