Turning Skeptics into Believers Part IV
A Personal Story
The only way to truly understand what motivates behavior change in commuters is to experience it your self. People have different motivations for trying alternative forms of transportation from saving money and time to improving their health (reducing calories, weight loss) to helping the environment or because their employer offers transit benefits.
Most people have a breaking point. For me, it was DC gridlock with a five-mile commute that could take 30-45 minutes each way. The Metro is a one-mile walk from my home. The bus is one block away, but the bus gets stuck in the same traffic as the cars do. My solution was to try bike commuting.
Bike commuting has some barriers to entry. You have to have a bike, biking clothes and gear, a pannier and bag to hold your computer and purse, a helmet, and a change of clothes for work. Bike lanes are not everywhere and riding on the street and even the sidewalk can be dangerous. Showers are not always available at work sites.
In spite of these barriers, a single bike trip changed my entire perspective on commuting to work. From the first day, I cut my commute time in half on the way to work. I now average a 20-minute five-mile bike commute. The way home from work is all up hill, but my commute time rivals my driving home time and I get the added benefit of a workout DURING MY COMMUTE. After several months of bike commuting (read getting into shape and finding the fastest routes), I was able to reduce by bike commute time home from 60 minutes to 40 minutes. Not only that, but by biking to work I am able to save $12 a day in parking costs which adds up to nearly $3,000 a year.
A quick checklist my top benefits of biking to work:
- Saving time
- Saving money
- Improving my health
- Helping the environment
- Multi-tasking commuting + working out
- Improved attitude and stress reduction
- Gleefully passing the poor souls stuck in traffic
The other benefits are not as tangible. The feeling of camaraderie with your fellow bike commuters as you line up in the bike lane at a traffic light. Waving at Joe Biden and his secret service detail as you whiz past his motorcade. Laughing at the Washington Nationals Racing Presidents visiting Embassy Row. Walking into the front door with your biking gear at the end of the day to three excited children who want to go back out to bike with you.
So can commuting habits change? You tell me.
A bicycle does get you there and more…. And there is always the thin edge of danger to keep you alert and comfortably apprehensive. Dogs become dogs again and snap at your raincoat; potholes become personal. And getting there is all the fun.
–Bill Emerson, “On Bicycling,” Saturday Evening Post, 29 July 1967
