Age. No surprises here, but what we were really curious to see was how many people under the age of 40 were traveling by bicycle. We've seen map sales ramp up considerably over the past few years, and while we know retirees -- both early and traditional, are our biggest market, the younger demographic is also on the upswing. 370 of the respondents were 40 or under. That's a promising sign for the future of bike travel.
Trip length. What I found interesting was that almost 29% said they bicycle travel for durations of less than one week (no wonder BikeOvernights.org - with the tagline, Don't wait to go cross country. Go Overnight. is so popular). Breakdown also showed that about 29% take 1-2 week trips, with 22% saying 31-89 days was their trip length.
Spending. We get the question, "How much do touring cyclists spend?" often, so tracking the average daily spending was important. We know that researchers on the Great Allegheny Passage tracked $98/day spending by overnight bike tourists (vs. $13 by day riders). We also know that traveling cyclists are typically a pretty thrifty group, and so when nearly 47% responded that they spent $25-75/day and 18.9% spent less than $25/day on their last trip -- we weren't surprised. Conversely, over 21% spent $75-$125/day and almost 10% spent over $125. This is helpful to us as we seek to elevate the needs of bike travelers and draw attention to the economic benefits of bicycling as we coordinate the U.S. Bicycle Route System.
Shipping. We also wanted to know how travelers shipped their bicycles when transporting them was necessary. 33% used some kind of service: 143 respondents checked their bikes on the airplane, 76 used FedEx, the next most common service, and 63 respondents used UPS. 75 chose to use the train which was great to see because it's not always convenient to combine bike travel and train transport in the U.S., although it's extremely popular in European countries.
Activities off the bike. According to the report generated by the UM students, "The features that riders sought out the most were ?landscapes and/or scenic destinations,? such as National Parks or hiking trails. There was also a high utilization of ?historic sites,? and ?amenities,? such as hotels, restaurants, and ?cultural events.? The popularity of these features shows that cyclists are generally drawn to a community that has a rich culture and beautiful scenery." The researchers also found that cyclists like to spend time in mid-to-small-sized communities, spending a majority of their off-touring days (and their money) in these types of localities.
This data is going to be very helpful as we work with these communities to establish U.S. Bike Routes. It is also helpful as we ask communities to provide amenities that make bike travel easier, and it clarifies what traveling cyclists need to make their trips more convenient. In turn, this will help us focus our efforts on transportation services; how does roll-on/roll-off Amtrak service sound? How about free or reasonable baggage fees for bikes on airlines? Those are not just wishful dreams, we're determined to make these offerings a reality -- and to make sure bike travel plays a role in the tourism industry.
--
BUILDING THE U.S. BICYCLE ROUTE SYSTEM (USBRS) is posted by Ginny Sullivan, USBRS coordinator at Adventure Cycling, and features news and updates related to the emerging U.S. Bicycle Route System. The USBRS project is a collaborative effort, spearheaded by a task force under the auspices of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Members of the task force include officials and staff from state DOTs, the Federal Highway Administration, and nonprofits like the East Coast Greenway Alliance, and Mississippi River Trail, Inc.
Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/05/bike-tourism-impact-survey-results-are.html
No comments:
Post a Comment