The bike is equivalent to 1/4 of a car's transportation space, 1/8 of the parking space, 1/80 of the purchase price, 1/100 of the maintenance costs, and also no tax is payable on the bike.
The cost of building a bicycle path is 10 percent of the cost of a normal road and 2 percent of the cost of the highway, and there is no environmental impact such as air pollution and 60 million tons of used motor oil that vehicles throw into the nature every year. According to studies, each car generates 26,5 tons of waste. According to the study of the European Cyclists Federation, the CO2 emission amount of a bicycle is 210 grams.
Bicycle is an "environmentally friendly" means of transport. Gas emission is zero. Traveling by bicycle does not cause air pollution and global warming. In vehicle use, on a journey of 11 km, 90% of the gas emissions are released in the first 1.5 km before the engine warms up, and 40% of the car trips are less than 3 km. Turning short car trips into cycling is an excellent solution to reducing the gases that cause global warming, and on trips up to 3 km, the bike is usually faster than a car. More savings can be made by converting short car trips into bicycle rides.
It has been determined that cycling to work and to work in EU-28 countries prevents 16 million tons of carbon emissions. The value of air pollution reduced by those who go to work by bicycle is 435 million Euros. The annual contribution of bicycle use to fuel consumption in 28 EU countries is 150 billion Euros.
15% of people in Japan cycle to work and there are 11 million bicycles in Belgium with a population of 5.2 million.
The cities with the highest bicycle use in Europe are the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Belgium. The percentage of cycling in the Netherlands has been around 26% in recent years. 84 of the people living in the Netherlands own one or more bicycles. There are 17 million bicycles for a total population of 23 million people. Bicycle use accounts for 10% of all trips in Germany.
It is stated that more than 100 thousand people provide transportation by bicycle every day in New York and this number is increasing day by day.
Canada, as in other European countries and the USA; uses bicycle paths widely in all states.
Why not with us?
If the ratio of use of bicycles in public transportation systems in our country is 25%, the amount of savings to be obtained from energy alone corresponds to approximately 24 billion dollars.
If the ratio of bicycle use among all vehicles reaches 10% in Istanbul alone, the amount of energy savings to be achieved is approximately 18 billion dollars.
Can you imagine how much savings we would save if the bicycle path works in cities such as Konya, Eskişehir, Antalya, Sakarya, Kayseri, İzmir and Istanbul spread rapidly to all our cities?
If we evaluate this in terms of the benefits it will bring to our health, what a healthy population we will have.
Advantages of Cycling:
- It reduces your personal carbon footprint.
- Driving to work with your bike can reduce your carbon footprint by at least 6%.
- It reduces traffic.
- Cars generate 0,44 kg of pollution per mile per year; bicycles do not produce any. Bicycles are also up to 50% faster than cars during rush hour.
- It reduces health costs.
- Cycling allows you to be healthier, which saves cyclists from healthcare costs.
- It takes less time to produce bicycles than to build cars.
- Bicycles require far less natural resources than cars whose production generates 1,2 billion cubic meters of pollution each year.
- It makes you more productive.
- The less time you spend in traffic, the more time you have to get things done and spend quality time at home.
- Plus, riding a bike gives you energy and even makes you happier.
- It saves all forests.
- Much less rubber is used in the construction of bicycles and tires, which helps prevent forests from being cut down and turned into rubber fields instead.
- Fights noise pollution.
- Cycling not only helps combat noise pollution affecting wild animals, but also causes fewer highway wild and pet deaths. It also prevents noise pollution in the city and causes more decent neighborhoods to be created.
- Less space is required for parking lot.
- 20 bikes can fit in the footprint of a car, so if more people ride them, we need to make less space for parking lots.
- It helps support local businesses.
- When you ride a bike, you are more likely to keep your trips shorter and your shopping closer to home.
- Reduces fatal traffic accidents
- Your chances of a possible fatal accident while driving are much higher than your chances of having an accident while riding a bicycle.
Ilhami Pektas
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