Five ways a bicycle-friendly city pays off

Bicyclists in Portland, image courtesy BikePortland.org

From a report of the National Bike Summit by StreetsBlog, five ways from Portland's experience, how becoming a bicycle friendly city has paid off--beyond the obvious "more people bicycling and less people driving":

The growing social acceptance of biking
Even residents who don’t bike say they like living in a city that is so bike-friendly.

Store owners are calling the city and asking to have on-street parking removed and replaced by bike parking.

Financing – they haven’t spent big bucks, yet
Only one percent of Portland’s transportation budget is spent on bike facilities. Ridership is way up nonetheless. Now that cycling is at six percent mode share, there is talk of allocating funds based on mode split.

Biking boosts tourism
According to Travel Portland, being named the nation’s top cycling city has been very valuable for tourism. Portland is now attracting conventions based on its bike infrastructure. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show, a convention that draws 15,000 participants, is a case in point.

Low-cost publicity and lobbying
Every year, Cycle Oregon stages a policy-makers’ ride, inviting influential people to get away from their desks and see what’s working for bikes in the city and what’s not.

The economic development crowd is getting behind biking
There are now 10-15 bike manufacturers in Portland and new bike shops popping up all the time. It’s a stretch to call this a “thing you don’t know.” Portland’s bike industry has actually gotten national press.