While other studies have examined the economic and non- economic impacts of the use of walking and cycling infrastructure, few have analyzed the employment that results from the design and construction of these projects. This study, performed by the Political Economy Research Institute University of Massachusetts, Amherst, estimated the employment impacts of building and refurbishing transportation infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.
Overall it finds that bicycling infrastructure creates the most jobs for a given level of spending: For each $1 million, the cycling projects in this study create a total of 11.4 jobs within the state where the project is located. Pedestrian-only projects create an average of about 10 jobs per $1 million and multi-use trails create nearly as many, at 9.6 jobs per $1 million. … Road-only projects create the least, with a total of 7.8 jobs per $1 million.