According to a new report by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, planning and building bicycle and pedestrian projects creates more job per million dollars spent than road repairs and road resurfacing.  The study finds that in the City of Baltimore pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects create 11 to14 jobs per $1 million of spending, while road infrastructure projects create approximately 7 jobs per $1 million of expenditures.

U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) secretary Ray LaHood in his blog Fastlane.com stated that this study, when combined with a new survey released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that indicates widespread public support -- 67 percent -- in America's cities for street designs that increase physical activity, “creates a powerful argument for continuing U.S. DOT's support for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects.”