Saturday, June 16, 2007

If you have a short commute and still don't cycle to work, why not?

This is a short article about the 10 chief myths that keep people from biking to work. It's from the Guardian in the UK and I want to point out that it is written by a Member of Parliament. Anyone here imagine Stockwell Day or Peter McKay biking to work? Stephane Dion, maybe...He doesn't seem to mind being seen as a bit nerdy. But nerd-in-chief Stephen Harper? Not in this or any other lifetime.
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3 comments:

  1. Paula Johanson9:15 p.m.

    Far out! This touches on something I've been saying to Bernie for a while, that our government should find a way to see that every Canadian has a bike. Maybe if you buy a bike, the first $300 of the purchase price is tax deductible. Maybe more if it's a Canadian-made bike sold at a Canadian-owned store, though NAFTA wouldn't allow that. But there's a link on this British MP's web article which goes to the British program to make bikes more affordable for commuting.
    The program boils down to: worker picks out an approved bike, employer buys bike (gets VAT back) and rents it to worker for 18 months. Payment is like 20 pounds off the worker's paycheck, and worker's income tax is lower because of this deduction so net rent is like 15 pounds. After 18 months, worker buys out last of bike value at like 50 pounds and so gets a bike after paying a total of some 68% of ticket price.
    We can do this, or better, in Canada.

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  2. West Coast Woman3:08 p.m.

    I hate cycling with a fiery passion, the cyclists out here clog traffic and utterly ignore traffic laws, and furthermore I have no desire to see myself become that self-complacent, smug in the knowledge of my own virtue.

    And I walk to and from work, so you can't accuse me of not doing my part to save the planet. Nyah.

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  3. Lou8:57 p.m.

    Great article! With petrol being so expensive in the birthplace most people do cycle and very few people own cars. I've friends from Germany and they don't own cars, well one couple just bought one. My other friends are in the car coop and take the bus. I'm sure if they had bikes they would ride. Its just so European. Yeah, John I know I should ride my bike to work. I do my part, drive in the summer and bus in the winter.

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