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12 reasons to start using a bicycle for transportation
Economic instability and ever-increasing climate change are just two of the many reasons riding a bike is an excellent alternative to driving.
Thu, Mar 18 2010 at 10:20 AM
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Photo: Lighter Footstep
We're continuing our look at smart ways to start saddling up and using bicycles for real transportation.
We've always taken the greenness of bike transport as a given. But if you're just getting started — or perhaps trying to convince an employer that bicycle commuting is a good thing — we've rounded up a dozen reasons to leave that car in the driveway and start covering pavement on two wheels. Let's ride!
1) It's easier to finance a new bicycle than a new car. Thanks to the recession, auto loans are hard to find these days — even if you have good credit. But for the price of a single car payment, you can buy a well-made bicycle that should outlast most cars. Add a few hundred dollars more for rain gear, lights and accessories, and you have all-weather, anytime transportation.
2) A bicycle has a tiny manufacturing footprint when compared to a car. All manufactured goods have environmental impact, but bicycles can be produced for a fraction of the materials, energy and shipping costs of a car.
3) Bicycles produce no meaningful pollution when in operation. Bikes don't have tailpipes belching poisonous fumes into the atmosphere. They also eliminate the oil, fuel and hydraulic fluids dripped by automobiles onto the road surface — which means less toxic runoff into local waterways.
4) Bikes save taxpayers money by reducing road wear. A 20-pound bicycle is a lot less rough on the pavement than a two-ton sedan. Every bicycle on the road amounts to money saved patching potholes and resurfacing city streets.
5) Bicycles are an effective alternative to a second car. Perhaps you're not in a position to adopt a bicycle as primary transportation. But bikes make great second vehicles. You can literally save thousands of dollars a year using a bicycle for workday commuting and weekend errands in households which might otherwise be forced to maintain two cars.
6) Using a bike for transportation can help you lose weight and improve your overall health. The health benefits of regular aerobic exercise are well-known. Depending on your riding style and local road conditions, you could easily burn 600 calories an hour through brisk cycling. Most bike commuters report losing 15 to 20 pounds during their first year in the saddle without changing their eating habits.
7) You can store a dozen bicycles in a single automobile-sized parking place. Parking lots have enormous environmental and financial impact, particularly in urbanized areas. The more bikes you can get on the road, the fewer parking spaces you need to build.
8) Bicycles don't burn gasoline. Fuel is cheap compared to last year, and the economic downturn is likely to keep a lid on petroleum demand for a while. But we're not producing any more oil today than we were when it was more than $100 a barrel. A healthy bike culture will help ease pressure on supply once demand returns.
9) Bicycling may be faster and more efficient than taking a car. We're not talking about the crazy — and illegal — antics of New York bicycle messengers. But bikes are often faster than cars in urban areas, especially when city designers have set aside proper bike lanes. There's nothing more satisfying as a bicycle commuter than breezing past a long line of gridlocked traffic.
10) Bikes cost much less to maintain and operate than automobiles. You'll never throw a rod on a bicycle, and dropping a transmission on a bike usually means replacing a bent derailleur hanger or worn-out chain. Bicycles do require service, but you can learn to perform most of it yourself. Even if you have a shop do things for you, costs will be trivial compared to a car.
11) Bicycles provide mobility for those who may not qualify or afford to drive. Not everyone can get a driver's license (or wants one), and the cost of purchasing, insuring and maintaining a car is out of reach for a lot of people. Almost everyone can afford some sort of bike. Other than walking, bicycles are the most cost-effective transportation on the planet.
12) Studies show that bicycle commuters are healthier, more productive, and require less time off at work. This is why most enlightened employers are eager to accommodate commuting cyclists. Healthy workers are better workers — and that's good for the bottom line. Bikes are smart business.
So there are 12 reasons to dust-off that bicycle in your garage in time for Bike to Work Day (the third Friday in May). Can you think of others? Leave a comment below.
Copyright Lighter Footstep 2009
Thumbnail photo: Melissa Billie/Flickr
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In addition to the environmental/economic/health benefits, bikers tend to be a friendlier lot (tho there are exceptions of course). In Europe I saw huge crowds of bikers commuting to work and chatting with each other, being considerate and following the laws. biking is less anonymous
a couple of the riders in that photo need to air up their tires, big time....
Theres an excuse for everything it seems...do it or dont but why beat up on the very IDEA of doing it?? Its ridiculous...to me, those that dont bike to work or to run errands are missing out but thats their call..and i agree with the posters that are saying you need to pay attention - always - and NEVER assume that drivers see you!!
Well said. I have one neighbor who was honest. He said he just didn't want to do it. No excuses were made or contrary arguments give.
until my husband got hit by a truck!
No shower available at work.
For 8 years I biked to work when I lived in MA. Took one year off after getting broadsided by a minivan but did get back on the bike.
Now that I work for a health insurance company I can't ride because we don't have a shower. Go figure.
?? Not sure what not having a shower has to do with you not biking to work.
THANKS....FORTHEgreatARTICLE/COMMENTS..............
WHYnotTRYPUBLICTRANSPORTATION......................................
Public transportation doesn't go near where I live. Not everyone lives in "Metropolis."
Texas has Milemeter insurance company that can insure a low-utilization car for a fraction of the normal insurance cost. I have saved thousands on insurance alone. More states need that. After all, sometimes you need the car but 1,500 miles/year on a car shouldn't require as much insurance as 15,000/year.
Please show me where you got your information for number 4. What damages roads significantly are not passenger cars but large trucks such as eighteen wheelers and delivery trucks. In fact the effects of passenger cars are negligible for a typical road. At least that is what was stated during a graduate class taken for asphalt design.
Heavy Trucks cause the most wear, hundreds of times worse than a car. But on most commuter routes, there are dozens of cars for each heavy truck.
My beef is with the advice that you can do most of the service yourself. I bike thousands of miles a year, have most of the tools needed, and say most bike maintenance is not for amateurs.
As a former bike mechanic, I disagree - if you're at all mechanically inclined, most bike maintenance is easy to learn. Anyone who regularly uses a bike for transportation would be well-advised to learn the basics, such as fixing flats, adjusting derailleurs and brakes, etc.
You are probably refering to data on state and interstate roads designed for 18 wheelers. That's not where bicycles are. It's impossible to believe that car damage to side-street asphalt roads is negligable. After any cracks develop, small amounts of stress break it up quickly. Anyone with an asphalt driveway or on an asphalt side-street has seen for himself what cars do.
I ride Bicycles and I ride Motorcycles. In nearly 45 years of both I have had no accidents, 1000's of near misses and close calls, yes. the secret is NEVER EVER let your guard down, not even a millisecond because it will cost you. Obey traffic laws and drive for everyone else on the road. enjoy the ride
Sounds fabulous but it is unrealistic when you have children you have to take to school on your way to work or to work with you because you teach at their school.
Kids to school... This is how you do that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n_znwWroGM or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4tfh4_a5gs
I take my son to school on my way to work. He rides on the back of my cargo bike. Even Trek is making one of these this year. Kona Ute, Yuba Mundo, Surly Big Dummy, or Xtracycle conversion kits all provide this type of utility.
No longer will you say "if only..." you will get there by bike faster, right to the door, and enjoy the trip! :-)
My sporadic bicycle commuting stooped when my son was born. I have always had to work full time and my job all but requires me to drive almost daily. Still I would try to ride at least once or twice a week. First childcare now school demands have put an end to even that. I really look for opportunities to bike to work but it just does not work out.
If you go to Holland, you will see thousands of mothers biking to school and work with their kids in tow.
Just like this: http://www.dutchcitybike.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/bakfiets.jpg
This isn't Holland. It may work for big cities, but that's where it ends.
There may be other reasons, but the ones you state aren't enough. Between trail-a- bikes and cargo bikes and your kids riding their own bikes; having kids, especially if you teach at their school, is not enough of a reason to not ride to work in and of itself.
Actually, if your kids rode bikes with trailers, you could carry even that much MORE stuff!
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