Report touts bike-sharing gains
Source: Agencies |
August 6, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PUBLIC bicycle sharing schemes, such as Barcelona's "Bicing" program, save lives and cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study.
Bike schemes are becoming popular in cities around the world, with more than 360 already running, but their main aim is to ease congestion rather than boost health.
Researchers at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona found in a study, however, that around 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution is averted and some 12 lives saved each year by the city's scheme, unveiled in March 2007.
"Active transport policies such as bike sharing promote physical activity among the population and are a good means to improve public health and also reduce expenses in public health services," said David Rojas-Rueda, whose study was published in the British Medical Journal.
Rojas-Rueda's team used a mathematical health impact model to integrate data from scientific studies and local travel information.
From this they estimated the number of deaths associated with traveling by bike compared with driving for three main factors - physical activity, road traffic incidents, and exposure to air pollution. They also estimated reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Looking at the Barcelona "Bicing" scheme, they calculated an annual increase of 0.13 deaths from air pollution and 0.03 deaths from traffic accidents among cyclists compared with car users.
Bike schemes are becoming popular in cities around the world, with more than 360 already running, but their main aim is to ease congestion rather than boost health.
Researchers at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona found in a study, however, that around 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution is averted and some 12 lives saved each year by the city's scheme, unveiled in March 2007.
"Active transport policies such as bike sharing promote physical activity among the population and are a good means to improve public health and also reduce expenses in public health services," said David Rojas-Rueda, whose study was published in the British Medical Journal.
Rojas-Rueda's team used a mathematical health impact model to integrate data from scientific studies and local travel information.
From this they estimated the number of deaths associated with traveling by bike compared with driving for three main factors - physical activity, road traffic incidents, and exposure to air pollution. They also estimated reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Looking at the Barcelona "Bicing" scheme, they calculated an annual increase of 0.13 deaths from air pollution and 0.03 deaths from traffic accidents among cyclists compared with car users.
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