Wary of public transport, coronavirus-hit Americans turn to bikes
Send a link to a friend
[April 17, 2020]
By Timothy Aeppel
(Reuters) - Add fear to the list of reasons
people ride bikes.
"I'm 51 and healthy, but I don't want to get on the subway," said John
Donohue, a Brooklyn-based artist who bought a bike two weeks ago.
Donohue, who doesn't own a car, says he's not sure when he'll be
comfortable on mass transit again.
The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a surge in bike sales across the
United States, according to a major manufacturer and a half dozen
retailers interviewed by Reuters.
Many of the purchases are by people looking for a way to get outside at
a time of sweeping shutdowns and stay-at-home orders aimed at containing
the virus: Even the worst affected states are allowing people out to
exercise.
Still, a portion of the sales, especially in urban areas, are to people
like Donohue who also want to avoid the risk of contagion on buses or
subways.
He plans to use his new 24-gear hybrid for journeys such as regular
visits to a printing shop across town that he normally travels to by
subway. A key feature, he said, was the bright red panniers he added to
carry his artwork.
To be sure, bikes remain well down the list of U.S. commuting
preferences.
About 870,000 Americans, on average, commuted to work by bicycle in the
five years through 2017, or about 0.6% of all workers, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau. The rate was higher in urban areas, at about 1.1%,
and about 20 cities with at least 60,000 residents had rates of about 5%
or more.
A more recent survey, though, showed a higher percentage of U.S. workers
using a bike to get to work. Private research firm Statista Inc.'s 2019
survey showed 5% rode their own bike, while another 1% used a bike share
service, an increasingly common option in larger cities.
RUNNING OUT OF STOCK
The government has declared bicycles an essential transportation item,
so many bike shops remain open despite the widespread business shutdown.
Many, though, have modified how they operate, no longer letting buyers
test bikes and handing them over on the curb rather than inside the
store.
According to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, roughly
three-quarters of U.S. bike sales are through big box stores. While many
of the outlets of large specialty sporting goods chains are closed,
general merchandisers like WalMart Stores Inc <WMT.N>, the largest
seller of bikes, remain open. Walmart did not respond to a request for
comment.
Kent International Inc., which imports bikes from China and also makes
them at a plant in South Carolina, said sales of its low-priced bikes
had surged over the past month.
Kent is already out of stock on five of its top 20 models and expects
that to rise to 10 by the end of the month, chief executive and chairman
Arnold Kamler said. He noted supplies were flowing in from China, which
has reopened much of its manufacturing base over the past month.
Kamler said sales at most of the major retailers he supplies were up 30%
last month and are up over 50% so far in April, with the surge in demand
forcing him to change shipping arrangements.
[to top of second column]
|
Cyclists ride through Times Square during evening rush hour, during
the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City,
New York, U.S., April 15, 2020. Picture taken April 15, 2020.
REUTERS/Bryan R Smith
He normally imports bikes to ports on both the East and West Coasts.
But with many retailers asking for more bikes, he's now directing
all shipments into West Coast ports, then transporting them across
the country. That adds to freight costs, he said, but can cut weeks
off delivery times.
LOW PRICES
Mark Vautour, who manages a bike store near the Boston University
campus, said he had sold bikes to anxious commuters - including at
least one medical worker who wanted an alternative to using the
subway.
"We've joked for years that trains are like a petri dish," Vautour
said.
Mostly, though, his sales have been children's bikes, "because
parents don't know what to do with their kids."
One indication that people are buying bikes for more utilitarian
uses like commuting is that many of the purchases are low-priced
bikes, several bike retailers said.
Joe Nocella, owner of 718 Cyclery & Outdoors in Brooklyn, said his
normal "sweet spot" was bikes that sell for $1,500 to $2,000, used
by city dwellers for touring.
"Now the average bike has turned to $500 to $800," he said.
Those lower prices are one reason many bike retailers are
struggling, despite strong sales.
Andrew Crooks, chief executive of NYC Velo, a three-store chain in
the New York area, said the drop in average selling prices meant
revenues had fallen at a time when he was still paying rents,
salaries and other costs.
"So we could keep our doors open and still end up with a business
that's not viable," he said.
Still, some new buyers say they are switching to bikes for the long
term.
Having been stuck at home in Baltimore, Kaitlyn Lee bought a $550
bike this weekend so she could get outdoors safely and avoid public
transport when she gets a job.
Lee will finish a graduate degree in public health at the University
of Maryland this spring and has applied for jobs at the Centers for
Disease Control and the Health Resources and Services
Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Her plan is to commute by bike to a future job, if
possible.
"I mean, it'll never completely vanish," she said of the coronavirus.
"Rather we will learn how to live alongside of it, just like with
other viruses."
(Reporting by Tim Aeppel; Editing by Dan Burns and Mark Potter)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |