What's biking worth? A January study tried to give it a dollar value for the state of Wisconsin.They found that, between the money spent on bikes and related services, the tourism generated by the state's biking trails, and the positive health and environmental effects, the benefits of biking totaled $1,927,943,157.The study was conducted by the a team from the University of Wisconsin at Madison's environmental studies school.Here's their topline chart:Of course, this figure isn't exact. The value of greenhouse gas reductions, for example, was calculated based on carbon's value in the offset market, and it would never actually be sold that way. Also, if there weren't biking opportunities in Wisconsin people would be going to the movies or buying gas and those things would have their own economic benefits and drawbacks.This is still a striking assessment, though. Wisconsin ranks 2nd on the League of American Bicyclists' list of bike friendly states. It's nice to see that that designation means something in monetary terms.You can find the full report and related links at the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin website.Photo (cc) from Flickr user royal broil.
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