Nowadays transportation is increasing day by day,with leaps and bounds.Acquiring more than two cars is becoming a status symbol even in developing countries like India.In Haryana ,when farmers sold their land to developers ,the first they bought was a car,bigger the better.Car use has rapidly accelerated, fueled by the increasing income and high standard of living. Ultimately crisscrossing over 40,000 miles, the new freeways are being chiseled through cities and towns, sometimes splitting apart neighborhoods, and creating new pathways for development and sprawl far from urban centers.With the doubling of population(it seems that India will leave even China behind in the race for most populous country ), commutes are growing longer, and pollution and traffic congestion have worsened. Increasingly, city leaders and urban planners have began to see that building more roads has done little to solve traffic congestion. They are found that offering commuters 'carrots' — more travel choices including 'non-motorized' transportation like bicycling — did prod motorists out of their cars and help alleviate gridlock and traffic jams.To get out of this jam ,there is an urgent need for reviving this forgotten mode of transport-bicycling.If everyone who lives within 5 miles of their workplace left their car at home just one day a week and cycled to work, nearly 5 million tons of global warming pollution would be saved every year — like taking about a million cars off the road.Bicycles are made out of steel ,aluminium and plastic.The steel used in bicycles is made from scraps from junk yard thus saving on energy and aluminium used in it is less than the aluminium used in one tyre of a car.
The payoffs of pedaling to work are many:
- saving money on gas,
- avoiding traffic,
- getting exercise, "Pedaling to work 30 minutes a day or even twice a week is a great way to get more exercise while also helping reduce air pollution." — Dr. John Balbus, Environmental Defense health program director and bicyclist
- helping curb global warming pollution and often saving time, too.
- Cycling is the least polluting way of travelling after walking and ten bikes can be parked in the space of one car
- does not emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide, and is affordable for billions of people who cannot buy an automobile.
The key to realizing the potential is to create a bicycle-friendly transport system. This means providing both bicycle trails and designated lanes on streets for bicycles.Cycling has too often been given insufficient attention in transport and land use planning. It has been easy to assume that because few people appear to cycle, this will always be so. Multi-stage trips (e.g. cycling then train) need to be identified, together with the potential for modal transfer. A Cycling Inventory should be considered, including: 1) Extent of cycling activity 2) Accidents and road danger 3) Opportunities 4) Quality - coherence, convenience, safety, security, and comfort.Making our streets and pathways safer and accessible to cyclists will encourage more people to pedal to work and to use bikes for recreation. The Perspective Plans for our towns and cities must include Green Transport Plan to give a new horizon to sustainable development in our Planning process. Let's plan our cities towards a Better Earth, Better Life and Better Tomorrow.
