Cycling for dollars: Strange but true – boosting biking is a city cost-saver

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from NOW Toronto:



Cycling for dollars
Strange but true – boosting biking is a city cost-saver

By Adam Giambrone


Toronto can be a strange place. In the midst of the budgetary furor that’s gripped the city and will only intensify in the next few weeks, I can’t help but be surprised that no one has focused on cycling as a weapon of municipal cost-cutting.

What many cities around the world have discovered is that cycling saves money. It’s one of the most cost-effective ways of increasing street capacity and removing the load from pricey public transit.

TTC ridership is growing by about 3 per cent annually, and every new transit ride costs on average $1 in government subsidy. If we could, for example, shift even only 1 per cent of public transit rides (5 million of the 495 million rides the TTC carries every year) to cycling, we would save $4 to $5 million annually in operating costs.

For every bus not needed, for example, the TTC saves around $350,000 in fuel, maintenance and drivers’ salaries. This is why I pushed for bike racks on buses back in 2005, as the two modes go hand in hand. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=182489