The New York Post recently quoted a few business owners angry about the effect NYC’s separated Ninth Avenue bike lane is having (or potentially could have) on their bottom line. Typical among the complaints was that customers could no longer simply “pull up and run in.” Putting aside the possibility that business owners are lamenting the loss of illegal double parking, bike lanes and other traffic calming improvements have been found to have a positive effect on neighborhood businesses.

A study released by Transportation Alternatives last December analyzes the potential effects of removing parking to accommodate pedestrian improvements. (Schaller, Curbing Cars: Shopping, Parking and Pedestrian Space in Soho) The study concludes that shoppers generally favor pedestrian space to parking spaces and those who favor the removal of parking for pedestrian improvements are likely to spend almost five times that of drivers.

More relevant to the Ninth Avenue bike lane is a 2003 study of the effects of San Francisco’s Valencia St. bike lane on local small businesses, which found that traffic calming was an economic boost, both in drawing more pedestrian traffic and increasing revenues over the long term by attracting more people to the improved neighborhood. (Drennen, Economic Effects of Traffic Calming on Urban Small Businesses, San Francisco State University, 2003) Of the business owners and employees interviewed, 66% said they had seen a positive effect on their business after the bike lane was installed.

The San Francisco study was conducted 4 1/2 years after the installation of the bike lane. This is an important point for the Ninth Avenue businesses to take to heart: it is impossible to determine the bike lane’s effects after only one month. So far, studies predict a net positive long-term effect.