April 15, 2013

Ask the Advocate – Saving Time

How do you promote cycling in a medium-sized city where to drive anywhere takes 10 minutes but to cycle takes significantly longer?

Written by: Guest

Q How do you promote cycling in a medium-sized city where to drive anywhere takes 10 minutes but to cycle takes significantly longer? – Nicole Noël of Windsor, ON

A Many bike commuters I know list numerous reasons why they prefer to get around by bike. Each can list several benefits, but rather than revisit how cycling makes us feel good or helps lessen our impact on traffic and the environment, let’s face the fact that convenience and time savings will trump most other reasons.

Bikes often beat cars in many cities, and in a society where time and convenience are paramount for commuters; this is a big reason for the rise in people biking.

But one of the things I appreciate even more about biking in cities is how predictable travel times are. When driving or taking transit, most delays are out of your control. Whether it is traffic jams (during rush hours or not), collisions or construction, all that drivers and transit riders can do is wait. However, bicyclists (or walkers for that matter) can easily find alternate routes around many traffic obstacles. When I’m biking, I can usually predict within a minute or two when I’ll arrive at work, the store, a friend’s house or any other destination I’ve biked to before.

To win the convenience or timesaving argument in medium sized or small cities, we may need to emphasize the time savings from multitasking.

For some people, running errands or commuting by bike is their quiet time to think or just be outside, but all of us get exercise when biking. Finding the time to exercise is a losing proposition for most people in North America. Alarming obesity rates are strong evidence that our lifestyles are starved for exercise, and only about 20 percent of the population gets the minimum 30 minutes of recommended daily physical activity. People just have too much to do. With our car-centric development, we have engineered physical activity out of our travel. When bicycling, you not only get from A to B, you are getting your daily dose of exercise as a bonus. Indeed, there are lots of other bonuses – casually meeting friends and new people, being outside, experiencing architecture – but all of us need exercise. By using a bicycle, even if the trip takes marginally longer, two (or more) tasks can be accomplished, saving time overall. It’s the ultimate win-win scenario.

I’m reminded of a quote often shared by US Congressman Earl Blumenauer, “Let’s have a moment of silence for all the people stuck in traffic on their way to the gym so they can exercise on a stationary bike.”

Jeffrey Miller is the president/ CEO of the Alliance for Biking & Walking, a coalition of nearly 200 state, provincial and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations across North America.

@bikewalk | peoplepoweredmovement.org

3 Comments

Jean
April 21, 2013
“When bicycling, you not only get from A to B, you are getting your daily dose of exercise as a bonus. Indeed, there are lots of other bonuses – casually meeting friends and new people, being outside, experiencing architecture – but all of us need exercise. By using a bicycle, even if the trip takes marginally longer, two (or more) tasks can be accomplished, saving time overall. It’s the ultimate win-win scenario.”
I’ve been cycling for transportation, fitness and touring for the last 22 yrs. Car-free over the last 30 years. In all those years, I’ve never had a fitness club membership. I’ve taken only 3 different interest courses for: yoga, pilates and tai chi. Each only 8 wks. long (1 evening per wk.) and probably totalling up to $200.00 CAN and that’s within last 22 yrs.!
Why? Because cycling as part of my lifestyle –to work, shopping, etc. I don’t need to pay for another fitness activity. True, buying a properly fitted bike, helmet is helpful but it all ends up way cheaper than running a car annually.
If a person bikes an extra even 10 min. longer per trip, several times per week, than they would by car to go shopping or get to work, they don’t even need to think about setting aside an extra 30-45 min. per day, outside of the car to exercise / the fitness club. I call that time efficient and cost-effective if you can build it into your schedule.
It feels like an extra effort to dress warmly, get your panniers with right stuff inside..but it’s not more different than some women who take time to put on make-up before they leave home. (And there are women who insist on some make-up before anyone outside of home sees them.).
Jean @ http://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com
lagatta à montréal
April 19, 2013
And of course the major saving on gasoline and car maintenance! Not to mention the cost of a car, if you are living without one, though many people commuting in such cities will probably already own a car. Yes, bicycles need maintenance too, but it is far cheaper than car maintenance. Gasoline prices have risen a lot from the “cheap gas” days of decades past.
Now all that Windsor needs is a BICYCLE manufacturing plant, and to convert its down-and-out car manufacturing to the production of greener public transport, to maintain and develop its economic base!
michael weatherby
April 15, 2013
Here at Freedom 4 Ebikes in Sarasota Florida, we sell ebikes. And many of our customers use them to commute back and forth to work. Most of them have an average of a 25 minute commute by bicycle that would take 20 minutes by car..on a good day. But one of our customers relayed to me another benefit, I had never thought of. When he drove his car, he always stopped at Starbucks for coffee, at 10 bucks a pop at least..now however he gets that extra boost from pedaling the bike and not only saves that money but is pumped when he arrives at work and is soooo stress free..