Going Green- and reconnecting with your inner child!

Written By: Steve Krause

“Going Green” seems to be a common theme in the world we live in today. Everything from hybrid cars, environmental friendly products like paint, solar and wind energy alternatives, to recycling awareness, going green is definitely an emerging trend that is affecting the way many people live their everyday lives.

Madison's Isthmus (My Home) (Photo credit: robbyb)

One of the newer environmental conscious programs that Madison has gotten involved with is the bike-share program known as B Cycle. Bike-share programs allow people to swipe their credit cards at a kiosk or station that has a number of bikes available for riders to take on rides and then return them to the same kiosk/station or a different kiosk/station in another location. In the article, “Bike-share Program Gets OK From Madison Leaders”, written by Gena Kittner, Kittner states that 350 bikes in 27 stations downtown are being made available to people in Madison through an arm of Trek Bicycle Corp.

Rates for bike share programs vary from city to city. Kittner states that the Denver bike share rates are any ride under 30 minutes are free with day rates being a mere $5 and yearly memberships set at $65. According to their website, Madison B Cycle offers a 24 hour pass for $10, 7-day rate for $30, and an annual rate for $65 with small additional fees being added for any rides over 30 minutes. 

This bike share program is a great opportunity for people to get out of the house and enjoy a nice day with friends, family, or even a great option for a cheap date. It is also great for quick trips for running errands in a timely fashion without having to find a parking spot or pay for parking. It also beats fighting the mad rush of bumper-to-bumper traffic reducing stress levels while also allowing you to reconnect with the inner kid in yourself.

The Madison B Cycle program will also help with lower air pollution in Madison by reducing emissions produced by vehicles. Just think of all the short trips you have to take that are just out of the reach of walking distance resulting in you driving your vehicle. Now Madisonian’s have a nice cheap eco-friendly alternative to help reduce the air pollution in our fine city. According to the bikes belong website, a study showed that the bike share program in Barcelona reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 9,000 metric tons every year.

The Madison B Cycle program can also be a nice healthier alternative for individuals in the Madison area. We all know that biking can be a great and entertaining form of exercise for individuals looking to live a healthy and active lifestyle. Biking gives people a fun way to work on their cardio as opposed to running on a boring treadmill for a certain amount of time everyday. Also, according to the bikes belong website Barcelona bike share studies I mentioned earlier, the health benefits of using the program outweighed the risk of being involved in a crash by 77 to 1. If you ask me, if you are a responsible person and take the proper precautions while riding that’s about as close to peace of mind as you can get.

The Madison bike share program B Cycle is truly a fun, cheap, and unique way for you and yours to get a real feel for the city of Madison while helping the environment and to live a healthy and active lifestyle. Its cheap, its fun, it helps the environment and your personal health, what’s not to like? I encourage everyone to take a look at the Madison bike share website at madison.bcycle.com to get a feel for how it works, what their rates are, how you could be a donor to the program, and how to take advantage of this fun and unique program that is offered to everyone in the Madison area.