Looking for a way to go green and get fit? Instead of reaching for your keys, grab a helmet.
Forty percent of trips take us less than two miles away from home. With increased congestion and the seemingly endless search for parking, there's a good chance that biking on these short trips will be faster than driving. Instead of sitting in a car, you will get some fresh air and a work out. Don't forget all the money you could save on gas and a gym membership, too!
If you want to get even more use out of your bike, try cycling to work a couple days a week. Half of all Americans live within five miles of their workplace and if they all cycled to work just once a week, nearly 5 million tons of pollution would be kept out of the air each year.
In the first half of the century bicycling to work or on errands was a common practice, but in the 1950s and 60s, most people put their bikes away in favor of a personal car. Since then, population has increased and development has continued to sprawl, leading to longer commutes, heavier traffic and increased air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In attempt to ease congestion and clean up the air, the government has increased funding for bicycling and walking projects from $6 million in 1990 to $422 million in 2003. Washington D.C. and college campuses around the country have started Bike-Sharing Programs to get more people riding, and San Francisco and Denver have programs in the works.
As bike paths and bike-sharing programs begin to pop up all over the country, why not hop on?
