Cutting Down on the Running Around Pays Off Big
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
A lot of us wonder how the candidates are going to come up with all the money to fund their promises. I know the war takes billions so ending that will bring money our way again. And cutting out loopholes in tax laws will garner millions too but I caught a small segment on CNN Money about walking and biking.
The CNN reporter said road trips have been reduced by 10% nationwide, and that most of those trips are less than 3 miles from home. People are opting to walk and bicycle instead. By raising that percentage just 3% more across America, we would collectively save $10 billion dollars per year. WOW.
The reporter went on to say that more biking paths need to be created and that the results of walking and biking to save economically pays off big in the health department also. City planners are slow to add more biking paths but financially speaking hundreds of miles of biking paths could be constructed for the same amount (around $50 million) that a one-mile stretch of 4-lane highway would cost to replace.
I live out here in Berlin Twp. It’s the boonies but still I walk my road for exercise everyday, as do my neighbors. The bonus: I have a party store/market at the end of my road. I have no excuse when I run out of something and have no transportation. I can exercise and pick up what I need about a half of a mile away.
I’m not saying it doesn’t take practice to walk half of a mile for a can of something, when I could jump in the car zip down there and back but… This is the type of sacrifice we all might need to make for the future. It’s not without immediate merit like drilling for oil. Walking and biking melt off the pounds–quick.
