“One simple trick” is a media clickbait so worn out that it has become a joke. But in this case, it's begging to be used because it's not an abuse at all. A new study shows that swapping cars for bikes can improve our lives in many ways.
We often hear about combating emissions of pollutants that cause illness and warm the climate in the context of sacrifices: giving up something, prohibitions, restrictions. This also applies to transport. If we look at factors such as energy consumption or reducing harmful emissions, we can see that the recommendations are clear: public transport (buses, trams, trains) are better than cars, and the most ecological option is active movement, i.e. simply walking and cycling.
Even the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its latest report – called “manual for the survival of humanity” – pointed out the importance of public transport and cycling in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. To stop climate change, we need to make many systemic changes (such as replacing coal and gas with clean energy sources), but many of our individual choices also have an impact. Replacing a car with a bicycle has the greatest potential out of 60 such actions analyzed by the team.
However, in order to fight emissions, are we ready to make the “sacrifice” of replacing a car with a bicycle, and the effort and discomfort associated with it? New study showsthat such a choice does not have to involve sacrifice and can have a positive impact on our quality of life.
Active means healthier
Scientists decided to check how satisfaction with life and the form of communication itself, stress level and health differ between people who travel by passenger car, public transport and use active forms of transport.
The study was conducted on a sample of almost 2,400 Spanish residents aged 18 to 70. What do the results show? In almost every aspect studied, greener transport is also better for our health and well-being (with one major exception).
General the level of life satisfaction was clearly the highest among people who moved actively, lower in those using public transport, and slightly lower still in those driving cars. The same was true for the body mass index (an increased index may suggest a risk of diseases related to being overweight). The highest index was found in people using their own cars, lower in those choosing public transport, and the lowest in cyclists/pedestrians.
The study also asked about satisfaction with the way of moving and the stress associated with it. Here, too, active movement comes out best – people choosing a bike had clearly the lowest level of stress associated with the way of moving and the greatest satisfaction. Here, however, we have the aforementioned exception – because in this respect, it is not the car that comes out worst, but public transport. Those using it were more stressed and less satisfied with their journeys than drivers of passenger cars.
Does cycling guarantee a better life?
Do the results mean that if we switch from cars to bikes, we are guaranteed to improve our lives? Of course, nothing is that simple. The results of the study clearly show that people who use active transport score best in declarations regarding health, stress levels and overall life satisfaction.
Some of these issues may be multi-faceted. Cyclists may have a generally different lifestyle than those who commute by car, which affects their health and overall life satisfaction.
On the other hand, questions were also asked about issues relating specifically to movement itself – and here, the active way is much better than the car in terms of stress and satisfaction. So we can say that if we choose a more ecological way of moving, we have a good chance of improving our mental and physical health, even if this is not a guaranteed result.
The important conclusion is that traveling by public transport can be more stressful and less satisfying than not only active transport, but also the private car. Since public transport is a key solution for more ecological transport (and also less congested cities), those responsible for transport policy should take this into account and take actions that will improve passenger comfort.