JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Bicycles a vehicle

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Bicycles: a vehicle for job creation? Gail Jennings MOBILITY gail@mobilitymagazine. co. za www. mobilitymagazine. co. za In brief More 1

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport SA’s bicycle context • Less than 1% of people in cities ride as transport • A sporting culture • Minimal infrastructure • Minimal bicycle touring • High cost of bicycles • Marginal commuter culture • No bike share / minimal rental • No manufacture / some assembly In brief More 2

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Bicycle ownership SA • 15 million functional bicycles in existence • Sales approx 300 000 a year • Enormous variety of types • Sport related (mainly road bicycles) 20% • Leisure/touring/recreation (mountain bikes mainly) 35% • Work/transport of goods 10% • Commuting adults 10% • Children 25% In brief More 3

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Areas of opportunity • • Manufacturing Assembly Touring / events Infrastructure / path building • Maintenance • Rental / bike share • Poverty alleviation (reduced cost of transport) In brief More 4

GDS 40 Green Transport International studies • • In brief More Baltimore Barcelona Portland Maine Wisconsin Colorado New UK study (Gross Bicycle Product) – London School of Economics 5

SATC 11 Bike-share Baltimore Estimating the employment impacts of pedestrian, bicycle and road infrastructure • Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects create 11 -14 jobs per USD 1 million of spending, while road infrastructure projects create approximately 7 jobs per USD 1 million of spending • Industries that benefit from on-street bike lanes: construction; architectural, engineering and related services; employment services; food services; real estate, services to buildings and dwellings; wholesale trade businesses, management scientific and technical consulting services; accounting, tax preparation, book keeping and payroll services; legal services In brief More 6

SATC 11 Bike-share US Cities The Economic Benefits of Bicycling: tourism and events Location Number of jobs Wisconsin 2 400 (direct) Colorado 2519 (direct) City of Portland 600 -800 (direct) In brief More 7

GDS 40 Green Transport UK • Creation of demand: Cycle to Work Scheme has resulted in over 400 000 people to date using tax incentive to ‘buy’ a bike • Touring: 12 600 miles of the National Cycle Network in the UK – 1 700 Cycle Network jobs are estimated to be supported by cycling infrastructure (build and maintenance) In brief More 8

GDS 40 Green Transport UK - 2 • 3. 7 m bikes sold in 2010 • 208 million cycle journeys made in 20101 • Net addition of 1. 3 m new cyclists in 2010 • 200 000 people took part in events across the UK in 2010 • 22 000 people daily, sharing 5 000 hire bikes through the Barclays Cycle Hire in London In brief More 9

GDS 40 Green Transport UK - 3 • In 2010, gross cycling product (GCP) reached £ 230 per cyclist, per year Cycling Employment Summary 2010 Employment Sales 20 000 • If this growth trend continues, 1 m additional cyclists could contribute £ 141 m to the UK economy by 2013 while reducing absenteeism and improving the health Manufacturing 900 • 23 000 employed directly in cycling economy, generating over £ 500 m in wages and £ 100 m in taxes Infrastructure • Cycling accessories = £ 853 m a year In brief 2 515 More 10

GDS 40 Green Transport South Africa In brief More 11

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Manufacturing • Demand in SA? Estimate 50 000 a year market to make manufacturing viable • Shova Kalula: 72 000 of the proposed million bicycles delivered to date (over 10 year period) • Three bicycle manufacturing plants be established in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Kwa. Zulu-Natal (fourstaged approach, by year 4, 100% local) • Cost of local manufacture cannot compete with imports (China) but importation does not contribute towards local economic development? • But increased USE of bicycles could… In brief More 12

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Assembly • Two assembly plants in SA (Cape Town and PMB– Qhubeka) • Import CKD from China • 200 fulltime assemblers and admin staff • 3 500 ‘treepreneurs’ (100 trees for a bike) and 1 000 waste-preneurs (1 500 kg for a bike) • 3 -person team assembles 20 bikes a week In brief More 13

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Trails, tours, events • Increase in the number of visitors to an area that increases the likelihood of money being spent • Attract people to visit a region or induce them to stay longer • Money on food, accommodation, services, souvenirs, etc • ‘Argus’ Cycle Tour 400 mil ZAR impact for the week • Social development in the area (eg Sani 2 C, Imana Wild ride) In brief More 14

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Trail building • 700 km of footpaths (and bicycle) in Table Mountain National Park • Used poverty alleviation funding • Includes alien clearing • 100 jobs over 4 -5 years paths • 1 000 jobs a year clearing • Learn basics of path building In brief More 15

GDS 40 Green Transport Maintenance • No current accredited bicycle maintenance training • No current industry recognised certification process or programme • Establish outcomes and work with relevant SETA to develop programme In brief More 16

GDS 40 Green Transport Rentals and bike share • • • In brief More Low-tech About job-creation Helmets Indemnities Private owned High-tech No indemnities Credit card Pre-register About 2000 US per bike to implement 17

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport A bicycle rental at one of Cape Town’s premier tourist destinations, the V&A Waterfront, was renting out one bicycle day, but needs to rent at least six a day to break even. ‘Not a single local has rented a bicycle. ’ In brief More 18

SATC 11 Bike-share Cheaper options are disadvantaged by their excessive paperwork, the manual recording of customer information, the signing of indemnities, and the slow interface required between customer and attendant. This means that bike share isn’t the ‘personal rapid transit’ that makes it attractive elsewhere. ’ Eric Britton, of the World City Bike Forum In brief More 19

GDS 40 Green Transport Micro-enterprise • Informal bicycle share/rental • Pedi-cabs • Maintenance and sales of refurbished bicycles • Bicycle taxis and ambulances • Health-care workers In brief More 20

GDS 40 Green Transport Poverty alleviation • Reduced cost of travel • Increased ability to access employment and services • Travel further in order to find employment • Access to education and goods • Independence and flexibility In brief More 21

GDS 40 Green Transport Concluding thoughts • What do we know? • Not much; paucity of research both in South Africa and elsewhere • We know what has worked elsewhere, and it might not work here • But we do know that increased use of bicycles WILL lead to local economic development, poverty alleviation and job creation, no matter the scale • Create the demand, facilitate the opportunities, promote bicycle transport and bicycle travel… In brief More 22

JHB GDS 2040 Green Transport Thank you for your time and interest. In brief More 23