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news
Bicycle in Berlin - licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 bu Unodeaqui on Wikimedia CommonsBerlin study finds only a third as many shoppers came by car than retailers assumed
A new study from Germany has found that retailers in Berlin massively overestimated the number of shoppers arriving by car – with only a third as many doing so compared to what they believed. The same research found that people arriving by foot, on bikes or by public transport accounted for more than 90 per cent of takings.
The research, which analysed two shopping streets in the German capital, was conducted by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, with its authors saying that the findings can help city authorities around the world make better informed planning decisions.
Some 145 retailers and 2,000 shoppers were involved in the study, conducted on Kottbusser Damm in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district and Hermannstraße in Neukölln. Retailers believed that 22 per cent of customers came by car, when the figure was in fact just 7 per cent, and making up 9 per cent of spending.
The vast majority of shoppers, 93 per cent, came by public transport or walked or cycled to the two streets, and were responsible for 91 per cent of spending.
IASS researcher Dirk von Schneidemesser said: “The results of this survey confirm the findings of studies published in 2019 on the inner cities of Offenbach, Gera, Erfurt, Weimar and Leipzig.
“Studies on mobility and local economic impacts conducted in other European countries, North America, and Australia paint a similar picture.
“The car is less relevant for local business than is often assumed in policy processes. Pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders are the important customer groups for local business in an urban context.”
Around the world, interventions aimed at promoting active travel are often met with hostility by many businesses in the areas concerned, and von Schneidemesser says that the research suggests that this could be due to preconceptions held by some retailers based on their own behaviour.
Those who drove to their businesses estimated that 29 per cent of customers did likewise, compared to those using other means to get there, who ranged between 10 per cent and 19 per cent – all higher, of course, than the actual figure.
Shop keepers also wildly underestimated the amount of local trade they receive, assuming that just 13 per cent of shoppers lived within 1 kilometre, whereas the actual figure was 51 per cent.
“The findings of this survey are in line with the growing body of literature that suggests improved active travel (ie for pedestrians and cyclists) and transit infrastructure is likely to benefit local business”, said von Schneidemesser.
“Business associations should consider this evidence when weighing the benefits and disadvantages of infrastructure development in order to best represent the interests of local business,” he added.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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12 comments
Most people live in appartment blocks with cellars for bike storage in these districts with very little space per block for car parking which is usually on road (rather than in underground garages). Many inner-German cities are similar. Add to this the no-nonsense attitude of German consumers and I wouldn't have thought you'd need an expensive survey to determine this....
Reminds me of an old German friend who used to take her own bags, bottles and wrapping to supermarkets. She'd buy what she needed, unpack it, put it in her own bags, and tell the supermarket assistance to get rid of the trash. I thought it was mental at the time (25 years) ago, but it was common practice already.
I saw my first UK refill shop yesterday in Lincoln.
This is basically true in any developed city, and most of the time, most retailers over-estimate the number of their customers who arrive by car, and underestimate the people who arrive by other means. This has been shown time after time in English cities, and the case I'm most familiar with, the Gloucester Road in Bristol, the retailers were wildly inaccurate.
Yeah, proof - innit - that more street parking lanes are needed!
The line that stood out for me was of course-
"could be due to preconceptions held by some retailers based on their own behaviour"
Owners of shops never want to have the car parking spaces in front of their shops removed for cycle lanes because where else are they going to park? And their parked car sort of prevents too many of their potential customers parking there either.
Berlin has got loads of cycle lanes already, so I'd expect the shop owners to be less defensive about cycling infrastructure than UK shop owners.
Wasn't the staff parking issue something that came up when they wanted to introduce RPZ in Bristol, peter? I recall the Clifton shop owners all complaining about 'how were they to get to work'?
I particularly remember the hobbyists who 'run' the shops in the Clifton Arcade being particularly vocal when the council wanted to close Boyce's Avenue to motor traffic. All one hundred and fifty metres of cul-de-sac...
That rings a bell.
Cotham Hill seems to be coming along nicely now: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/cotham-hills-temporary-pedestrianised-street-5669874
They're going to be doing a consultation with residents and businesses to see whether to keep it pedestrianised or not, so that'll be interesting to see the result when it happens.
TBH that's not somewhere I ever go.
I've noticed with a lot of Bristol's changes that if the council puts it out to 'proper' consultation then the usual suspects are out in force with their tanks insisting it will destroy the local economy/atmosphere/kittens or something. I've also noticed that if the council just goes for it, on a temporary basis, then they're criticised for not putting it out to consultation.
Look at the mess around pedestrianising a couple of hundred metres of St Marks Road in Easton...
I was surprised at how much the shopkeepers were against St Marks Road being pedestrianised. Whenever I've been there, most of the shoppers arrive on bikes or walking, but then I haven't exactly been surveying them. Of all the shopping areas in Bristol, I'd've thought that St Marks Road would be the best candidate.
My neck of the woods (specifically Beaufort Road) is due for some kind of LTN, but it's been a while since the consultation and haven't heard anything since.
Well yeah but the most vocal opponents were the butchers and the sweet shop, and their main bone of contention was that it would be more inconvenient for them to receive deliveries (nothing to do with what they thought their customers would like).
And the butchers said they had a regular wholesale client from Birmingham who wouldn't be able to park their van. By 'sweet shop' I guess you mean Sweet Mart. Does anyone buy sweets there?
As I recall (been a while since I've been there), they do have some Indian style sweets there, but I find Indian desserts way too sweet for my liking. But yes, they're more of a general purpose Asian shop with a superb selection of freshly made samosas/bhajis/pakoras etc.