Cycling offers numerous advantages for sustainable urban mobility: no environmental impact, health benefits from physical activity, and time savings compared to car travel are just a few advantages of choosing cycling over car travel. As evidenced by the growing popularity of cycling in cities like Copenhagen (Denmark), it remains difficult to create policies that facilitate large-scale shifts away from cars.
1. Reduced carbon footprint
Cycling can replace car travel for short trips and commutes that are too long to manage by walking, significantly reducing CO2 emissions and other pollutants. E-cycles in particular emit much less carbon emissions than standard bicycles. Research from Europe demonstrates that by replacing just one car trip a day with electric bikes, carbon emissions from personal transportation could decrease by as much as 10% – especially if most trips made are for work-related, recreational, and social reasons.
2. Reduced air pollution
Air pollution refers to small particles and chemicals released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels such as those used for cars, which pollute our atmosphere, negatively affect human health, and contribute to climate change. This pollution damages ecosystems while impacting human well-being as well as contributing to climate change. Cycling helps reduce air pollution as it does not emit polluting emissions like carbon dioxide. According to studies, just a modest increase in cycling could significantly cut emissions and decrease traffic congestion.
Estimates show that switching mode from driving to cycling is estimated to be nine times greater than any potential losses in life years due to increased pollution doses and traffic accidents. These calculations were performed based on large long-term mortality studies as well as assumptions regarding cycling’s impact on ambient air pollution levels across different countries.
3. Improved health
Cycling regularly can help to combat factors that decrease lifespan, such as obesity and high blood pressure, as well as increase bone density. At present, most urban cycling research approaches investigate how to increase cycling using transition theory frameworks – often tailored to Science and Technology Studies, Innovation Studies, or Evolutionary Economics [38]. This can include analyses of status-quo conditions as well as investigations of interventions intended to create better cycling conditions.
4. Reduced stress
Cycling can help to enhance well-being by releasing endorphins, and it allows you to see new sights. Plus, cycling with friends expands social circles and makes you feel part of a community! Cycling offers an economical solution to sustainable urban mobility by decreasing traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and maintenance costs. Furthermore, cycling can easily be integrated into smart transportation systems. Researchers found, by using sensors, that cyclists are exposed to significantly less pollution than bus or car drivers and nearly as much as pedestrians (Mitsakou et al., 2021). This research offers promising directions for sustainable transition work in the future.
5. Improved mental health
Cycling provides numerous unique benefits for improving mental health. As a low-impact activity that works the whole body, cycling offers full-body workouts while simultaneously increasing breathing and heart rates, body temperature, and body awareness. Studies have confirmed the therapeutic value of cycling as an anti-stress solution, with adults who opted for cycling commutes experiencing lower stress levels than those who drove instead. Studies have also confirmed the benefits of cycling on one’s mood and produced the “happiness chemical,” enkephalin, both among healthy people and those suffering from schizophrenia. Cycling also offers socialization – joining a cycling club is an easy and fun way to meet others while enjoying nature!
6. Improved social interaction
An extensive and well-maintained cycling infrastructure, from cycle paths to bike parking facilities, provides people with an opportunity to meet neighbors, colleagues, and friends more easily as well as fosters community engagement and reduces noise pollution. Cycling provides an egalitarian form of transport that’s more accessible for low-income earners compared with cars, such as Mexico City’s longstanding EcoBici bike sharing scheme which has dramatically decreased taxi use and ownership while promoting cycling as an aspirational form of transportation. Recent research revealed that neighborhood, route, and workplace-built environments interact with perceived group norms to influence whether adults cycle for recreational or transport purposes. Thus further exploration should take place into the effects of their interaction.
7. Boosted confidence
Cycling is an economical, low-tech form of transportation that requires minimal upkeep. Its widespread adoption makes cities more inclusive, safe, healthy, and sustainable. Even though cycling may seem intimidating at first, the opposite is true: cycling helps build confidence by helping us overcome challenges. So cycling has gained in popularity worldwide and cities are seeing rapid increases in cycling rates during the COVID-19 pandemic due to new bike infrastructure and car-free streets. Higher cycling modal shares will help reduce congestion and financial losses as well as meet global emissions reduction goals.
8. Boosted self-esteem
Creating a bike-friendly city can help increase cyclist confidence and safety. This involves making sure bikes are separated from car traffic, with sufficient places for parking spaces available; creating bicycle lanes connecting key areas, etc. This study’s objective was to assess the efficacy of an urban bicycle program on university students’ cycling knowledge and attitudes. Participants were divided into two groups – control (n=27) and intervention (n=19); both completed a standardized instrument with pre and post-measures for evaluation purposes. Results demonstrated that the experimental group had statistically significant improvements both conceptually and attitudinally, suggesting its efficacy.
9. Boosted creativity
Cycling can be used as a powerful agent of social change in urban environments. Bike & Go in Bogota has encouraged residents to take short trips with the service’s mission being “providing everyone with sustainable mobility through bikes”. Bike-sharing systems are rapidly expanding around the globe, yet not without challenges. Wells and Lin examine how private sharing providers have used e-bikes to impose their business models onto urban open sspacesand in turn impact future mobility and cycling generally.