Biking’s Billion-Dollar Value, Right Under Our Wheels
Biking during the pandemic has not only been a welcome reprieve from public transport, but it has also demonstrated its considerable health, environmental, and time benefits. A steady increase over the years has been met with a tidal wave of interest in just months. Biking’s traditional benefits aside, surface thickness is perhaps the biggest asset of a bike lane and could potentially save the United States billions of dollars annually.
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Not only are bikes significantly lighter and thus less damaging to roads, they also do not come with the constant drip of fluids from cars in traffic, which breaks up asphalt quicker over the long-term.
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It would bring no greater value to the United States than having a core of America's best marketers to communicate the billion-dollar advantage of biking. Biking's environmental, health and financial positives have long been noted—as long as they are safely kept away from cars.
Much has been accomplished, but much still needs to be done. Road diets aside, what are the scenarios in which we leave cars in the rearview mirror, adopting a nimbler system of cycling routes?