Just had a reply from one of the Green Councillors to my blog about the contribution that cycling makes to Edinburgh's economy, wondering if we could quantify it.
Anyone know anything about such work? It's a bit beyond my usual skill set.
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Cycling contribution to Economy
(10 posts)- Started 11 years ago by SRD
- Latest reply from chdot
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Posted 11 years ago #
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"Looks like a pretty piddling amount. It's not going to be plan B for the Edinburgh economy."
+1
You could try to work out the disbenefits of motor vehicles - air pollution, NHS costs of crashes, etc.
But that would be harder (and probably larger amounts than the 'cycling economy').
Of course it highlights the shortcomings of conventional economics - how do you quantify the wellbeing effect of a warm tailwind or the unseasonal sight of some waxwings?
Posted 11 years ago # -
You have to include externalities for the analysis to have any value.
For instance, an average of one fewer sick day a year has quite a large monetary value attached (for anyone, but especially if you bill out for nearly four figure sums per day as will not be uncommon in... certain industries)
Actual spending on bikes and bike related stuff is tiny. However, by not running a second car we have thousands of pounds a year extra to spend on assorted products and services, much of them to Edinburgh's benefit.
Posted 11 years ago # -
It would be incredibly difficult to quantify, partly because of the disbenefits as mentioned above but also because of the sheer mobility of cycling. Take one group of twenty cyclists out on a Saturday, for example - they could easily put £100 through a cafe register for coffee, cake, bacon rolls etc that is 40-50 miles away from their starting point and disperse upon returning to Edinburgh. And, like it or not, the general populace is more inclined to buy online (or from multi-national companies) for the convenience and sheer choice available rather than put money through a local bike shop.
Other than the velodrome (ha!) and arranged cycling events like the Red Bull Hill Chasers, it'd be nearly impossible to draw out a comprehensive view of the benefits in a localised area such as Edinburgh because there's simply no draw for people to want to cycle in a harsh urban jungle populated by rabid taxis and offensive drivers for much other than utility and commuting.
Things are far more clear cut when there's a definitive draw for an activity in an area. My Dad owns a game fishing shop in Aberdeenshire and, during the summer months, a proportion of a boom in the economy around Banffshire, Aberdeenshire and Moray can be traced back to the increased footfall of couples and family coming to the area for fishing on the Deveron. They'd arguably go elsewhere on holiday if the river wasn't a significant factor.
Obviously this post is very much written through a commerce and tourism lens - I know it's not the be all and end all, particularly given the considerable number of factors when you look at cyclist residency in Edinburgh.
Posted 11 years ago # -
The standard way of measuring the benefit of cycling is the HEAT assessment which concentrates on the health aspects
There's also the fact that spending on cars/petrol goes disproportionately out of the local economy (although until we start growing bananas in Scotland the same might be said for cycling - and folk in Aberdeen might differ on this point) - I don't have a reference for that to hand though.
As to adding up the contribution to the local economy of bikes - that's going to be a fair bit of legwork. Don't politicians have researchers to do this sort of thing for them?
Posted 11 years ago # -
I don't think we give enough consideration to the empty shop fronts filled with bike shops, or the jobs provided. We mainly seem to see the retail contribution.
Not saying it would be 'plan b' BUT that when we say 'business needs more cars/parking', we don't consider the contribution by bike-related shops.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Perhaps. I suspect that one floor of our building has more staff than all of Edinburgh's bike shops and possibly pays more in business rates too (who knows).
That comparison could be drawn with any number of small shops though, so I don't think it's very valuable.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I'm not sure that focusing on cycling's contribution to the economy is really the way to go. One of the benefits of cycling is that it (generally) has a low economic impact - i.e. it's relatively cheap.
Cars and associated industries (garages, petrol stations etc) are always going to make a far larger contribution to the economy, probably even accounting for savings to the NHS.
Cycling has so many other advantages (you know the list) that I would not choose to focus on this topic, as it seems relatively weak compared with other quality of life issues.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"Obviously this post is very much written through a commerce and tourism lens"
Nothing wrong with that.
Was reported recently that tourism was down in Scotland last year. Half heartedly 'blamed' on the Olympics - ie no-one knows...
There is great potential in Scotland for 'cycle tourism' - a lot of it ascribed to mountain biking (certainly there has been a lot of investment - 7Stanes etc.)
The £1m being spent on the route to the Forth Road Bridge could make a difference - though it does need other good routes/destinations too.
Posted 11 years ago #
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