PORTLAND, OR AREA DROP IN CAR USE FREES $138M/ YR

-> According to BikePortland.org calculations, Portland, OR area’s drop in car use frees up $138 million in their local economy every year. Multnomah County auto registrations per resident are down 7 percent since 2007. Using a conservative estimate, by not owning 38,501 cars that they would have owned in 2007, Multnomah County residents are saving $83,855,178 each year to spend on other things. As of 2014 Portland-area residents are also driving about 8 percent less than they did in 2007, saving another $53,945,366. This shift happened with hardly anyone noticing. Not only has 7 percent of per-capita car ownership and 8 percent of per-capita driving been eliminated from the economy without overall ill effects — the local economy has been booming. See details at http://bit.ly/2bhziyb

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.