German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Europe’s biggest bike trade fair Eurobike last Wednesday, signaling a huge step forward for the cycling advocacy movement. At the same time ECF released its analysis of the “Economic benefits of cycling in the EU-27” making it clear that such high level interest in cycling is set to continue. Senior politicians are beginning to realize that daily cycling not only changes the face of our cities for the better, it also makes much sense in economic terms.

Calculating all internal and external benefits of cycling together and adding the turnover of related industries, ECF estimates the number to be well above € 200 bn annually, or more than € 400 for every person that lives in the EU. By far the biggest single chunk is on the health side, with over € 110 bn annually. ECF calculated this figure by using the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for Cycling, developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Calculating all internal and external benefits of cycling together and adding the turnover of related industries, ECF estimates the number to be well above € 200 bn annually, or more than € 400 for every person that lives in the EU.

Type of benefit	In Euro for 2010 in EU-27
1. Health benefits: reduced mortality	114 - 121    bn Euro
2. Congestion easing	24.2            bn Euro
3. Fuel savings at 100 US$/barrel	2.7 - 5.8      bn Euro
4. Reduced CO2 emission	1.4 - 3.0      bn Euro
5. Reduced air pollution	0.9              bn Euro
6. Reduced noise pollution	0.3              bn Euro
7. Tourism Industry	44               bn Euro
8. Bicycle Industry	18               bn Euro
Total	205 - 217.3 bn Euro

You can read the full report and see the detailed calculations behind the numbers at: ECF Economic Benefits of Cycling in EU-27

Despite the excellent work done by the WHO, there is still a long way to go within the health sector in promoting active mobility. ECF therefore has the following 3 key messages to the political world in general and to the health sector in particular:

• Cycling policy needs continuous political leadership and coordination from the very top down. Cycling has links to many different policy departments[i]. This fragmentation needs to be overcome. ECF therefore encourages government at all levels[ii] to develop and implement cross-departmental cycling action plans.
• As the main socioeconomic benefit of cycling is on the health side, the ECF calls in particular upon the health sector to live up to its responsibility. Health departments should actively reach out to other departments for fully inclusive cycling policies. This also relates to the concept of ‘health in all policies’. Health departments and health insurance programmes are also invited to financially support cycling projects, e.g. cycling infrastructure investments and promotion campaigns. Another tool is to offer regular active commuters health insurance discounts.   
•  The “polluter pays” principle is finding more and more political support. The European Commission stated in its White Paper on Transport (2011[iii]) the ambition to “Proceed to the full and mandatory internalization of external costs (including noise, local pollution and congestion)”. ECF welcomes the progress being made here but thinks that the external health benefits of cycling should be included in this policy framework.

 

For reading ECF’s political messages in further detail please see ECF_Economic benefits of cycling_political messages. The detailed calculations behind the numbers can be found in the full report: ECF_Economic benefits of cycling in EU-27. See full infografic

ECF would like to point out that these calculations can be replicated to a large extent at every local, regional and national level and we encourage cycling advocates to do so when speaking to their politicians. The WHO currently organizes a number of training webinars in English and German language on how to use the HEAT tool.

 

Notes to the editor:

[i] Transport, environment and energy, public health, urban affairs/ city planning, education, tourism, finances, etc.

[ii] Local, regional, national, European.

[iii] European Commission, White Paper Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system, COM(2011) 144 final

[iv] Croatia who joined the EU as 28^th member state on July 1, 2013 could not be included in this study.

[v] Direct internal and external benefits are estimated at € 143.2 – 155.3 bn (Health benefits of cycling; Congestion-easing due to cycle use; Fuel savings due to cycle use; Reduced CO2 emissions due to cycle use; Reduced air pollution due to cycle use; Reduced noise pollution due to cycle use); industry turnover estimated at € 62 bn, thereof the tourism industry (€ 44 bn) and the bicycle industry (€ 18 bn).

- See more at: http://www.ecf.com/news/bigger-than-denmark-economic-benefits-of-cycling-in-the-eu-27/#sthash.o52evZyd.dpuf