What Richard Schwinn says about how bikes can cut cost of government

“If you are a Republican, you would want to support cycling, because
if you want to see the cost of living go down, then you get people out
of cars and into cycling.”

“If you expect America to succeed, to increase wealth, we have to get
the cost of living down, so that we don’t have to have such high wages
in order for people to live a good life… Cycling is a key part of it.
You want to reduce the cost of education? Get kids back riding bikes
back to school. Because the number two budget item in the school
budget is busing. Everyone is being bused, not for racial integration,
but because the roads are too dangerous to walk or to cycle. If you
fix the problem of the roads and safety for cyclists, you’ve now cut
down the budget for schools. By the way, you’ve also cut down the
budget for roads.”

“If you really want to reduce the things that are driving up the cost
of government, it’s really going to happen by improving the
infrastructure for cycling, and for pedestrian activities, and mass
transit, and things like that.”

Richard Schwinn is a co-founder of Waterford Precision Cycles and the
grandson (I think, maybe a nephew) of the founder of Schwinn Bicycles.

The quotes are taken from a podcast – http://www.wjcu.org/2010/12/18/the-outspoken-cyclist-12182010

Bill Edmonds
btedmond@fsu.edu

All the best for a happy, healthy 2011. Be safe.