Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business: A Study of Queen Street West in Toronto’s Parkdale Neighbourhood

Shoppers mainly arrive to Parkdale area by walking & cycling and spend more money than people who arrive by car: study

A new report adds more evidence to the trend that shoppers on busy main streets mainly arrive by walking and cycling and spend more money. Researchers collaborated with Cycle Toronto's Ward 14 group and the Parkdale Village BIA to execute the study. 

Key Points from Executive Summary

• 72% of visitors to the Study Area usually arrive by active transportation (by bicycle or walking). Only 4% report that driving is their usual mode of transportation. 

• Merchants overestimated the number of their customers who arrived by car. 42% of merchants estimated that more than 25% of their customers usually arrived by car.

• Visitors who reported using active transportation to visit the Study Area visited more often and spent more money per month than those who usually drove or relied on public transit. 

• Visitors to the Study Area were much more likely to prefer a bike lane or widened sidewalks over no change, even if this resulted in the loss of on-street parking. 

• Merchants preferred the current layout of Queen Street to one with expanded sidewalks or a bike lane but reduced on-street parking.

• A majority of visitors (53%) and merchants (64%) stated that there was not enough bicycle parking within the Study Area. 

• Merchants were more likely than visitors to perceive the amount of car parking as inadequate: 52% of merchants stated there was not enough car parking in comparison with 19% of visitors.

Read the full report here.

Authors: Chan, M., Gapski, G., Hurley, K., Ibarra, E., Pin, L., Shupac, A. & Szabo, E. (November 2016)