Cyclists make better shoppers than Motorists

From 'Orbiter' a regular contributor ....

Something for the town/transport planners.....

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2007/11...pers-than.html

Quote:

"A survey carried out among consumers in Bern, Switzerland, established the ratio between the value of purchases made and the parking area used by each customer over a year. The profitability was highest in the case of the cyclists.
€7500 per square metre for cyclists.
€6625 for motorists. "

The main points from the European research referenced above were that;

1) Prioritising foot, public, and cycle transport in the studied areas made them more pleasant, hence more people wanted to shop there (increased sales).
2) As people on cycles, public transport and foot can carry less in one go, they made more frequent trips - whilst their per trip spending was (sometimes) less than that of motorists, over the same period they spent more.
3) The idea that people "needed" their cars to carry lots of purchases home was largely a fallacy (most motorists leaving with less than two bags of shopping, as I recall).

Food for thought!