A curb serves more than parked cars
A parking space is useful to a shop when it helps a customer reach the door. But it occupies the curb for one vehicle at a time, often for much of a visit. A bicycle lane uses that strip differently: it gives people riding along the street a safer, more direct route past storefronts, where they can notice a display and pull over nearby.
That changes the kind of access a street offers. A customer on a bicycle can make a short stop without finding a car space, and a person on foot may be more willing to browse on a street that feels less dominated by fast-moving traffic. Retail depends not only on how many people arrive, but on how easily they can see, reach, and enter a shop.
The street design matters
A painted lane, a protected lane separated from traffic, and a route that ends abruptly do not offer the same experience. Safe connections to nearby homes, workplaces, and destinations make it more plausible that people will use the route and pass businesses regularly. Clear crossings and convenient places to lock a bicycle also help turn passing traffic into visits.
There are practical tradeoffs. Shops may need space for deliveries, accessible drop-off, or customers who rely on cars; removing curb parking without considering those needs can create real problems. The relevant question is not simply whether parking disappears, but whether the street still supports the ways customers and businesses need to reach the curb.
A bicycle lane cannot guarantee higher sales for every storefront. Its potential advantage is that it can replace a small number of long-duration vehicle spaces with a steady stream of people moving close to the shopfront—and make stopping feel easier for some of them.
