BIKING

The bicycle and how it cuts down on pollutions, traffic problems and the health benefit to humans

The bicycle and how it cuts down on pollutions, traffic problems and the health benefit to humans

Introduction

A modal shift from motorized transport to cycling could have significant public health benefits. Increased cycling has the potential to directly improve the health of the individual, in terms of fitness, reduced risk of certain diseases, self-esteem, longevity and quality of life, whilst also indirectly improving the health of society as a whole by reducing atmospheric and noise pollution and reducing road danger. For the individual, cycling is an excellent way to develop physical fitness and reduce the risk of health problems. There is a need to raise awareness of the health consequences of individual travel choices and of policies on transport and land use planning. (Gordon, et al., 2009)

Motorized traffic in particular is the single largest source of air pollution in urban areas. Traffic and transport's share of global environmental pollution is increasing every year . However, current planned measures to reduce vehicle emissions will have limited effect if car use continues to grow as expected. The Department of Transport predicted that between 1988 and 2025 traffic would increase by 83-142%. In this time, carbon dioxide emissions, the main cause of the greenhouse effect, could more than double. This will have a profound impact upon the environment. Cycling has significant environmental benefits: it has a benign environmental impact since it creates no atmospheric and noise pollution, consumes no finite resources and does not cause congestion. Therefore, every kilometer travelled by bicycle or foot will be a kilometer without environmentally damaging emissions. Promoting bicycle use in United States could lead to a modal shift from car use to bicycle use. A reduction of car trips shorter than 7.5km by 10% could lead to a reduction of 1.5% of total CO2 emissions from passenger road traffic and 2% of the total atmospheric emissions.

Discussion

College students who use bicycles as transport accumulate more minutes of daily physical activity than students who use motorized means and are more likely to achieve public health recommendations of minimal physical activity (30 minutes/day). Fifth-grade students who regularly bike or walk to school accumulate 3% more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per weekday, or about an additional 24 minutes/day. Adolescents who bike or walk to school are 30% more likely to bike or walk to other neighborhood destinations, regardless of age, free-time physical activity, and neighborhood risk. (Menschik et al., 2008)

In the New York City school system, elementary and middle school students who placed in the top third of a fitness scale had better math and reading scores than students in the bottom third of the fitness scale. Those who were in the top 5% for fitness scored an average of 36 percentage points higher on state reading and math exams than did the least-fit 5%. According to the federal government, biking for transportation can count toward the minimum 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity aerobic ...