As part of Climate Week seven of our members cycled along the Botley Road during rush hour on Friday 7th March  wearing hi-vis vests displaying one of the following words:  Greener, Quicker, Happier, Cheaper, Healthier, Smarter, Sexier.  Our aim was to encourage commuters to get on their bikes, beat the traffic jams, get fitter, save money, reduce their carbon footprint and reduce air pollution.

There are huge benefits to leaving the car at home, or at least in the Park & Ride, and travelling by bike into Oxford.   You will get into Oxford along the Botley Road much quicker on a bike than any other way of travelling.  That’s more time for everything else you need to do every day.  You’ll get some exercise too, built in to your daily routine.  And you’ll be cutting your carbon emissions.

As the days get longer and the weather improves, now is a great time to make the change.  There are lots of options from fold up bikes that will fit in your boot to the new electric bikes that will help you go a bit further and faster than you could under your own pedal power.

Sitting in traffic jams is really expensive and stressful for drivers.

Traffic congestion and jams are costing the British economy £4.3 billion a year in wasted fuel and time.  That’s according to research by Inrix, a traffic information company that reckons our clogged up roads cost each car-commuting household around £491 a year.

Lots of short trips and sitting in jams are a daft way to use fuel; stop-start driving can use up to 40 per cent more fuel so it’s best to avoid unnecessary trips and steer clear of rush hour if possible.

If you do get stuck in stationary traffic, it’s better to switch off the engine as you’ll use more fuel with the engine idling for 60 seconds than if you switched off and restarted 60 seconds later.