Reduce Traffic Pollution During Cycle September (and beyond)
If you follow Clean Air Council on social media or get our emails you’ve probably been asked to participate in Bike Month or Cycle September. But why are these programs which seek to increase biking in Philadelphia an important effort for protecting clean air?
Transportation makes up the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. In Philadelphia, in addition to the emissions impacts, single occupancy vehicles are a major cause of traffic congestion which means idling cars and the exhaust they release lower air quality. To combat the ways car travel negatively influences the air we breathe, Council staff implement programs that encourage people to switch to sustainable forms of transportation. Getting more people riding bikes is an important part of the solution in helping to make our air cleaner, roads safer, and limit the contribution from single occupancy vehicles to CO2 emissions.
During Cycle September and Bike Month in May, the Council uses the Love to Ride online platform to encourage people of all backgrounds, identities, and experience levels to challenge themselves to bike for transportation. A transportation trip is any bike ride that’s primary purpose is to get to (or from) a destination, for instance biking to work, the store, or to visit a friend. While there are many personal, communal, and global benefits to biking for transportation, there are also some real barriers for many people to switch to biking. The daunting task of navigating biking on busy city streets, not owning a bicycle, or a lack of available bike parking at work or other destinations are just a few of the reasons that can make it a challenge to try biking. Communities need interventions to make cycling more accessible for people. The Love to Ride platform helps to eliminate some of these barriers by connecting new and occasional cyclists with the resources and community support to get them biking during the challenge month and keep them biking in the future. In turn, bike challenges like Cycle September help get more people invested in biking in the region, and passionate about supporting bike infrastructure in their local community.
During the Cycle September workplace challenge, workplaces across the greater Philadelphia region register for free on the Love to Ride website and compete against other workplaces of similar sizes to get more people biking during the month. Individuals and workplaces win prizes, and this challenge rewards new riders for setting up and achieving personal goals. Workplaces are an important space to promote biking, because for people who work in-person, replacing even a few car commutes with bike commutes is a great way to decrease pollution. One study found that switching one trip from car to bike reduces an average commuter’s total transportation emissions that day by 67%. Even for workplaces that are fully virtual the challenge provides a good way for coworkers to reconnect while working together to become more sustainable.
As September approaches you can sign up your workplace to participate in this year’s challenge, donate a prize to help encourage biking, or start setting your own goals to replace car trips with bike rides.
To learn more about the Cycle September and Bike Month reach out to Maya Frydman, Transportation Outreach Coordinator at mfrydman@cleanair.org.
