July 23, 2021
Moving more is healthy and bicycling is better for the environment than the car. Actually, we all know that. But now there are also figures showing the huge differences in the consequences of choosing bike or car.
Health Effects
The Health Council in the Netherlands recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week. People who almost always take the bicycle exercise more than these 150 minutes in 80% of cases. Car users achieve 7% at most.
Regular cycling increases fitness and is comparable to working out once or twice a week. It also turns out that cycling is not only physically healthy, but also has a positive effect on mental health. People who bike to work are more likely to be satisfied, relaxed, less stressed and feel freer than people who go to work by car. Research shows that if you take the bike instead of the car for 12% of short trips, the benefit to your health is already greater than the risk you run from inhaling air pollutants. On average, people live 3 to 14 months longer when they exercise daily. In contrast, breathing polluted air makes you live 1 to 40 days shorter.
Environmental Impacts
Increased bicycling saves greenhouse gases and makes for cleaner air. After all, by cycling you cause no emissions of CO2, NOx and particulate matter (PM10). Taking the bike instead of the car quickly saves 138 g of Co2, 0.13 g of NOx and 4 mg of particulate matter per kilometer.
Every year, the Dutch make 3.6 billion car trips shorter than 7.5 kilometers. If these are all replaced by trips by bicycle, this saves 1.8 Mton CO2, 1.8 kton NOx and 0.05 kton particulate matter per year. If you take the e-bike, you can extend the definition of short distance from 7.5 kilometers to 15 kilometers. Car trips shorter than 15 kilometers occur as many as 4.9 billion times a year. If these are all replaced by the e-bike or bicycle, this will save 3.8 Mton CO2, 3.7kton NOx and 0.11 kton particulate matter per year.
Those are hefty amounts of pollution that we could all easily save. That is why it is important to convince as many people as possible to take the bike for short trips!
(Source: Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy)
