Conclusions
Improving nonmotorized conditions, increased nonmotorized travel, and shifting travel
from automobile to nonmotorized modes can provide many benefits, including internal
benefits to the people who use these modes and external benefits to others. Nonmotorized
transport plays a unique and important role in the transportation system. It provides health
and fitness, enjoyment, basic mobility, connections between and access to other modes,
opportunities for people to interact with their communities and the environment, and a cost
effective alternative to motorized travel. Improved and increased nonmotorized
transportation can help achieve a variety of transportation planning objectives, both alone
and in conjunction with other modes. Improved and increased nonmotorized travel tends to
leverage additional motor vehicle travel reductions. Analysis in this study suggests that
each mile of increased nonmotorized transport reduces about seven motor vehicle miles.
Conventional planning and evaluation practices tends to overlook or undervalue many
nonmotorized transportation benefits. More comprehensive evaluation methods are needed
to identify the full benefits of policies and investments that improve nonmotorized travel
and encourage shifts from motorized to nonmotorized modes.
Some nonmotorized benefits are suitable for monetization using methods commonly used
by transportation agencies to evaluate policies and investments. These include congestion
reductions, road and parking facility cost savings, consumer cost savings, energy
conservation and emission reductions, and reduced accident risk to other road users. Other
benefits are more difficult to monetize, although they are probably significant compared
with commonly monetized impacts. These include health and fitness benefits, improved
mobility for non-drivers, support for strategic land use objectives, economic development,
user enjoyment, community livability, and additional environmental benefits. Table 14
shows the monetized benefits of shifts from automobile to nonmotorized travel under three
travel conditions. Total benefits are probably far greater, taking into account additional,
unmonetized benefits and leverage effects.
Table 14 Automobile to Nonmotorized Travel Monetized Benefits
Urban Peak Urban Off-Peak Rural
Total Per Mile > $2.75 > $1.43 > $0.76
Average Walking Trip (0.6 miles) > $1.68 > $0.86 > $0.46
Average Cycling Trip (2.0 miles) > $5.60 > $2.86 > $1.52
This table indicates the monetized benefits of shifts from automobile to nonmotorized modes.
Additional benefits are not monetized, so total benefits are likely to be much greater.
There are many ways to improve and encourage nonmotorized travel. Although most
communities are implementing some of these strategies, few are implementing all that are
justified. Most of these strategies only affect a portion of total travel, so their impacts
appear modest, they are seldom considered the most effective way of solving a particular
problem. However, they provide multiple and synergistic benefits. When all benefits are
considered, much greater support is often justified for walking and cycling.