Let’s hear it for the bike!
In case you missed it, on Tuesday Zak Stone posted some good news about urban cycling. “How Biking Can Save Cities Billions” highlights optimistic findings published in Environmental Health Perspectives earlier this month. Researchers looked at the economic and health benefits of switching from a car to a bike for trips shorter than five miles long in 11 cities. Combining comprehensive data on medical expenses, mortality rates, automobile accidents, air pollution and physical fitness, the researchers found that if residents of each sample city switched to bikes for even half of their short trips, they’d create an annual net societal health benefit of $3.5 billion from the increase in air quality and $3.8 billion in savings from smaller health care costs associated with better fitness and fewer mortalities from a decreased rate of car accidents.
Time to invest in the bike share business.
