How’s them apples? Seriously, though, it’s been known for a long time that biking benefits society in many ways, including economically, and that driving has the opposite effect. Nonetheless, some stats like this go a long way in getting the message across.
From League of American Bicyclists President Andy Clarke, who recently took a look at the City of Copenhagen’s annual Bicycle Account:
One of the most astounding numbers buried deep in the report is the socio-economic benefit of cycling. The report says “When all these factors are added together the net social gain is DKK 1.22 per cycled kilometer. For purposes of comparison there is a net social loss of DKK 0.69 per kilometer driven by car.” 1.22 Danish crowns is about 25 cents and a kilometer is 6/10 of a mile, so we are talking about a net economic gain to society of 41 cents for every bicycle mile traveled. That’s a good number to have in your back pocket.
Later on in the report, via Christopher Mims of Grist:
Since the total health benefit of Copenhagen residents’ healthy cycling habits is DKK 5.51 per km, the annual benefit is worth the equivalent of approx. DKK 2.0 billion.
Yep, get on a bloody bike!
Image Credit: Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize
I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on your favorite social network, go to: zacharyshahan.com
