This interesting tidbit brought to you by Reuters. Here's the link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O2KJ20100125
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AMSTERDAM (Reuters Life!) - Recession or not, the cycle-happy Dutch are still spending a lot of money on their bicycles -- nearly 1 billion euros' worth a year, in fact.
About 1.3 million bicycles were sold in the Netherlands last year, at an average price of 713 euros ($1,008) each, an industry association said on Monday.
That led to total revenue of 950 million euros for the year, up 4 percent on 2008, the RAI Vereniging said. The per-bike price was also up 3.5 percent.
The country's flat geography and high population density has made the bicycle one of the primary modes of transportation, with 18,000 km (11,180 miles) of cycle paths nationwide.
Statistics compiled by the International Bicycle Fund show a higher percentage of all trips is made by bike in the Netherlands than any other country in the world. According to Statistics Netherlands, in 2007 nearly one in four Dutch workers commuted by bike.
(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Well lets see...my yearly bike budget is ~$1300 so if we can get a few million more people on board we are good to go. :-D
ReplyDeleteAaron
Wow--that's an incredibly high average price for a bike. I guess if your bike is largely supplanting your car....
ReplyDeleteHere's what I don't get:
ReplyDeleteTheir bicycles are built to last forever. And they sell 1.3 million of them a year. There are about 16 million people in the Netherlands. So, in a 12-year period, they sell enough bikes to supply every man, woman and child in the country.
Where are all those old Batavus and Omas going?
Into the drink (canals)...then being hauled out and sent to place like Africa. Seriously they have a huge problem with bike theft. It is not unsual to see an older Oma/Opa bike with a HUGE chain to lock it up.
ReplyDeleteAaron
Hey Mike another thought, there are people in the NL that have more than one bike, and you have children growing and getting new bikes.
ReplyDeleteAaron