Bicycle touring and its economic impact showed up on congressional radar screens this week during the 2007 National Bike Summit in Washington DC.
Slightly more than one-quarter (27%) of the US population participates in bicycling, contributing $132 billion to the US economy, according to a recent study by the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA).
BikePortland blogger Jonathan Maus, who provided excellent coverage of the 2007 National Bike Summit, reported that four representatives of bicycling and outdoor groups updated two members of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit on bicycle tourism and impacts on the economy.
Ammunition
“Hopefully these numbers give you the ammunition to support bicycling infrastructure,” OIA president Frank Hugelmeyer told congressmen Peter DeFazio (D) of Oregon and John Duncan (R) of Tennessee.
Also appearing were Jim Sayer, executive director of the Adventure Cycling Association, Jerry Norquist, president of Cycle Oregon, and Jenn Dice, governmental affairs for IMBA.
Economic impact
The figures I quoted above come from the OIA's Active Outdoor Recreation Economy Report for fall 2006 that estimated that outdoor recreation activities add $730 billion to the US economy.
Bicycling is the report's largest segment, with 60 million participants. The OIA estimates bicyclists spend $6.2 billion for gear and $46.9 billion in trip related expenses annually.
The economic impact of bicycling supports 1.1 million jobs nationwide and pumps $17.7 billion in taxes into federal, state and local coffers.
While bicycling has the most participants, the report notes that camp-based recreation has a bigger impact on the economy.
Bike route system
Bicycle routes and trail networks are bringing these bicycling dollars to the doorsteps of many towns and cities across the US. The Adventure Cycling Association, on its own, has mapped out more than 36,000 miles of bicycle routes that criss-cross the US in its National Bike Route Network.
In addition, it's working with the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to create a US Bike Route Corridor plan, that charts bike trails and routes at the state level and show where they intersect with the national bike routes and cross-over to bike routes in other states.
Adventure Cycling has been compiling these national and state routes and next plans to develop a logical system of designations for the bike routes, and eventually produce a map.
Let's hope the congressmen got a good idea of bicycling's impact on the US economy.
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