head of a local bike planning firm, Mia Birk,
wants to study the economic impact of
bicycles in Oregon.
(Photo © J. Maus)
In the past two years, Portland’s bicycle industry and the economic impact of our bike culture has gotten plenty of attention — from the New York Times to National Public Radio.
The business of bikes also gained clout on the local political scene when Portland’s City Council passed a resolution officially recognizing the bicycle industry and directing the Portland Development Commission to make it one of their “target industries”.
Amazingly, much of that high-profile attention was spurred (at least in part) by one rather small, and inexpensively done study authored by local bicycle and pedestrian planning firm, Alta Planning and Design. Alta principal Mia Birk, formerly the bicycle coordinator for the City of Portland’s Office of Transportation, spearheaded the study.
Completed in June of 2006, Bicycle-Related Industry Growth in Portland (download PDF), found that Portland’s bike culture and industry account for roughly $63 million dollars a year.
Now Birk, who says it was “one of the most cost-effective studies ever funded,” is looking to launch a more robust look at how bicycles impact the economy of not just Portland, but the entire state of Oregon.
A statewide study commissioned by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in 2005 estimated that the annual economic benefits of bicycling in that state ranged from $765 to $835 million.
the 2006 study.
Birk wants the new study to capture, “what we believe will be a significant increase in bike-related industry”. She hopes this new study will quantify the expansion of existing business and include new businesses that weren’t in the initial study. Birk says she’s, “quite confident a substantial gain will be revealed,” and adds that she also plans to come up with a method to calculate the indirect benefit of bicycles and bike tourism across Oregon.
In her role as a board member with Cycle Oregon — a yearly ride of 2,000 people that tours small, rural communities across the state — Birk has gained a new perspective on how bicycles impact the bottom line of cities throughout Oregon; “Cycle Oregon has been an inspiration to these towns…they’ve seen what bicycles can bring and now they ‘get it’.”
To help her fund and carry out the study, Birk has begun discussions with several interested and potential partners including the City of Portland Office of Transportation, the Portland Development Commission, Travel Oregon, Travel Portland, Cycle Oregon, Portland State University, and others.
Quantifying the economic impact of bicycling is a key strategy for Birk and others who hope to establish Oregon as the country’s premier cycling destination. That effort that will be the focus of the Oregon Bike Summit, which is a part of the Governor’s Conference on Tourism and is coming to the Portland area April 4-5.