• Stiffen penalties against driving snowmobiles while intoxicated. “A concern is that snowmobile trails go from bar to bar,” as Rep. Marlin Schneider put it.

• Permanently set the nighttime snowmobile speed limit at 55 mph. Department of Natural Resources snowmobile safety instructor Gary Eddy said that speed limit, enforced over a three-year trial period, has helped reduce fatalities from 36 in 2006 to 23 in 2009.

• Give the DNR authority it does not now have, bizarrely, to issue tickets for trespassing on public land that is off limits to snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and other off-road motor vehicles.

While I support all the above – who wouldn’t? – I was actually there to speak for Senate Bill 266, which would create a Nonmotorized Recreation and Transportation Trails Council. Such a body is needed to advise the governor and state agencies on how best to expand and maintain pathways for hiking, biking, skiing, paddling and the like.

But as I listened to all the snowmobile talk, I wondered if the lawmakers at the table adequately appreciated that silent sports don’t rack up the public costs associated with motorsports. Enthusiasts of nonmotorized recreation simply don’t burden our cops and courts with drunk driving, speeding and off-trail trespassing and vandalism cases. Certainly nothing like snowmobiling “bad apples running down deer and ducks,” as described by committee chairman Rep. Terry Van Akkeren.

Our chosen sports generate tourism and economic development dollars, as well as improve health immeasurably, without costing much in terms of policing. Just how much does our economy benefit? Well, snowmobiling generates just under $250 million annually, according to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, although the sport’s costs are left uncalculated.

Compare that to the $1.5 billion a year bicycling means to Wisconsin.

Yes, $1.5 billion. A year. According to a new study by graduate students in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that economic impact includes $924 million worth of recreational bicycling. Deer hunting in the state is a $926 million pastime, by the way. Almost 50 percent of Wisconsinites bike, spending $388 million while enjoying Wisconsin’s extensive network of bicycle trails and scenic country roads and participating in bicycle races, rides for charity and tours, the authors of the study wrote. Out-of-state cyclists spend another $535 million a year in Wisconsin.

These numbers are huge but not surprising in the country’s second-best state for cycling, as determined by the League of American Bicyclists. In reaction to the study, Bikeportland.org, editor-in-chief Jonathan Maus wrote that while bicycle advocacy is big in his area of Oregon, “the size of our bike economy is peanuts compared to Wisconsin’s.” And although he didn’t address the study, you know Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press columnist Howard Meyerson would be envious. The headline over his Feb. 7 column was “State leaders miss mark by ignoring economic impact of nonmotorized trail recreation.”

Now the challenge in Wisconsin is the follow-through. The study, titled “Valuing Bicycling’s Economic and Health Impacts in Wisconsin,” notes that bicycling has created 13,000 Wisconsin jobs and that a 20 percent increase in biking by the general population could increase economic activity by $107 million and create 1,500 more jobs. Replacing short automobile trips with bike rides could reduce air pollution and health care costs by $400 million. The savings from having to treat Milwaukee and Madison residents for asthma and bronchitis would be worth almost $90 million alone, the study says.

The authors plan to next look at how more bike lanes, traffic signals and more segregated bike paths can encourage the young and the old to bike more. The payoff is already evident. It would be foolish to ignore cycling’s current impact or its potential any more.

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The comments on this story are written by our readers and are not necessarily the opinion of this publication or any of its sponsors.

RichR
3/25/10 - 11:55AM

I am an avid cyclist and do most of my cycling here is Wisconsin. But I must say that I think this study is overstating the economic impact on the state. First of all it says 50% of people in the state cycle.Think of your neighborhood, I live near Wheel zzz Sprocket in Delafield, my neighbors, maybe 10% touch a bicycle for excercise. Out of staters spend $535 Mil? If that occurs during 6 months of the year, it means $90 mil per month, that means 90,000 people spending $1,000 per week here because they are cycling , just cannot be. Only if you count visitors here to camp and they bring their bike. The math just does not add up.

 

Awf Hand
3/25/10 - 8:39PM

The numbers do seem pretty incredible. I did some quick figuring and 173 Ind. Bike Dealers and 80 Walmarts, as many Kmarts, many FzzzF's, Shopkos, Pamida's and other similar stores all selling bikes and bike accessories could account for a lot of the total, no doubt. Add manufacturer Trek's sales presence adds to this figure. If those conducting the study considered costs of bike trail/lane establishment and maintenance in the equation, they could arrive at some big numbers. I too would like to know how they determined the out of state spendings, unless it was all in Trek sales and service...

 

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