National ‘Bike to Work Day’: Purpose, how to get involved in the Tri-State

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Friday is “Bike to Work” Day. It’s a day meant to encourage people to consider a bike ride as part of their daily commute.

“There will be free rides on ‘Bike to Work’ Day, on May 16, so this coming Friday,” Brad Mason, the director of communications for Metro, said. “It’s an opportunity for people to get used, get acclimated to, or give them a reason to try biking and then using Metro at the same time.”

Even if you ride the bike to the bus stop and then take the bus to work, you’re keeping your car off the road.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency says burning 1 gallon of gas equals 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, meaning a 20-gallon gas tank puts 400 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. That’s the weight of a Harley Davidson sports bike.

“We look forward to this partnership with biking or encourage people to have other transportation options like riding the bike, which may connect you to those first and last miles that our system can’t quite get to,” Mason said.

Besides the traffic troubles, experts with the Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency say fewer cars on the roads lessen their impact on the air quality, and therefore, our health.

“It can create problems for somebody that maybe has asthma,” Joy Landry, a communications specialist with the Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency, said. “We worry about small children and the elderly, whose lungs are not as strong, and that can create some short-term, even long-term, exposure health risks.”

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