Cycling to work – Environment, Health and Financial Benefits
The alarming pollution levels have pushed an acceleration on the need of commuting to work through a non-motorised means of transport, and one of the best options is riding your cycle. Riding a bicycle to work not only helps you to remain fit but also cuts down on the pollution levels at a large scale if the major population of the country starts commuting to work on their bicycles.
1. Environmental Benefits of Cycling to work
Cycling on a daily basis helps the environment a lot in a positive manner if residents of a single city decide to commute to their workplace on bicycles, the drop in the level of pollution could be massive. Even if only 40% of the residents adapt this method of commuting, the quality of air in Delhi NCR could become way better and the health issues of the citizens will also be reduced.
How does bicycle commuting contribute to a cleaner environment-
- Cycling needs no fuel.
- A bicycle manufacturing takes a lot less amount of energy than a car.
- Bicycles don’t require toxic batteries or any kind of motor oil.
How much Air pollution can be prevented by commuting via bicycle?
Cycling reduces transportation smoke emissions while simultaneously reducing traffic congestion and the need of petroleum. The total number of pounds of pollutants, (composed of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide), emitted is 12,140.30 lbs/year (or 0.97 lbs/mile) for passenger cars and 17,025.80 lbs/year (or 1.21 lbs/mile) for light trucks.
2. Health Benefits of Cycling to work
Researches have consistently shown that people who are less physically active are more likely to develop health problems like heart disease, diabetes, etc. Cycling to work has led to a 41% lower risk of dying as compared to commuting by car or public transport.
Cycle commuters have a 52% lower risk of dying from heart disease and 40% lower risk of dying from cancer. They also have a 46% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 45% lower risk of developing cancer at all.
Researches done for both cyclists and walkers have shown that people who do long distance commutes have a lower risk of developing any kind of disease. Daily cycling helps increase the metabolism, which in turn helps a person to stay active. This activity helps in increasing the cardiovascular strength of an individual.
3. Financial Benefits of Cycling to work
The increased use of cycle ensures lesser use of motorised vehicles which in turn, results in less petroleum utilisation thus, lesser money spent. Buying a bicycle is a one-time investment, but the amount of money not being spent on filling up petrol and diesel in cars or motorbikes will cover the cost of a bicycle soon.
Save money on transportation.
One of the greatest benefits of walking and/or cycling is that you can save a lot of money on transportation. If you are able to bike everywhere, then you may be able to completely shave off the car insurance, gas, automobile maintenance, and other such expenses completely out of your budget.
However, not everyone is ready to completely get rid of their vehicles, which is totally understood as it’s a bigger change that not many wish to make. Plus, your car can be helpful in many occasions, such as getting you to work. In that case, even walking or biking to some of the places can still help you save money on gas. You can still save money as you will have to shed less for the maintenance of your car.
So, get on your bike and ride to your workplaces while cutting off that money spent on petrol and diesel. Log on to www.noidacyclingclub.in for more such updates and cycling related information.
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