Can Bike Sharing Benefit Small Business?

Paris, Copenhagen and Mexico City have bike-sharing programs. As reported in Smart Planet, an online science news outlet:

"Mexico City's bike-sharing program is modeled on those in Paris and Copenhagen and was at the vanguard when it opened in 2010. U.S. cities are following suit, with programs recently begun in Boston and Washington, D.C.; New York plans to implement a bike-sharing program this year."

Mexico City established segregated bike lanes that run through the heart of the downtown business district. Ground-level barriers prevent automobiles from crossing into the cyclist's lane.

Most of the clientele of the bike share program use the system for business. In 2008 before the program began roughly 70 riders per day used bikes for travel. By 2011 that number has jumped to 1,817 per day.

What are the benefits to increasing bike commuting to the kind of numbers seen in Mexico City?

• Reduced traffic congestion for those using cars
• Reduced air pollution
• Healthier happier more productive population of employees
• Reduction in transportation costs for those using bikes
• Increase in revenue to local retailers on the bike routes and creation of new niche businesses.
• More jobs
• Increasing retail tax to the State

Challenges to implementing a bike-share program in the Puget Sound region include:

• To get large numbers of people to switch to bike commuting it will be necessary to make it safer.
• There are bike lanes and the interurban trail; but we do not have a networked bike system.
• Capital costs for establishing dedicated lanes that are physically separated from traffic would be significant.
• In today's economy with the State looking for ways to generate new revenue and make further cuts it is not likely that the State would be willing or able to offer funds for establishing bike lanes.

However, the potential exists for including capital for dedicated bike lanes as part of a larger jobs package that includes repairs for deteriorating transportation infrastructure. It will be up to the business community, bike enthusiasts and environmental organizations to lobby the State should Federal Funds become available to ask for inclusion of infrastructure for bike commuters.