To mark 2024 World Bike Day and as part of its initiatives to promote cycling as a means of transport, the UCI has published a document entitled ‘10 steps to bike to work’. The aim is to give people who wish to adopt this mode of transport the confidence to get started.
Adopting the bicycle as a means of commuting has a number of advantages:
economic, with a reduction in the maintenance costs associated with the use of a motorised vehicle, energy consumption and parking costs;
environmental, with a reduction in CO2 emissions and road traffic;
health, with improved air quality, reduced noise generated by motorised travel, and benefits in terms of physical and mental health.
For example, in the Swiss canton of Vaud, which was awarded the UCI Bike Region label in 2022 and where the UCI is headquartered, one out of every two home-to-work journeys is made by car. Given that more than 50% of car journeys in the canton of Vaud are made within a radius of less than five kilometres, it's clear that cycling has enormous potential.