Bicycle commuting saves both time AND gas
bicycling
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We all know that bicycling saves gas, but did you know that if you live in a congested urban area, it can save time as well?
Transportation Alternatives, the New York City bicycle advocacy group, recently conducted its annual commuter race, and on the route from Brooklyn to Manhattan, the cyclist beat both the automobile and the subway.
I was active in TA back in the '80s when I lived in NYC. I wrote articles for their newsletter, The City Cyclist, and served as a facilitator for one of their conferences on making the city more bicycle-friendly.
Before that, when I was working as a reporter at the Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn., I wrote a weekly bicycling column, "Biker's Byline." For one column, I conducted a commuter race of my own. I raced several of my co-workers from their homes to the office on my bike as they either drove or took the bus. Needless to say, I beat the bus handily. And even in a relatively small city of 55,000 people, I either beat or tied the people who lived within the city limits. The only ones who beat me were those who lived in the burbs.
So give bicycle commuting a second look. You may find it's not that time-consuming after all!
Here's a link to a news story about the TA contest:
http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/2273985.php
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on 5/30/2008
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