February 2012
Spring Bike 2 Work Day – May 10, 2012
Mark your calendars for Bike to Work and School Day coming up on May 10, 2012. Bike to one of the many free breakfast sites around the county, and dine and socialize with other folks who bike to work or school that day. Who knows…you just might meet someone to be your bike buddy for the rest of the year.
See the Bike 2 Work website for details. The RTC is a major funder of this semi-annual event supporting bicycling throughout Santa Cruz County.
High gas prices return
The Sacramento Bee informs us that gas prices are on the rise again, passing the $4 per gallon mark this week. Of course, we are reminded of the high cost of gas every time we visit the pump! Fortunately, you don’t have to fill the tank as often if you carpool, trip chain, ride the bus, bike, and even if you drive alone you can use eco-driving techniques to save gas. Why not take a moment to explore your travel options?
Biking: safer than a sofa
Over at Sightline Daily, Christine Grant discusses “Ten lessons from the great cycling cities” in her blog post Two Wheels and High Heels. After winning a fellowship, she traveled around the world’s most bike-friendly cities for six months, and returned home to Cascadia with a full basket of bike lessons.
What jumped out to us at Commute Solutions was her third point: “It’s safer than a sofa.” She writes: “Copenhagen’s Public Health Department calculates that even when accident costs are factored in, every mile of cycling translates to net health benefits worth US$1.30.” By choosing an active form of transportation, cyclists decrease both their direct costs of health care, as well as the costs that society pays. That figure of $1.30/mile leapt off the page, because our own True Cost of Driving Calculator” comes up with a true cost figure of $1.38/mile to drive a car. What a coincidence that you could (figuratively) be $2.68 in the black for every mile you cycle instead of drive!