Discuss the reasons why many governments are promoting the use of bicycles instead of cars as a means of personal transport.
Cycling has been gaining steady popularity around the globe as a personal transport even though car use continues increasing. When people ride a bicycle for a short-distance, it has many advantages in an urban area. It is sometimes faster than public transport (on congested roads) and inexpensive. It is also regarded as an environment-friendly mode of transportation. People could have a chance to get healthy by riding a bicycle, which can be a regular exercise. Thus, many governments of the countries in the world have been encouraging citizens to ride bicycles instead of private cars for a long time. Bicycles are sustainable transportation which provides proper solutions to deal with several problems in a modern society such as air pollution, exhaustion of resource and health. In this essay, I will discuss why governments encourage to ride a bicycle instead of cars as a means of personal transport with three main reasons.
First, use of bicycles to commute can help reduce social costs for health care. According to the department of health, London, there are many health-related advantages of cycling as a regular physical exercise. It reduces not only the risk of premature death from heart disease but also diabetes, high blood pressure, breast and colon cancer. In addition, it relieves feelings of depression and anxiety by promoting psychological well-being, helps control weight and keep bones and muscles healthy. Older adults could become stronger and better able to move about without falling. (Department of Health, London, 2004)
Second, riding bicycles for a short distance is an eco-friendly method which does not produce any exhaust and noise. It also contributes to saving fossil fuel energy which emits carbon dioxide (CO2). A report of Transportation Research Board in the U.S. has announced that cycling for a short trip can be helpful for reducing the release of CO2 (Mason, Fulton, and McDonald, 2015). The Decrease in the number of cars on roads would alleviate destruction of the ozone layer which is the main cause of greenhouse effect and global warming.
Third, cycling is not only beneficial for public health, and environment of cities, it also creates economic benefits. According to a transportation research (Blondiau, Zeebroeck, Haubold, 2016), the increasing number of cyclists is better for a local economy, because they go more to local businesses such as restaurants, cafes and local stores than people who take other transportation. This research also said that a study of the ministry for environment of Austria reached a conclusion that consumption in Austria by cyclists accounts for EUR 2.53 billion per year. For these reasons, many governments around the world are promoting riding a bicycle instead of cars as a means of transport. For example, the UK government published in 2017 £1.2 billion investment to prom...
