ECF

Main findings

Cycling delivers major economic benefits in the EU: For example, the health benefits due to reduced mortality amount to 114-121 billion EUR, or the benefits of congestion easing to ca. 25 billion EUR. Cycling also creates jobs: At current levels of cycling, more than 650 000 jobs in the EU 1 are linked to the sector. If cycling modal share was doubled, more than 400 000 extra jobs could be created.

Many of the economic benefits of cycling that have been quantified until now are reaped at the national level, and it is important to underline those benefits as arguments for ambitious European and national cycling policies and investments in cycling. However, finding the right arguments the local level also remains crucial: This is where the funding is spent and concrete decisions on cycling-friendly transformations of certain streets are made. At this level, there sometimes still is a lot of uncertainty about the benefits of cycling, and local retailers often fear that they would lose customers and turnover if more space is given to cyclists and
pedestrians and less space to cars in their streets.