My Top 6 reasons to Cycle Commute in Vancouver

I hate commuting.

I recently purchased a used bicycle and have noticed that my quality of life has improved.  I'm not an expert in cycling however as I slowly get into the sport I've noticed a few things.  One of which is that the city of Vancouver is beautiful to cycle in.  Cycling lanes are everywhere and if you get used to them and use them you'll notice how great they are. 

From a recent post in the Vancouver Sun:
In the past generations, the car has been seen as a symbol of coming of age and of freedom and of whatever. Now people are actually seeing that maybe it’s the opposite, maybe it’s tying them down to car payments, parking fees, gasoline, insurance, and general bad health spending 90 minutes in traffic on average per person per day.

I read recently a statistic that teens aged 16 to those in their early 20's are not getting their drivers licenses as much and instead as they have decided to utilize transportation which is at a freemium right now: cycling and/or public transportation.

A recent local study in today's paper suggested to me that people in this city are unhappy with commuting and dislike the congestion, the travel times, and the limited parking.  I would suggest that for a couple months of your accrued gas, insurance & parking fees, you could own a very good high end commuter bike and would support my thesis to switch to biking.

here are my 6 reasons to cycle to work in Vancouver:
1) health.  cycling is as good or better for your health that walking.  A 60 minute commute per day in your car is probably going to run you the same amount of time on a bike in the city of Vancouver.  60 minutes of cardio a day will make your life better. 
2) save money.  let's add it up.  $30/week on gas + $125/month on insurance + $100 on parking + $50 on maintenance + car payment/lease payment/depreciation (for sake of argument $150/month) = $6,660/year (extremely conservative) for car expenses.
3) it's faster.  you can get from Coal Harbour to Gastown faster than you can drive/walk/transit.
4) environmental concerns.  Cars burn fossil fuels.  Simple
5) you will have a more productive day.  There are too many studies to list regarding exercise and improving your overall wellbeing
6) it's really easy to get around.   

I don't have the answers but maybe this will help you make your decision and push you over the edge

Love,
@MartyZylstra