VACC pumps purchase power of cyclists with Businesses for Bikes program

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      If you ask Erin O’Melinn, cyclists don’t only have pedal power; they also have purchase power. And they know how to use it.

      “Cyclists spend more than people think and their average income is way higher than people think,” O’Melinn, the program manager responsible for the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition’s Businesses for Bikes initiative, which launched today (September 28), told the Straight by phone.

      According to O’Melinn, Businesses for Bikes is a membership-driven program which already has 62 founding members on day one.

      One member, Ron van der Eerden of downtown-based Pacific Image Home Designs, is an outspoken cyclist who has long touted the benefits of increased cycling in the region, and particularly in the city centre.

      “As cycling downtown becomes safer and more people take advantage of that choice, the liveability of the public realm improves,” Van der Eerden states in today’s VACC press release on Businesses for Bikes. “This draws more people to the core and invites them to stay longer. It’s good for business.”

      O’Melinn said VACC surveyed more than 1,400 cyclists in Metro Vancouver who participated in Bike to Work Week and found around 50 percent of them earn $50,000 or more per year. Of those surveyed, about a quarter make $75,000 or over.

      She said the program is not about being antagonistic toward the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, whose executive director, Charles Gauthier, was one of the main opponents of the Burrard Bridge lane-reallocation trial.

      “I know that both the DVBIA and the Board of Trade have had their opinions voiced quite loudly, and we wanted to provide a balanced view and show that there are a number of businesses that are very supportive of cycling improvements and cycling in general,” O’Melinn added.

      Later O’Melinn said, “The DVBIA are not the enemy by any means.”

      In the coming months, Businesses for Bikes will distribute a Guide for Marketing to Cyclists and kick off a Discover by Bike project, according to the VACC release.

      For the past two months, the city has been accepting public input on a proposed separated bike lane on Hornby Street.

      Comments

      19 Comments

      trixie

      Sep 28, 2010 at 7:40pm

      I love my green city, and I love being able to cycle safely to and from stuff that I do in the downtown core. What a great way to travel.

      Thanks to the City for sticking to its promises on cycling infrastructure.

      Nick

      Sep 28, 2010 at 9:53pm

      Great work VACC on getting the business community on side with cyclists! It's easier to get around or shop downtown on a bike or foot than being stuck behind the wheel of a car trying to find a silly and expensive parking space.

      RealityCheck

      Sep 29, 2010 at 6:40am

      Did you know that over $300,000 of VACC's funding comes from taxpayer dollars? That's right...this propaganda campaign is being paid for by you!

      erin_

      Sep 29, 2010 at 1:01pm

      To be clear, municipal and regional government funding to the VACC is entirely for bicycle programming, events, and education courses. Advocacy is done by volunteers and private donations.

      RealityCheck

      Sep 29, 2010 at 4:56pm

      The fact is you're collecting taxpayer dollars to lobby governments for millions. The "programs" are a front for your political work.

      Birdy

      Sep 29, 2010 at 4:57pm

      re: erin

      Bicycle programming?
      What are these bicycles programmed to do?
      Should I fear self-aware robot bicycles?
      Do robobikes feel love?

      @RealityCheck

      Sep 29, 2010 at 11:30pm

      Ragging on cyclists is as low as it gets. If you want to complain about propaganda, look at TransLink, instead.

      After all the crap "Be Part of the Plan" scam which really was a ruse for us to give TransLink $150 million/yr to pay for the RAV Line so that the TransLink elite could keep their jobs and avoid jail time for lying to build the RAV Line with false rider ship figures, we are entering a new propaganda campaign for TransLink elite and their drug dealer condo developer friends to make a killing on the EGL. Meanwhile the people on the B-Line route as well as users are getting stung long with the UBC $10 million dollar transit study wasting our time and money for the next 10 years.

      Stay tuned and read the Vancouver Sun. Plenty of BS on the why we need the EGL to follow soon.

      BikerCK

      Sep 30, 2010 at 12:48pm

      I bet I've spent hundreds of dollars at Terra Bread since they opened up their bakery on 5th Ave. Why? Because I go past it on the bike route four of five times a week. Well, that and the fact their cornbread muffins have a secret ingredient that makes you crave them fortnightly.

      BillJ

      Sep 30, 2010 at 1:07pm

      If businesses along Hornby would look at the census data, they would realize that cyclists are the demographic they should marketing to. Drivers spend about one day a week paying for the motor vehicles (based on CAA data). Cyclists who don't own cars and earn similar incomes have about 20% of their income available for other things. If I owned a restaurant, hotel, beauty salon etc, I would want cyclists as my customers.

      Ray I

      Sep 30, 2010 at 2:42pm

      Problem with cyclist commuters is that they have no way of getting very much home on their bikes. Do you see cyclists with their panniers overflowing with bags from Holts or Rosen? NO! How about those bike locked up in front of our fine dining establishments, hotels, theatres, Canucks games? NO, NO, NO, NO, and NO! Forget the stats and look at observable reality. Cyclists who commute by bike are not significant consumers in the downtown area. And I say that as a big (recreational) cyclist who rides downtown from East van at least twice a week (and will be doing so today. I don't need cycling lanes. I simply know what streets to ride on and plan my routes. If you are too timid to ride on city streets then stay on the side streets. Its just takes common sense not millions of tax dollars!