Cycling in Brussels: Does It Pay Off?
13.39
From 2013 to 2014
TML worked with Pro Velo on two economic analyses of cycling in Brussels, the first comparing social costs and benefits, the second focusing on estimating turnover and employment in the cycling sector. Both used scenario analysis.
TML, together with Pro Velo, carried out two economic analyses of cycling in Brussels.
A first analysis compares the social costs and benefits, with the following conclusions:
The benefit-cost ratio considers health benefits, environmental benefits, benefits related to congestion, savings in household transport expenditure, savings in public transport expenditure, and any reduction in traffic accidents.
The costs of this ratio are the extra public expenditure to encourage cycling and the extra traffic accidents.
We did not include the effect of cycling on urban liveability and psychological well-being in this analysis, as they are very difficult to quantify and monetise.
In a second analysis, we estimated turnover and employment in the cycling sector, with the following conclusion: functional cycling creates more than 200 jobs in Brussels today and almost 700 in 2020 under an ambitious cycling and transport policy. These figures do not consider jobs that might be lost in other sectors.
TML, together with Pro Velo, carried out two economic analyses of cycling in Brussels.
A first analysis compares the social costs and benefits, with the following conclusions:
- An ambitious cycling policy in 2020 for the Brussels Capital Region realises social benefits of 300 to 550 million euros, depending on the scenarios and hypotheses chosen.
- The benefits of this ambitious cycling policy in 2020 will be 8 to 19 times greater than the costs. In 2012, benefits ranged between 100 and 200 million and were 4 to 7 times greater than costs.
- Benefits far exceed costs in all scenarios, despite the fact that we only considered effects that can be monetised.
- Traffic fatalities decrease, but cycling increases the number of people injured in road accidents.
The benefit-cost ratio considers health benefits, environmental benefits, benefits related to congestion, savings in household transport expenditure, savings in public transport expenditure, and any reduction in traffic accidents.
The costs of this ratio are the extra public expenditure to encourage cycling and the extra traffic accidents.
We did not include the effect of cycling on urban liveability and psychological well-being in this analysis, as they are very difficult to quantify and monetise.
In a second analysis, we estimated turnover and employment in the cycling sector, with the following conclusion: functional cycling creates more than 200 jobs in Brussels today and almost 700 in 2020 under an ambitious cycling and transport policy. These figures do not consider jobs that might be lost in other sectors.
