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The six-mile Cady Way Trail, one of Florida's many bike-friendly pathways
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Conserve by Bicycle Program Study Results Released:
In 2005 the Florida Legislature created the Conserve by Bicycle Program Study to explore increased bicycling use as a productive activity for transportation, health and recreation. With the first phase of the initiative complete—and clinical trials taking place over the next year—this ongoing study has already confirmed the substantial impact regular biking can have on both long-term health benefits and energy conservation.
"Transportation can be leading the way with climate change," says Ken Bryan, the Florida field office director for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC). Simply by improving bike facilities, bike lanes and trail systems, he says, states can directly reduce fuel consumption and traffic congestion, provide safe pathways for children to and from schools, and create easy incentives for active, healthy lifestyles. "We can safely say there are now a billion bike rides a year in Florida," he says. That's a powerful—and ecologically sustainable—market for transportation and recreation.
Bryan and RTC are pushing the state to pursue an even more aggressive active transportation agenda. Especially with bike trails growing in popularity among tourists—a huge part of Florida's economy—the pay-off for bike-friendly developments and policies could have an immediate environmental and financial impact.
For more information on Conserve by Bicycle, please contact Dennis Scott at dennis.scott@dot.state.fl.us.
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