There are getting more people living in cities due to better job opportunities and education. So, commuting within cities becomes our routine and lifestyle. Hence, people drive. Conversely, bike commuting seems odd.
Do you agree with that? Let me show you.
We all want a good life. And what we do? We study and work hard to earn a good living. And we want to buy a nice house and a luxurious car.
You see the point. Not only does a car help in commuting, but that car represents social status and success.
In contrast, if you saw a guy riding on a bike to work, you might have a negative perception on him. He struggles in life and is financially unstable.
And when someone chat with his friend, he may speak something like this. “Yeah, he is a great guy, but he rides to work, how pathetic.” Meanwhile, they both roll their eyes and laugh sardonically……
That’s the purpose of this post! I want to break this common, yet toxic perception on bike commuting.
Hence, I would like to talk about 6 common reasons why bike commuting should be a future trend and our lifestyle.
1. Save money
It’s end of the month. So you sit down and calculate your monthly spending, hoping that it doesn’t exceed your budget again. Hopefully, you can save some money, too.
And these are your expenses:
- Meals
- Car and property instalments
- Utilities
- Entertainment
- Petrol cost
- Car park
- Car maintenance
At the end of the calculation, you are upset. Because your spending exceeds your budget again. While you already cut your entertainment spending, you still can’t save any money.
Well, you cannot cut other expenses! Actually, you can cut the car-related costs, ie. petrol, car park and maintenance.
How to do this? Definitely bike commuting helps!
Obviously, you don’t need to incur these costs if you ride to work. Meaning, the more you ride to work, the more money you can save.
And this is for those who own a car. For those who don’t have a car and solely rely on their bike to commute, they can save even more.
Talk about the cost of buying the car. And it’s huge! Many people borrow money from the bank to purchase the car. In return, the bank charges interests.
Thus, they don’t have to borrow money from the bank to buy cars at all. So, they don’t need to pay interests to the bank as well.
After all, they can simply get a cheap bike to travel from Point A to Point B.
2. Reduce traffic
Nothing is worse than starting your day with a hectic lifestyle. Still, it is our routine……
You drive to work. Like everyday routine, you are stuck in traffic. You don’t think you can reach the office on time anymore. That’s because your time is wasted on the stupid traffic jam.
You start to lose patience. And you get to honk your horn although you know that is pointless. Meanwhile, you realize that there is another car accident, again. That explains the traffic jam.
You can’t do anything but wait. While checking the time on your watch, you know you will be getting scolded by your boss again because of being late. – Another day is ruined.
Road accident is terribly common, especially in traffic jam.
There was a study on the relationship between traffic volume and accident frequency at intersections. This study analyzed accidents at 120 intersections in Adelaide, Australia.
The researchers studied 3 areas:
- Intersection traffic volume
- Car accident severity
- Rainfall factor to accident.
At the end of the study, the researchers discovered that:
- Intersection car accidents increases as traffic volume increases
- No relationship between traffic volume and car accident severity
- Rainfall increases car accidents greatly for low congestion level.
What it means
You can reduce this risk by bike commuting. In fact, while you choose to ride to work or to school, you are reducing the traffic volume. And this helps other road users too.
This is just like a chain reaction, in a good way.
3. Time consistency
Exactly the same scenario above.
We think we can commute faster by driving. Well, everybody thinks the same. So, everybody prefers driving.
As we know, the time estimation for driving is extremely uncertain. Traffic volume, peak hour, and accidents all contribute to the traffic condition.
And these cause traffic problem. Imagine all motor vehicles squeeze to the same, narrow road, it’s catastrophic.
And here we are wasting our precious time.
This article, based on a study from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, states that commuters waste an average of 54 hours a year getting stuck in traffic. Thit study refers to what happened in the US.
The 54 hours means “extra” time spent on travelling at congested speeds rather than smooth speeds.
But what is the context of 54 hours? Imagine there is 240 annual working days and the extra time spent only happens on working days. Do a simple math and find out the wasted time per day.
You’ll waste 13.5 minutes per day. It doesn’t look so bad. But consider your speed is 60km/h, you can actually travel farther of 13.5km.
Put in other words. Have you not wasted the time, you can sleep 13.5 minutes more. You’ll be more energetic and productive. Or, you can reach the office on time……
And that is just an average. If you stayed in other city, like San Francisco or Washington, the wasted time is even more. And of course, worse.
What it means
Yeah, riding on a bike is slow. But imagine that you don’t have to face this mess. You can easily pass through the traffic while riding on bike lanes.
And imagine the gaze of drivers watching you passing through the traffic effortlessly. In the end, you might even reach your office or school early.
And this is why bike commuting has this privilege. There are fewer factors to consider. So, you can estimate the travelling time pretty well.
Then, you know why bike commuting is right for you.
4. Healthy
“Oh, do you gain some weight? Cause you look a bit chubby” said our cousin, while looking at us.
This is the meanest and most insulting comment ever. Sadly, it is true, though. We start to rationalize. Yeah, we are busy with work and we don’t have time to work out. – Blah blah blah……
We only wish we could stay healthy and fit while not having to work out. Nice, right?
It seems impossible. In fact, it’s possible! We can give bike commuting a try.
Bike commuting essentially is workout. The longer the ride, the longer the workout is. Hence, we burn more calories.
A study has shown that active (cycling and walking) commuting yields several positive health benefits.
Based on the data, the researchers classified participants into 5 groups:
- Non-active commuting (by car and public transport)
- Walking
- Cycling (and cycling plus walking)
- Mixed-mode walking (walking and non-active commuting)
- Mixed-mode cycling (plus walking and non-active commuting)
The results related to cycling were surprising. They found that:
- Cycling and mixed-mode cycling reduce risk of all-cause mortality, cancer mortality, and cancer incidence
- Cycling and walking reduce cardiovascular incidence and mortality.
What it means
Whenever you are riding to work or to school, you are doing something great to your body. You are making yourself to be healthy.
Remember some people loathe hitting the gym after work? They might be too tired or not having enough time to go to the gym. Guess what? You don’t have to worry about this at all.
Riding back home is your routine, and also your workout. You save gym membership fee and the time for workout. – Again, these go back to the earlier reasons.
5. Reduce air pollution
Some people will tell you that they ride to work for the environment.
Cycling doesn’t emit greenhouse gases like other motor vehicles. So, cycling is clean that helps reduce air pollution.
However, other people may claim this as a hoax. Nowadays, advanced car technology makes greenhouse gases emission insignificant. So, it’s unlikely to cause air pollution.
Here’s the thing. When one person does this, it’s perfectly fine. But, when all people do this, that’s another story.
Here, we’re talking about billions of people, not thousands or millions. Every person counts. And when all count, the gasses emission is significant. – Are they confident to say this won’t cause air pollution, at all?
The reverse is true. While the world is condensed with driving, let’s be that person to start cycling. – A small change from ourselves but great change to the society.
6. Benefit urban planning
Everybody knows bike lanes are much smaller than normal lanes. There’s no dispute.
Let me ask you. What if there is huge traffic volume in your city? What should the government or mayor do?
Well, lengthen or add more lanes for sure! But, there is a rippling effect. See. When they lengthen or add more lanes, this substantially increases ROAD DENSITY.
Consequently, the road network system becomes complicated to cater to the high traffic volume. And this need advanced design on the road network system……
In contrast, if everyone rides bike as commuting, we can keep the road system simple. And still minimize the traffic issue.
That’s the beauty of bike commuting. Literally, this saves a lot of space. That’s why bike commuting can actually benefit urban planning. And this benefits both economy and environment.
Economy
From the perspective of urban planning, what can we do with the unused spaces?
Well, we can build more shops. And this provides more business options for residents. In the end, governments can collects taxes from business owners.
Second, building fewer roads means lower construction costs. Don’t forget that the advanced design road network needs substantial cost. And governments can save that money. Plus, the governments can save road maintenance cost, too.
Third, since there is more space, governments can build bigger houses. I’m pretty sure residents will love this!
Environment
Or, they can build more urban parks and plant trees. Not only do they make cities greener, but they also make cities cooler.
Green is the colour of NATURE. It helps reduce stress and elevate our mood. That’s why whenever we approach the nature, we feel calm and relaxed.
Don’t you agree where parks and plants are crucial for us who live in city? Our life is so stressful and we definitely need to relax.
What it means
Many people might not be aware of this.
You see, an excellent urban planning is essential to provide a better lifestyle for residents. Sadly, due to high traffic volume, planners reserve a lot of space to build roads.
And this compromises the building of other facilities. Clearly, an ideal city should have sufficient facilities that truly enhance the quality of residents’ life. – Not the black and bumpy roads.
And there you go for bike commuting. Although we can’t see the direct connection, bike commuting has rippling effect that benefits urban planning.
In the end, it brings both economic and environmental benefits to the society.
Final thought: bike commuting
Bike commuting is a basic yet effective method to travel within the city.
Despite that, many people overlook this and still prefer driving, although they hate being stuck in traffic.
Plus, more and more advanced-tech vehicles are available now. They claim that these vehicles can save money or even “fly”.
I love their innovation. But, it still doesn’t solve the root problem. That is traffic jam.
That’s why I long to see bike commuting becoming a future trend and our lifestyle.
However, I won’t deny that there are many obstacles for bike commuting by now. And I will cover this in the next post.
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