Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and Congressman Mike Castle recently joined a group of AstraZeneca employees on a morning bike commute to work to stress the need to ease traffic, create less pollution and promote healthy exercise. When the cyclists arrived at AstraZeneca’s U.S. headquarters, they were greeted by Delaware Department of Transportation Secretary Carolann Wicks and AstraZeneca U.S. President Rich Fante, who spoke to AstraZeneca employees about the many merits of commuting by bicycle.
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“Biking to work is not only healthy; it eases traffic and cuts air pollution,” said Markell, who often commutes by bike to his office and each year bicycles the length of the state. Markell noted the League of American Bicyclists ranked Delaware ninth in the nation for bike accessibility in 2009.
Wicks offered support and safety tips to the bike commuters, explaining how the department is creating more bikeways to encourage safe cycling. “Myself and the rest of the team at DelDOT [Delaware Department of Transportation] are designing a transportation system that is needed now and in the future. For example, we’re building many roads with wider, safer shoulders for cyclists. In the spring of this year, the governor signed an executive order that made complete streets the law. Essentially, the executive order says that whenever we design a new road or improve an existing route, we either add facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, or there must be a good reason why we cannot.”
DelDOT publishes bike maps with route information for all three of Delaware’s counties at deldot.gov. Additionally, DelDOT operates the Delaware Bicycle Council, which is tasked with improving bicycling throughout the state.
Castle shared his perspective that emerging bike and pedestrian friendly places like Delaware are influencing federal policy. “Commuters are becoming more creative, and Congress has been increasingly supportive of alternative methods of transportation that ease traffic congestion, improve air quality and have great health benefits. Today it is important to highlight an example of that resourcefulness and encourage others to give it a try.”
According to the Environmental Defense Fund, if everyone who lives within 5 miles from work biked to work just one day a week, it would be the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road and reduce air pollution by 5 million tons each year.
When it comes to commuting, more than 20 percent of AstraZeneca’s employees at its major U.S. facilities in Wilmington and Waltham, Mass., reduce their carbon footprint by commuting in high-occupancy vehicles.
The company is also replacing its older sales fleet vehicles with new fuel-efficient cars, which eliminated an estimated 355 tons of carbon monoxide emissions in 2008.
“As important as the health of our environment is, so is the health of our employees and the patients we serve. We recognize the value of daily exercise and do what we can to encourage commuting options that benefit the environment and people’s health and well being,” said Fante.
“Exercise is critical to the prevention of major disease like diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses.”
Recently, the British Medical Association found cycling just 20 miles a week can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by 50 percent. A major study of 10,000 civil servants suggested that those who cycled 20 miles over the period of a week were half as likely to suffer heart disease as their noncycling colleagues.
In addition to disease prevention and cardiovascular health, among the many benefits of cycling are increased stamina, improved coordination and reduced stress.
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