The Benefits of Bicycling and Environmentally Friendly Transportation

Written by Stephan Aarstol

Choosing modes of transportation that don't contribute to environmental harm is an important way that everyone can help to protect our planet. Both biking and walking are forms of transportation that don't emit harmful emissions into the environment. Both of these types of transportation also involve exercise, which is beneficial for overall health.

Environmental Benefits of Bicycles

When compared to motorized vehicles, biking has always been more cost-efficient. There is no cost associated with riding a bike, and maintenance tends to be less expensive, too. Human power is the only fuel required to power a bicycle.

• No Air Pollution: Motorized vehicles cause environmental damage by emitting pollutants into the atmosphere. Riding a bicycle produces no pollutants whatsoever.
• No Nonrenewable Fuels Burned: Motorized vehicles consume millions of barrels of oil each day in the United States. Bicycles consume little or no fuel to operate.
• Better for Short Trips: Taking short trips by motorized vehicle wastes more fuel and emits more pollutants than long trips. Researchers have found that about 60 percent of pollutants emitted by motor vehicles are given off within the first few minutes of the drive.
• Reducing the Parking Problem: Motor vehicles require much more space to park, which involves clearing land to create parking lots. Asphalt and other chemicals present in parking lots release pollutants into the atmosphere, and removing vegetation for parking lots contributes to environmental harm.
• Environmental Impact: U.S. Bicycle Route System
• Environmental and Health Reasons to Start Riding Your Bicycle More
• Environmental Benefits: Bike to Work Day
• The Environmental Benefits of Bicycling and Walking
• Bus, Bike, and Walk

How Riding a Bike Reduces Global Warming

Riding a bicycle is not only a dependable mode of transportation, but it's also environmentally friendly. People who choose to ride bikes instead of driving save money. They also get exercise, and they help reduce global warming. Riding a bike also sets a positive example for other people.

• Less Driving Emissions: Bike-riding emits no emissions into the environment. Riding a bike also reduces congestion on roadways.
• Less Production Emissions: Bicycles are smaller and simpler than cars, so they require less energy to produce than cars. Automobile production involves producing components separately, with each process involving emissions. Keeping the same bike for many years further reduces the carbon footprint of the bike.
• Reduced Need for Metals: Automotive production creates a large need for metals, which have to be mined. The mining process causes deforestation and produces pollutants. Riding a bike reduces the need for metals.
• Fewer Paved Surfaces: Bikes require less pavement, both for riding and for parking them. Less pavement means more room for green spaces, which can help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• The Environmental Benefits of Cycling
• Bicycling Is Having a Moment: Let's Use it to Make Riding More Safe and Inclusive
• Cycling: The Better Mode of Transport
• The Environmental Impact of Cycling
• Walking and Cycling: Two Great Ways to Help the Environment

How Does Car Pollution Affect the Weather?

Adults in the United States often engage in daily driving. The emissions that enter the environment from driving have a significant effect on global warming and local pollution levels. Large cities have smog problems that are created by emissions. Poor air quality has a direct correlation with health problems, too.

• Adding to the Process of Climate Change: Vehicle exhaust contains hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, which react with sunlight to increase ozone. Vehicle exhaust also releases carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and gasoline evaporation also creates emissions.
• Results of Climate Change: Climate change affects the entire planet. Polar ice caps are warming to the point of melting, and ocean levels are rising. Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and heat waves are happening much more frequently as the planet gets warmer.
• The Problem of Smog: Greenhouse gases and other pollutants that accumulate near ground level are called smog, which impairs respiratory function and reduces visibility. Ground-level ozone causes smog to develop.
• Climate Impacts of Biking vs. Driving
• Walk and Bike to School: Good for the Environment, Good for Kids
• Want to Fight Climate Change? Swap Out Your Car for a Bike
• Toward a Cycling-Friendly City: An Updated Review of the Associations Between Built Environment and Cycling Behaviors

Immediate Personal Benefits

Riding a bicycle can be fun, and people of all ages can ride bikes. Not only will riding bikes improve physical conditioning, but it also helps with mental well-being. Hopping on a bicycle produces immediate personal benefits.

• Fun and Adventure: Riding a bike can feel exhilarating, and many people have positive memories of bike-riding from their childhoods.
• Mental Health: Mental health can improve from bike-riding. People often notice less stress and anxiety, decreased depression, and enhanced creativity and productivity. Bike-riding triggers the release of endorphins, which makes people feel happier.
• Convenience and Efficiency: Vehicle travel can be difficult if traffic is heavy, resulting in delays. Riding a bike can be more convenient and sometimes even faster. Parking a bike is usually easier and less expensive than parking a car, too.
• 101 Benefits of Cycling: What Happens if You Cycle Every Day?
• Benefits of Walking and Biking
• Benefits of Biking
• Cycling Health Benefits
• 15 Benefits of Cycling
• Cycle Your Way to Better Health
• The Health Benefits of Cycling
• More Than Activity: The Hidden Health Benefits of Cycling

Additional Benefits

• Physical Activity: Doctors recommend that people get a minimum of 30 minutes of physical exercise at a moderate intensity each day. Bicycling is an excellent way to get in daily exercise.
• Economic Benefits: Buying a bike and maintaining it usually costs about one percent of the cost of buying and maintaining a vehicle. Riding a bike to work or school can save hundreds of dollars each year in transportation costs.
• Transport Benefits: Biking does less damage to roads than vehicles, and it creates less traffic congestion.
• Social Benefits: Riding a bicycle is a transportation option for people who might otherwise not have access to travel options. Those who can't afford to own a car can still have transportation with a bicycle.
• Community Benefits: Having fewer cars on the road creates a safer environment for people walking and for children playing.
• Environmental Benefits: Riding bikes instead of driving cars reduces the need to manufacture, service, and dispose of vehicles.
• The Benefits of Cycling
• Seven Exercise Benefits of Real Bikes vs. Stationary Bikes
• Five Health Benefits of Cycling
• Ten Health Benefits Related to Daily Cycling
• Enjoy the Physical Benefits of Biking
• The Top Five Health Benefits of Cycling
• Health Benefits of Recreational Cycling