Overview of issues central to estimating bicycle benefits
To set the stage for any effort estimating the economic benefits of bicycle facilities it is necessary to
overview of the main issues involved, the matters that confound such endeavors, and a justification for
more structured research.
Conventional evaluation techniques suggest that any bicycle facilities should be considered in the same
manner as other transportation facilities (e.g., roadways, light rail, HOV lanes) or, for that matter, any
major public capital investment (e.g., wastewater treatment plant, sports stadium). Doing so subjects
bicycle facilities to the same methodologies or criteria used in these projects such as benefit-cost analysis,
economic impact assessment (local, regional or state), cost-effectiveness evaluation, and financial or risk
analysis. Of these approaches, benefit-cost analysis is the most well-known and most frequently relied on
in transportation projects. It compares the effects of proposed policies or projects on social welfare. It
requires identifying all project impacts (positive or negative) in the present and the future and then
assigning an economic value to these impacts.