High gas prices help bike, scooter sales

BOULDER, Colo., May 9 (UPI) -- Surging gas prices helped boost bicycle, road bike and scooter sales in the first quarter of this year, a Boulder, Colo., retail tracking firm said.

Sales of new bikes rose 9 percent, compared with the same period in 2010, while road bike sales jumped 29 percent and sales of gas-powered scooters were up nearly 50 percent, USA Today reported Monday.

The AAA Fuel Gauge Report said the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.96.

"We see spikes when fuel prices rise," said Ty van Hooydonk, Leisure Trends Group spokesman. He said many scooters average 60-80 miles per gallon.

When gas prices peaked in the summer of 2008, U.S. Census data indicated bike commuting rose 15 percent nationwide from 2007.

"We're starting to see the same thing playing out in 2011," Andy Clarke, president of the bike advocacy group League of American Bicyclists, told USA Today.

Tim Blumenthal, president of Peopleforbikes.org, said he expects pump prices to rise more, carrying bike sales along with them.

Blumenthal said the increase in bike trails and bike-sharing programs are helping the sales boom. The federal government has made an "unprecedented" $2 billion investment in trails in the past two years, he said.

The League of American Bicyclists designated 179 communities in 44 states as bike-friendly, up from 25 in 2003.