Do you live in a city and own a car? Ever felt stressed just driving from A to B, because you got stuck in rush hour for example.
Ask yourself if you really need a car in the city if you could be faster by bicycling.
Here are some average driving speeds during rush hour of some cities at worst corridors in Europe and North America (taken from Scientific American):
- Austin, Texas (6 mph / 9,6 kph)
- Cincinnati, Ohio (9 mph / 14.5 kph)
- London, UK (8 / 9 mph | 12.8 / 14.5 kph - two corridors)
- Los Angeles (8mph / 12.8 kph)
- New York City (7 / 8 / 8 mph | 11.3 / 12.8 / 12.8 kph - three corridors)
Some Asians cities and average speeds (data of 2011):
- Beijing (7.5 mph / 12 kph)
- Shanghai (10.1 mph / 16.3 kph)
- Hong Kong (12.4 mph / 20.1 kph)
- Tokyo (14 mph / 22.5 kph)
- Singapore (15.5 mph / 24.9 kph)
The Department for Transport said the average vehicle speed of cars on A roads in towns and cities in 2017 was just 18.4mph, down from 19.3mph in 2014 from The Telegraph.
If this decline continues at the same rate, cars will be travelling slower than cyclists by 2027.
So why not try to use the bike? Here are some reasons to use a bicycle for transportation from MNN.com.
- easier to finance than a new car
- a tiny manufacturing footprint compared to a car
- produce no meaningful pollution when in operation
- can help you lose weight and improve your overall health
- you can store dozens bicycles in a single automobile-sized parking place
- don’t burn gasoline
- cost much less to maintain
Also consider the time spending to find a parking lot for a car.