Montague Folding Bikes Make Commuting Easy
Easy to Start
With few barriers to entry, you can choose your route and exactly how far you want to ride each day.
Avoid Traffic
The last few miles around centers of employment usually have the most traffic. Avoid it by riding your bike and save time.
Save Money
Save on gas, wear on your car, and instead of paying for parking in the city center, ride from a free or inexpensive lot on the outskirts.
Stay Healthy
Many people don’t get the recommended amount of daily exercise. Park & Pedal fits exercise into your busy daily schedule.
Do you wish that you could ride your bike to work but live too far away? If you have a Montague folding bike, the distance won’t stop you anymore. In the U.S., the average round trip commute is just over 30 miles, so it’s understandable that more people don’t ride a bike all the way to work: for many people, 15 miles twice a day is too far and takes too long. But with a Montague folding bike, you don’t have to ride the whole way in. You can drive the first part (perhaps you just can’t avoid the interstate?), then park at a convenient location, take your folding bike out of the trunk, and ride the rest of the way to work. It’s a great way to shorten your commute and spend less time sitting in the bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic.
Speaking of spending less time in traffic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average roundtrip commute takes approximately 50 minutes. This means that the average American commuter spends over 8 days/year in traffic, just getting to and from work. If you want to reclaim some of those 8+ days, riding a folding bike is the perfect way to do it. Even if you only use the folding bike for the very last part of your commute, the little things really do add up: for every 6 minutes less you spend in traffic every day, you spend 1 day less in the car over the course of the year!
Maybe you’ve already thought about doing a combined car-bike or transit-bike commute. But it can be difficult to fit a non-folding bike into the back of a car, and bikes are also often restricted or prohibited on public transportation – especially during rush hour. With a folding bike, however, both of these options are open to you. A Montague folding bike fits right in your trunk – no cumbersome bike rack or maneuvering to wedge it into the backseat. And, in most cities, as long as it’s folded, you can take a folding bike right onto the train, subway, or bus. This means you don’t have to leave your bike locked outside the train station; you can ride from your bus stop to work; and you can take your folding bike inside where you can store it under your desk or next to the coat rack.
Because it’s so easy to fit a Montague folding bike into the trunk of your car, it’s a great option if you need to run errands after work. Picking up the kids from soccer practice? It’s hard to do that without going home first if you’re commuting on a non-folding bike. But with a Montague folding bike, you simply ride to your car, fold the bike, and you (and the kids) are good to go. Need to do a grocery run? No reason to head home and back out again – if you’ve parked between work and home, just ride to your car, stash the folding bike in your trunk, and swing by the store. When you have a Montague folding bike, you retain all the flexibility and freedom you have with a car, but you drive less.
Biking Regularly Can Help You Slim Down
Are you looking for a way to fit more exercise into your regular schedule? With a Montague folding bike, you can get your workout in on the way to and from work or school. Commuting by bike is a great way to get some exercise without having to budget extra time, since you spend time going to and from work anyway. And with a folding bike, you can decide how long and how hard you want your ride to be. Have some extra energy? Park further out and do a longer ride or ride a longer route back to your car at the end of the day.
Spend Less When Biking
Riding a folding bike can save you money… big money. According to AAA, as gas prices continue to increase, the average driver will spend $700 more on gasoline this year than last. Riding just a few miles a day can add up to serious savings over time. You also save money on parking – many cities have commuter lots near public transportation terminals where you can park for free. Compare that to the $5, $10 or more you pay to park downtown. $10 less/day in parking is a savings of $2500 over a year!
Once you go in for the Park & Pedal approach to commuting, you’ll find yourself saving money in all sorts of unexpected ways. Since you’re driving less, you’ll spend less on routine car maintenance such as oil changes. You might also decide that since you’re getting so much great exercise by riding your folding bike, you don’t need that gym membership anymore, and that’s more money saved.
Looking for More Information?
You can find more information about starting a Park & Pedal commute with your folding bike at www.parkandpedal.org
