Study: Bikes are happiest mode of transportation
Marie Donlon | February 26, 2019
According to research from the University of Minnesota, traveling by bicycle is the happiest mode of transportation in the United States.
Yingling Fan, Ph.D., a professor in the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a scholar in the Center for Transportation Studies, set out to understand if mode of transportation could impact a person’s emotional well-being. Looking at factors such as purpose of travel, companionship while traveling and duration of travel, Fan discovered that bicycling brought commuters more happiness than any of the other modes of transportation.
Fan also found the following:
- Public transportation is the least happy and least meaningful mode of transportation.
- Being a passenger in a car is less painful than driving a car.
- Trips taken for the purpose of eating out, socializing or for community activities are typically linked to more positive emotions than travel for work or home maintenance.
- Trips taken with friends and family are typically happier and more meaningful than traveling alone.
“Transportation plays an important role in our daily lives and Americans spend a significant amount of time per day on daily trips,” said Fan. “It is important to know whether some trip types are more likely to induce positive emotions after controlling for personal factors.”
Considering that Americans spend a significant amount of time commuting, Fan suggests that transportation planners better promote cycling in their communities while also improving public transit offerings in their communities so that more people will be encouraged to use public transportation, thereby improving traffic congestion and alleviating environmental concerns.
Chicken or the egg?
Are happier people more likely to ride bicycles and enjoy it or do people who ride bicycles become happier?
I'm leaning toward the former and not the latter. If you put a grumpy commuter on a bicycle, I'm betting they get grumpier.
since the riding of bicycles is a form of exercise, and exercise releases endorphins, this could be a factor in the uplifting of emotions.
Cyclist are only happy when cycling and knowing the cycle is safe when unattended, they are extremely grumpy when some opportunist halfwit thug steals the cycle.
In the UK for a matter of unspecific information, the stolen cycle market in the UK is estimated to be worth over GBP50m ($66m). In Sweden they steal the cycle and ditch it in the rivers. A cycle is not cheap these days so some cyclist are happy people, some are grumpy. It all depends on 'supply and demand'.
Since National bike month is May, perhaps a study should be undertaken to determine just how many more happy people there will be, then there are now.
The majority of the people that ride bikes are healthier and therefore more positive about life. They realize the dual benefit of cycling to work and for pleasure.
I did it in the snow, and rain and sunny weather and the biggest struggle were packing the gear or work clothes and changing when I got to work. It would be nice for companies to embrace cycling to work. have locker rooms with showers, indoor bike storage.
In reply to #5
You may not know this, however, in Holland, (Netherlands) one gets paid per km to use a cycle for work, (going to meetings outside the office, site visits etc). The last I recall it was E0.20/km.
In the UK one can get government help to buy a cycle for to and from the work place.
But sadly, the UK likes fancy cars on lease schemes so the indigenous folks are quite lax on cycling and they have anger issues when driving cars. That is why I and a few others always ride on the pavement, (sidewalk for others).
In S Africa, it is hard to outride a speeding bullet on a cycle, yet in Salima, Malawi, cycles are the mode of transport for everyone and they even make them into taxis services.
https://mwnation.com
Totally agree! It's readlly awesome to travel on a bike, but also, it's more complicated and hurder physically. That's why I'm using an electric bike for it. It's awesome! Allows to save some energy, nerves, etc. etc.