Today is the 16th annual Ride To Work Day!
"Ride To Work advocates and supports the use of motorcycles and scooters for transportation, and provides information about transportation riding to the public."
That is their mission, according to the official website.
"Riding to work on this day is fun and shows the positive value of motorcycling. For many people, riding is a socially responsible form of mobility that saves energy, helps the environment and provides a broad range of other public benefits."
That is their reason, according to Andy Goldfine, this year's event organizer.
In an effort to help make this happen, letters (.pdf link) were sent to the mayors of the 260 largest cities in the United States, which urged them to allow free parking at all meters and municipal ramps on July 18th. In the past, the event has proven quite successful, as the 200,000 or so regular riders swells to about 600,000 on Ride To Work Day. There are quite a few benefits to riding your motorcycle or scooter to work, some of which are lower cost of operation, less congestion and less travel time. According to the Department of Transportation, the average motorcycle gets twice the gas mileage (50.1 avg) of the average automobile (22.3 avg). This means that on Ride To Work Day, 60,000 or so gallons of gasoline will be saved. According to the official site, "If every work day were Ride to Work Day, 15,000,000 less [gallons of gasoline would be used] per year."
[Source: Ride To Work]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
yoinkers 3:29PM (7/18/2007)
Better gas mileage, horrible un-catalyzed emissions on most bikes and scooters. No one ever talks about the emissions, just the better gas mileage.
Don't get me wrong, motorcycles are great, I've had 4 including a 500cc scooter with a catalytic converter and fuel injection. I just wish they were cleaner...
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