Jared Parker

Professor Laryssa Waldron

Proposal Draft
English 2010

Proposal to Increase Cycling Rates in the Salt Lake Valley

We live in the day of instant satisfaction. We want it now and we want it
cheap. This way of thinking has developed into a culture which continues to
become more and more integrated into our daily lives. Although this culture has
proved to be very efficient and has brought many people a lot of prosperity, it is
causing serious public health problems. Inexpensive, high calorie, fattening foods in
combination with an increasingly sedentary workforce leads to skyrocketing obesity
rates. Our sedentary lifestyle in combination with the increasingly poor air quality is
developing into a potential catastrophe.
If someone is able to avoid the pitfalls of todays average lifestyle it is nearly
impossible to not be affected by the ever worsening air quality due to excessive
emissions. Air quality is already terrible and continues to get worse. What can be
done to improve the health of the Salt Lake Valley? Is it possible to improve air
quality and reduce obesity rates?
One of the major sources of poor air quality are personal and commercial
vehicles, which contribute 57% of wintertime emissions (University of Utah).
Personal vehicles not only contribute a large portion of emissions they also
contribute to obesity. Personal vehicles ensure that everything from a daily
commute to a trip to the movies is totally sedentary. Why dont we reduce the use
of personal vehicles?

Whether or not we could get rid of personal vehicles altogether, is up for

debate. But personal driving could definitely be reduced. There are many means of
transportation that can be used to reduce emissions from personal vehicles, but
active travel is the only solution that reduces obesity rates as well.
Currently the incentive for active travel in the Salt Lake Valley is money
saved in fuel and vehicle maintenance as well as improved cardiovascular health.
Cycling infrastructure has been improved in the Salt Lake Valley, unfortunately none
of the improvements have made serious increases in rates of people cycling.
Minimal amounts of resources have been used to improve cycling infrastructure,
and therefore cycling continues to be underused. On the other hand, in 2011, $1.5
Billion was spent on highway construction projects alone (UDOT). Massive amounts
of resources are being spent to repair and expand vehicular travel, then we go on to
wonder why we have terrible air quality.

Figure 1: Salt Lake Valley - Barker

There is an opportunity to reduce vehicle emissions, increase public activity,

without requiring increased costs. Divert a significant portion of funds used for the
repair and expansion of roads and use that money for cycling infrastructure. The
result of this would cause traffic delays, which is a negative impact, but would
provide a sufficient incentive for alternative commuting. If more people could ride
their bicycle to work as fast, or faster than if they were to drive, then the travel
option with the greatest incentive would be overwhelmingly in favor of cycling. The
result of this increased incentive to travel by bicycle could have enough people
cycling to actually make a difference in both public health and the environment.
Not only is the development of cycling infrastructure sound both environmentally
and for public health, but is also economically beneficial.

Recently a simulation of the societal costs and benefits of commuter bicycling

predicted that transforming urban and main roads into low speed bicycle friendly
streets would produce benefits 10-25 times greater than the costs. Commuter
cycling is an economic means that has the potential to prevent a social health
catastrophe. Not only could we make serious improvements to society we could
avoid falling into to further debt.
Many countries are investing more and more into cycling infrastructure, one
of the leading countries is the Netherlands. The Netherlands have been investing in
cycling infrastructure and integrating cycling into their culture for decades, and its
paying off. A little over one fourth of all trips made in the Netherlands are made by
bicycle, what does this mean for the Netherlands? An increase in life expectancy.
The American Journal of Public Health published a study of the public health and
economic benefits of increased cycling in the Netherlands. The article estimated an
increase of 6 months life expectancy as a result of cycling levels in the Netherlands,
which is about 6500 deaths are prevented annually. This increase in life
expectancy and the annual deaths prevented translate into economic benefits of
19 billion per year representing more than 3% of the Dutch GDP. (Fishman)
This will not work without the support of the Salt Lake Valley. If no one is
willing to consider active travel as a means of cutting out the majority of daily
travel, it wont matter how long everyone has to wait in traffic. Something must be
done, either now when we have multiple options to choose from, or later when
public health and air quality are so poor we have to choose something extremely
unpleasant.

Works Cited
Barker, Adam. Salt Lake City Convention. Salt Lake City. Photograph.
Fishman, Elliot, PhD, Paul, PhD Schepers and Carlijn Barbara Maria, PhD Krampius.
"Dutch Cycling: Quantifying the Health and Related Economic Benefits."
American Journal of Public Health (2015): e13-e15. Document.
University of Utah. Air Quality Literacy: A Guide for the University of Utah. Guide.
Salt Lake City: University of Utah Global Change and Sustainability Center,
2013. Document.
Utah Department of Transportation. 2011 Annual Statistical Summary. Statistical
Summary. Salt Lake City: Systems Planning and Programming, 2011.
Document.
Macmillan, Alexandra, et al. "The Societal Costs And Benefits Of Commuter
Bicycling: Simulating The Effects Of Specific Policies Using System Dynamics
Modeling." Environmental Health Perspectives 122.4 (2014): 335-344 10p. CINAHL
Complete. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.