This site was formerly Living Room, but before that, it was The Bike People. We have simply returned to our emphasis on bicycling in the city in the context of cultural, social, and environmental sustainability. All our former content is still available through the article indexes on the left.
Snippets, Musings, & News: the Bicycle Fixation Weblog
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01/29/2007: "Bicycles, Fat, & Efficiency"
Worldwatch Institute, a superb source of environmental statistics, has published a chart correlating bicycle ownership (and use) and a variety of health and environmental indicators. Here's a sample:Bicycles per 1,000 people in the United States (mid-1990s): 385
In Germany: 588
In the Netherlands: 1,000
Percent of adults that are obese in the United States (2003): 30.6
Percent in Germany: 12.9
Percent in the Netherlands: 10.0
Energy used per passenger-mile (calories):
Auto: 1,860
Bus: 920
Rail: 885
Foot: 100
Bicycle: 35
To see the entire chart, or to browse their resources, go to: Worldwatch.org.