In the world we live in today we are constantly bombarded with news that we are destroying our world. Organisations are clamouring for people to go green and try to do their bit to save mother earth or so we don’t lose her forever. People are still divided on what to believe or even what little contribution they may be able to do to make a difference in their world. Many people feel like they are just one person and are therefore too small to make any kind of change. However I know that if everybody had that same mind-set we will never accomplish anything in life or experience all the amazing discoveries that have been made by man over time. I will like at this point to focus on the transport sector and show how in my opinion there are a lot of little things that we can do in that sector with regards making a change for the better in our society.
It is almost uncommon to go to the home of any average financial earner in our country today and not see a car parked in front of it. Some homes even have more than one car. Cars are seen as a necessity in today’s world and people justify their owning of cars for the main purpose of moving from point A to point B. Many people are of the opinion that owning a car and using it helps them in their work and personal life. I do disagree with that form of thinking as I stipulate that it is better to ride bikes to work than to drive a car.
The Case for Bicycles
It has been noted that since the 40s there has been an increase in the people that use bikes in America and while the commuters with cars still outnumber those using bikes, it does help a lot if more people pick up their bikes to ride as opposed to relying on driving everywhere. There are indeed many benefits for switching over and using bicycles to ride to work.
It is more cost effective to have a bicycle as opposed to driving a car. For a country like America that depends on the Middle East for her oil and energy, she needs to find alternative ways to live that will not include her heavy dependence on oil and cycling is one of such options. Studies have shown that it costs approximately $8,946 for the upkeep of a car but $308 for just any of the bicycle owners (McClatchy, Measuring the Benefits of Bike Riding). This money saved will not just benefit the home that will have some extra money to get stuff done but it will also help America save approximately $7.3 billion a year that they can drastically put into other parts and elements of the society. On a more political note, the less America is dependent on the volatile Middle East the easier it will be for her to make decisions that will affect foreign policy regarding those lands whenever the time arises.
America has been classified as one of those countries that have a very huge ratio of fat or obese people. This is as a result of the people’s sedentary lifestyle, insufficient finances to pay for a gym membership, eating of junk food, hereditary or some other variation of causes (McClatchy, Measuring the Benefits of Bike Riding). While some of these reasons may not be able to be completely sorted out, riding is a free form of exercise that affects the whole body. Statistics have shown that bicycle commuters have on an average lost up to thirteen pounds during their first year of cycling. Cycling affects the whole cardiovascular region and it keeps the heart beating. Most overweight people who start an exercise program usually experience a strain on their joints because of the body weight they carry. Therefore exercises like swimming or cycling where the joints are not being pounded together will be the best fit for those types of people.
There are many amazing things about urban and civilized areas but one of the down sides to living in an urbanised area is the fact that it is usually crowded. The most common reason for this is that businesses and companies usually set up in these areas and people naturally gravitate towards these places in search of work. With the congestion of people in such areas traffic becomes a very bothersome issue. People can spend the best part of their mornings sitting in the traffic jams. These kinds of situations show the value of cycling to work in such an instance. Bicycles are small enough to manoeuvre through tiny spaces and as such the traffic jams rarely affects the cyclist. The latest US census data supports my claim when it states that an average of 25 minutes is spent going to work and twice in a populous city. So cycling will help you get there faster and less frazzled.
Statistics in Favour of Cycling
It is well known that the bicycle commute is a very good and efficient way to exercise and stay fit; it is also a good way to think. While most routes to work will share the same roads as cars, the fresh air that hits your lungs makes it easier for your mind to be cleared. Bike commuting greatly costs down on the money spent on transportation and every penny saved in these times that we live in is always a bonus. Census analysis and estimates have shown that more and more Americans live five miles or less from their work yet only less than 2 per cent of them commute to work by bicycle (Gardner, Bicycle Commuting). As more and more people are beginning to notice the many benefits of commuting by bike to work they are doing their best to spread the word. One of such people is KC Butler education through programs like California Bicycle Commute week to spread the message along. He also works with employers in California to open their eyes to the many benefits of supporting their employees that may cycle to work. In his many sojourns he has gathered statistics along the way to aid his claims. He stipulates that not only can bicycle commutes save the large cities $24.3 billion each year but 12 bikes can be parked in the space reserved for one automobile. 43% of the oil consumed in America daily is spent via driving while 60% of the smog in California is emitted via driving (Gardner, Bicycle Commuting).
The news in the United Kingdom over the past couple of weeks regarding the death of 6 cyclists has been sobering. But in truth that is nothing compared to the lives that have been lost as a result of driving. Studies have been done with regards the many benefits of riding to work as opposed to driving and one of them states that riding to work ensures you get to work motivated and happy and eventually results in a 27% fewer errors at work (Butter, Work, Life, Cycle: Get Ahead on your Bike). These qualities are similar to what employers are looking for when they talk about model employees so this can be another incentive for workers to cycle to work. Professor Zack Furness even corroborated this when he said, “cycle commuting provides the perfect combination of physical and mental exercise to keep one feeling sharp and focussed” (Butter, Work, Life, Cycle: Get Ahead on your Bike). As the author of One Less Car I am inclined to agree with him. The Silicon Valley bicycling coalition adds statistics to their claim when they say that research has shown that productivity at work is raised by 15% when exercise is done before work and cycling is a full body exercise” (Butter, Work, Life, Cycle: Get Ahead on your Bike) . To ride properly, one has to be completely present and that on its own is a total mental exercise. If you live in a very busy city and still manage to cycle to work regularly it shows your employers that you are capable of managing challenges – from navigating busy routes and dealing with other cyclists and motorists that use the same routes as you to ensuring that all your bike gear is properly stored. It also affords people who barely have time to stop and smell the roses to enjoy the urban scenery. When you ride a bike it makes you feel so alive and it helps you experience things about your city of abode that you may have never been able to otherwise. Cycling also puts you in a better mood and helps speed up your metabolism.
Reasons to Take up Cycling
There are many reasons for people to take up biking with the most popular ones being an obesity epidemic that is only getting worse, the high prices of gas and the deteriorating quality of our air. One easy way to handle all these problems is by cycling to work as opposed to driving (Dayton Daily News, Bike Riding has its Benefits). While many people that have considered this option put it off because they do not want to spend so much longer on the road, the truth is that the difference in time is not all that much and the benefits are so much better than whatever obstacles might be on the way.
A scientific research has proven that cycling makes commuting safer for people. This research showed that the more cyclists on the road, the safer that road will be for everyone involved. Because life is more or less a vicious cycle; when these safe cyclists are on their way, people see them and aspire to cycle as well. The health benefits of cycling also go beyond changing of the body physique. A study by the University of Nottingham showed that people who took the public transit were six times more likely to suffer various respiratory infections as fresh air is very beneficial to us. Riding a bike exposes you to fresh air and that does your body good.
Many of the first world countries today encourage their citizens to cycle. In the United Kingdom it is an on-going cause especially in the more crowded cities like London and the rest where an extra car on the road could amount for up to 5 minutes of traffic. The same is also true for America where commuters who cycle are entitled to a $20 per month reimbursement to cover bike related expenses. This is one of the many ways the people are encouraged to cycle to work because it applies to those workers who bike to the office for at least three days of their working week. These expenses could be anything from expenses accrued from storage or bike repairs
The Case against Cars
The world we live in today is so fast paced that you either learn to meet up or get left behind. This applies as well to our commuting. Over time our commuting has changed with early men walking, then horse and carts, and then after different forms of transport with wheels. Today owning a car is not a luxury as it is seen more like a necessity than anything else. Civilization has made it necessary as people need their cars to go to work, or do their school runs, shop or the many other things people need their cars for. While it is the truth that cars do help one achieve all the things listed above as well as more, cars may no longer be the best and most reliable form of transportation any more.
There are so many reasons why people have started rethinking the use of cars especially with regards the work commute. While there are many big issues like over dependence on oil and gas products from the countries that provide them to the USA, to the way gas emissions affect our world and pollute our air. There are also the many health benefits that one can benefit from if they choose to take an alternative form of transportation like cycling.
Researchers have studied and shown that riding a bike to work saves lives in more than one way. It helps the heart pump blood and builds cardiovascular benefits. It prevents the rider from having to inhale fuel emissions that are very dangerous to our lungs. It reduces the stress workers experience in the mornings on their way to work as they are not stuck in traffic or struggling to find a parking space like their counterparts that drive do. This ensures that the cyclists get to work in an already better frame of mind and as such are ready to face the day at work. Productivity at work does not suffer as they do not require any extra time to enable them destress.
Conclusions
There are accidents on our roads and while these accidents could be caused by either car drivers or bicycle riders, a study looking at young and inexperienced drivers claim that there are more car accidents of young drivers than young riders over the same number of miles travelled. Many things can be seen as the cause of such accidents and although inexperience usually seems to be the most common reasons, there are many other bad habits that could contribute to these accidents happening in the first place. One of such causes is social media. There are not enough PSAs in our society that talks about the dangers of texting and driving. The ways the car steering is created makes it easier for such drivers to believe that they can drive and text. However the handle bar of the bicycle does not create such an illusion for the people that ride it so they are more likely to be holding on to these bars with both their hands than doing anything else with them. While I do not have any scientific or research backing my next point I do believe that it is easier to think you can drive a car while inebriated as opposed to riding a bike. Cars are easier to manoeuvre as you don’t have to pedal anything or hold onto handlebars. One can even wind up their windows whereas the blast of air that hits you while you are trying to ride away drunk is bound to sober one up for the duration of that ride.
I could prove my point further in my claim that it is much safer to ride to work as opposed to driving to work. Analytical sciences have shown us that in other to prove a case to be true one has to define the boundary of that case. If this design can hold up then it is claimed to be able to work in every situation. Using the above theory I could pull out statistics of the United States and commuters’ death. In 2010, there were approximately 35,000 deaths caused by car crashes alone as opposed to the 620 deaths caused by cyclists. That is a great difference in ratio and it boggles my mind to think of how many lives may be saved in more ways than one if we could make a simple life change of commuting by bikes for our short commutes.
As people that value our lives we could put action to our words by cycling. It works out your whole body and it does not cost you any gym membership fee but provides all the highs that come along with working out in the gym. Exercise lengthens our live spans and cycling could help achieve that as people who exercise are less prone to illness when compared to those who do not. The benefits of exercise on our bodies and minds cannot be overemphasized and these benefits are physical, mental, emotional, social and financial. The time it takes to commute by bikes for distances of 3 miles or less is better than what it takes the driver and equivalent for distances of 3 to 5 miles. The fear therefore that people will have to wake up even earlier to be able to make the bicycle trip to work is therefore unfounded.
While it may be daunting to look at these cons and still want to pick up a bicycle and ride to work, I will like to advise the people to look at this the way everything else in life is been looked at – by weighing the pros and cons. If anybody does this then I am more inclined to think that they will understand and agree with me when I say that overall and looking at the big and small picture it is better to ride to work as opposed to driving to work.
References
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