Well this is my assignment for my IDD 302 class here at Brigham Young University of Hawaii.
I would like to address the need for more people to ride a bike. Nearly thousands of people still drive their car without carpooling to short distances. The traffic problem is already at its peek not to mention the high gas prices out there. Many of us could afford to ride our bikes to short distances but because of convenience or laziness, we tend to chose to drive a car.
According to the article “Bicycling To Work: A Way Save Money and Lose Weight” frugal Dad explains his savings he makes while riding a bike to work. He says that riding his bike to work daily saves him on gasoline and membership to the gym for exercise. The amount he saves is an approximant of $100 per month. He also calculates that on average it is about $20 a month to upkeep a car with maintenance, oil change, tires and so forth verses a onetime only cost of $20 for a bike helmet.
I’ve learned that gas prices are rising and the national average could reach $3 per gallon nationally by Memorial Day 2010. Prices at Milwaukee gas pumps have mirrored the national price rise.
According to Hawaiigasprices.com the cheapest gas prices in Hawaii is on average about $3.31. In the last month the Hawaii gas prices peaked at an average of $3.55
The main reason for high gas prices are due to high oil demands. Oil prices rise when demand is greater than the supply. In 2008 gas prices increased to $4 a gallon because oil prices when up to $145 a barrel.
In Chicago about 3,500 people ride a bike to work, which number increased from 2,800 last year. Six indoor parking facilities for bikers on the west coast were installed for people to park their bikes while they work. The usage of bike racks in this area has seen a 30 percent increase in usage in the past year.
On the website 21centurydad.com he explains the circumstances in which he prefers to rather ride a bike. He says that if the trip is in a 2 mile radius then he’d rather ride a bike. He says “I find it silly to get in my car for anything less than 2 miles away, unless I’m hauling a large volume of stuff.” Whenever we just need to run to the store for a thing or two then this should be the ideal opportunity to ride a bike because we need to be fitting in exercise to our daily routine and what better way to do it.
Using your car usually means adding millage to it and the more millage your car has the closer it is to death. Another thing you will also be saving is the environment. The emission from the car can be very harmful to the atmosphere which can lead to global warming. If more of us would ride our bikes for the short trips then we can together strengthen our environment and physically and economically.
Check out this link to watch a PSA on riding your bike. ENJOY:
