Who spends more

I have heard about the research on several occasions, but now I know where the report is. The report I am referring to is the Transport for London research into the spending habits of people visiting the London town centres to buy something. The big spenders every month in London town centres are those that walk to the shops, followed by those on public transport. Although people driving to the shops spend more per visit (41 pounds for car drivers versus 26 pounds for walkers), people who walk to the shops visit more often and therefore spend more.

The research should not be misconstrued though. It does not show that people who drive to the shops spend less per month. 78% of car drivers do more shopping outside town centres in shopping centres and so their total monthly retail spend may well be higher.

The results are also skewed by the fact that people within the walking catchment of a town centre are more likely to do all of their shopping within the town centre. Only 60% of people walking to the town centres visit the shopping centres. People further from the town centre would therefore be more likely to only make trips to the town centre on fewer occasions to buy things they cannot buy elsewhere.

What the research does however emphasise is the importance of all modes for access to shops in town centres. I would be interested to see similar research for shopping centres.

The research also looked at peoples attitudes to cycling to town centres for utility trips (i.e. not commuter cyclists). 38% of respondents said that with some interventions, they be encouraged to cycle to the town centre. The main interventions needed were found to be:

• less road traffic - 15%
• more dedicated cycle paths - 15%
• more cycle lanes - 14%

Bike Bulletin

The New South Wales government's NSW BikePlan can be found here along with the reports from several interesting research projects including the cost and benefit of cycling related investments, barriers to cycling in NSW, bicycle parking at rail stations, and an analysis of the available data related to cycling.

To keep the public up-to-date with the delivery of the plan they are publishing the Bike Bulletin. This report on how they are delivering the plan. It would be great if the Bulletin also gave some information on usage of these facilities before and after the investment.

Pedestrian malls

I was tidying up me email archive and stumbled on this old article from 2009 on New York's plans (at that time) to close parts of Broadway to traffic. This was to implement the transport aspects of the plaNYC strategy to enhance the livability and sustainability of living in New York. I have posted on this topic several times but I thought this article was well worth resurrecting because it discussed the question of why many pedestrian malls in the USA failed in the 1970's and 80's giving them a bad name.

Well Times Square now has chairs and tables, yoga classes and impromptu forests in the middle of what used to be a road and it is definitely not in a state of decline - as can be seen on the Times Square web site. As well as the community benefits of this open space, there are other benefits - in April NYC launched a report on how air quality in the square has been massively improved by removing cars.
The annual report on NYC transport trends also shows several positive impacts of these and other initiatives, like huge safety improvements, reduced travel time for deliveries, increasing mode share for buses and massive increases in cycling.

But back to pedestrian malls. What makes pedestrian malls like Queen Street Mall (Australia's biggest grossing retail area) successful but meant the end of many high streets in America and England. I would say there are three keys:

Access - people need to be able to, and want to get there. The bus station at Queen Street is a big generator of pedestrian traffic through the mall, but there is also a lot of parking. It would be interesting to know the mode of access for retail customers in Queen Street mall.

Activity - retail cannot be the only draw-card. Unless people are employed or live and shop in the area there is not much attraction to go there to shop if it is not all that easy to access.

Attraction - this is as much about what is there as it is about what is elsewhere. The extent of retail offering and ease of access of the suburban shopping mall can be a killer for the CBD mall.

It is all a fine balancing act. Brisbane got it right in Queen Street. But can we create the same product at our Principle Activity Centres of Chermside, Indooroopilly and Mt Gravatt? These are built around shopping malls - a type of pedestrian mall. But can the vibrancy within the mall overflow into the surrounding area to create a PAC? And with so many cars accessing parking at the mall, how do you create a pleasant and safe environment for pedestrians around it?

London's bike share scheme escapes budget cuts

London's bike hire scheme and their bicycle super highways scheme has been spared from the budget cuts being implemented in the UK according to Bikeradar.com. The reason for not cutting the programs is that cycling investment gives good value for money with a 3-fold return on every pound spent - thanks to a large degree to the health benefits.

Pedi Cabs

On weekends you cannot help but notice them around Brisbane. Greencabs are quite a feature around Southbank and the city on weekends, and even during the week now. The Brisbane Times reports that the business has been a success since launching in 2009. Greencabs now run 12 pedicabs on weekends and they now have their own marked cab-ranks near the Treasury Casino and at the top of the Mall.

Pedicabs are popping up worldwide as people embrace 'green' transport and realise that, for short trips, a bicycle delivers competitive journey times. The manufacturer, Main Street Pedicabs, has a blog that gives an idea of how widely pedicabs and bicycle culture have spread in the USA. There are a couple of other pedicab setups in Australia that came up in a Google search - Cairns and Sydney . The international Bicycle Fund has a directory of pedicab and rickshaw companies.
Sydney's fantastically futuristic pedicabs

Why we can't resist bicycle infrastructure

Elliot Fishman, the Director for the Institute for Sensible Transport, has written a commentary on the Federal Government's commitment of $40 million for cycle path infrastructure as part of its stimulus package. He supports the move but urges Canberra to think bigger, citing the USA's lead in investing US$4.5 billion since 2005 in walking and cycling infrastructure, and allowing people who cycle to work to claim US$20 per month for expenses.
$40 million will not go all that far when spread across Australia, but it is a start. Lets hope there is more in store once the global financial crisis is past.

Economic benefits of bicycles

The League of American Bicyclists has recently released a report on the Economic Benefits of Bicycle Infrastructure Investments. The research is American but there are some interesting findings of the importance of the bicycle industry and cycle tourism on local economies. For instance:

• The USA's bicycling industry contributes $133 billion a year to the U.S. economy


• It supports 1.1 million jobs and generates $17.7 billion in taxes


• $46.9 billion is spent on meals, transport, accommodation, gifts and entertainment by bicycle tourists.

Some interesting snippets:

The report cites examples of cities that have invested in cycle infrastructure to tap into the lucrative cycle tourism industry.

The importance of cycling in supporting local business is highlighted by studies showing that people who cycle and walk to shopping areas spend more in the area than those that drive.

Switching from cars to bicycles saves individuals and the community US$2.73 per mile.