Workshop EC 4, Wednesday 21 June, 14.00 - 15.30

Costs and benefits of bicycle promotion programs

Johanna Cleary, Jo Cleary/Tim Hughes/Cleary Hughes Associates, UK   Promoting Cycling within Employer Green Commuter Plans Employers, particularly larger employers, in the UK are being encouraged to implement Green Commuter Plans (GCPs), with the aim of reducing the volume of car use for work journeys. The development of GCPs generally takes the form of a survey of existing employee travel patterns, together with an assessment of the potential for increasing the modal share of alternatives to low-occupancy car trips - such as walking, cycling, public transport, car-sharing, home-working, telecommuting, etc.  Good GCPs include recommendations for on- and off-site measures, as well as physical and non-physical measures for improving the appeal of these alternatives. In the UK, the greatest attention and investment in promoting alternatives to car commuting has tended to focus on public transport and car-sharing schemes, while cycling and walking have been downplayed.  This paper will explore the reasons for this undervaluing of non-motorised modes for work journeys - which include the (questionable) assumption that most work trips are too far, and that 'active' travel is not compatible with a professional image. The presentation will also look at the effects of relying too heavily on car sharing and public transport (without cycle links) in GCPs, and why such measures often don't deliver the anticipated reduction in car commuting. Finally, the paper will look at what employers, and other relevant players, can practically do to encourage and facilitate cycle use for work journeying - including physical improvements; offering incentives; as well as education, training and awareness raising initiatives.

Jeroen Buis, Interface for Cycling Expertise I-ce, the Netherlands The Economic Significance of Cycling A Study to illustrate the Costs and Benefits of Bicycle Policies That transport of people and goods is very important for a city's economy is undisputed. In cities all over the world huge amounts of money are invested, mainly in transport facilities for motorised transport. Non-motorised transport and particularly the bicycle is often overlooked and not included in urban transport plans. The potential of cycling as a means of urban transport, however, is high in many countries because of short trip distances and the numerous advantages of cycling for individuals and society. To get an overview of the economic arguments to invest in the bicycle as a means of urban transport a study has been done including a literature study and case studies on four different cities. In the literature study eight different (possible) benefits of bicycle policies and plans are described. These are: Cost savings in traffic and transport investments, improved accessibility and less use of space, a better quality of life and urban economy, less air pollution, better health for cyclists, less traffic accidents, new jobs and reduced travel costs and an improvement of the individual mobility. The cities studied in the second part of the study are Amsterdam, Bogota, Delhi and Morogoro (Tanzania). Conducted by different experts and using available information, the stress in these studies is on different subjects and the approaches are also different. This leads to a variety of studies which are not completely comparable but do show in which cities the benefits are the greatest and what kind of benefits are most important.