The title of this post should really be "Bike lanes create jobs, duhhhhhhhhhh." A new study from the University of Massachusetts is only the latest evidence that bike infrastructure projects create more jobs than road infrastructure — but the message hasn't gotten through to everyone, so with UMass' help we'll just keep beating that horse. Anyway, the latest study shows that bike and pedestrian projects generate 46 percent more employment than roads. So, you know, no big deal, just HALF AGAIN AS MANY JOBS.
Looking at 58 projects in 11 states, the researchers found that cycle-oriented infrastructure created 11.6 jobs for every $1 million spent, versus 7.8 for road-only projects. Pedestrian projects were in the middle, creating 9.6 jobs per $1 million. This is in line with the findings from the last study, which focused on Baltimore, Md. So basically, we need to get cracking on those bike interstates if we want to save the economy. And after building bike infrastructure solves the job crisis, using bike infrastructure can help you save money on transportation! Bikeonomics at its best.
