Why should walking and bicycling be a life-threatening choice? It is not acceptable to spend billions of dollars to pursue outdated policies that would make health problems worse and add to the federal deficit by increasing health care costs. We need a 21st-century transportation vision that gives people transportation options, encourages walking and bicycling, and makes it safer for kids to walk to school.

Biking to work reduces damage to the environment and leaves very little carbon footprint. Next to walking, biking to work excludes emissions, oil leaks and other unfriendly pollutants.

Governing's analysis of health and census data found a strong correlation between a metro area's overweight/obesity rates and the portion of a workforce walking or biking to work.

To get serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we should take a close look at the bike as a potential solution.

Cycling is a great way to exercise and achieve healthy levels of fitness and activity. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment. Using your bike to get around is a great way to stay active as part of your everyday activities. Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to older adults.

Cycling is non-polluting and can help us breathe easier. Much of the pollutants and irritants in the air are the result of fossil fuel emissions and can cause serious health problems, including asthma, irritation of the lungs, bronchitis, pneumonia, decreased resistance to respiratory infections, and even early death. These health risks are accentuated in children. When people ride bikes instead of driving cars, everyone's health benefits.

Commuting by bike reduces pollution that causes asthma and bronchitis. Cycling instead of driving will reduce the 38 million tonnes of carbon produced each year by British motorists and improve the quality of your air. Surprisingly, a cyclist is also less exposed to air pollution than a commuting motorist.

What we don't notice is that if you were to spend an hour a day riding a bike rather than being sedentary and driving a car there's a cost to that sedentary time. It's silent, it doesn't get noticed. What we're talking about here is shifting the balance from that invisible danger of sitting still towards the positive health benefits of cycling.