Cambridge just released a new study looking at the economic effects of bike lanes, and it gives us two main takeaways-one we’ve heard before, and one that’s fresh:
What we already knew: A lot of business owners worry that bike lanes hurt their sales.
What’s new: When you check the actual data, streets with new bike lanes show no real economic change compared to those without them.
The study looked at three clear measurements: job numbers, commercial rent prices, and vacancy rates. None of these changed because of separated bike lanes. The report sums it up this way:
“There was generally little difference in employment trends between treatment and control corridors during the relevant time periods before and after bike facility construction.”
“Differences in commercial property [rents or vacancies] within corridors and between time periods, or between treatment and control corridors, are not substantial and may vary by location.”
This mismatch-businesses worrying about losses but data showing none-is something Cambridge has seen before, and other cities too.
Past public health fights in Cambridge
Separated bike lanes are really about public health. Research from the Federal Highway Administration and city workers shows that Cambridge’s separated bike lanes cut crashes by up to 50 percent and made injuries less serious. Another public health rule that businesses disliked when it first came in? Banning indoor smoking.
For years restaurant and bar owners fought against this ban-in 1994 and again in 2003. One article quoted Joe Sater from the Middle East club saying: “I don’t think we can live through this experiment. If you look at Brookline, where smokers congregated in the clubs, nightlife doesn’t exist now that a smoking ban has been put into place.”
Those scary predictions didn’t come true. Twenty years later, the Middle East is hosting multiple shows every weekend. Cambridge and Brookline still have lots of restaurants and bars even though indoor smoking is banned. Plus, these places gained customers who avoided smoky spots before. Everyone benefits-especially staff-from less secondhand smoke exposure. Breathing toxic smoke isn’t “part of the business” anymore like one bar owner said back then.
Bike lane installations in other cities
Looking at separated bike lanes elsewhere shows a similar story-businesses expect big problems but data says otherwise. Take New York City’s 2017 bike lane additions; Streetsblog reported unhappy local businesses:
“Protected bike lanes do not guarantee safer streets, but it will mean a loss of business,” Gary O’Neill from Aubergine Cafe said months later.
But when NYC checked sales tax records, they saw business doing fine after all. This pattern pops up everywhere-from Toronto to Berlin-with businesses worried about bike lanes but facts proving those worries wrong.
No need to fear change
I run a small business myself so I get how stressful outside changes can be. But when bars fought smoking bans they didn’t want their customers or staff harmed-they just feared change more than health risks-and those fears ended up baseless.
Just like banning indoor smoking did good for public health despite initial fears, separated bike lanes are another important measure proven to keep people safer on roads. Change is tough-especially for businesses still bouncing back from Covid-but solid data here in Cambridge plus other cities shows we don’t have to worry about negative economic impacts from bike lanes.
Bikers actually make great customers for local shops: listen to interviews with shoppers nearby-you won’t see folks biking all the way from Cambridge to Burlington Mall! The study found only about 17 percent of customers arrived by car-which isn’t exact but gives an idea-and realistically that number probably won’t rise much either way. Meanwhile Somerville plans to add lots more separated bike paths over six years; Boston is building safe biking routes too along with other towns nearby. So more people will be able to safely ride bikes straight into Cambridge stores.
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