Active transportation: a solution for everything and everyone!
Mission
At BougeBouge, we fight the physical dropout problem by educating, raising awareness and creating opportunities to be active in Quebec communities. What’s more, we follow UNESCO’s principles of sustainable development in our fight against dropping out, to ensure that our approaches and projects respect international human rights and environmental standards. Over the past few years, we’ve put the emphasis on our organization’s eco-responsibility by ensuring that our events are zero-waste, and by organizing various eco-conscious activities such as waste collection events.
Projects
Our most recent environmental project, The Active Brigade, is particularly close to our hearts, as it brings together our primary mission of promoting physical activity and active lifestyles, as well as our concern for sustainable development. This active transportation education and awareness campaign reflects the image of our organization, and offers a wide range of activities, training and contests to mobilize communities around active transportation!
What is active transportation?
The Government of Canada defines active transportation as travel in which one’s own energy is used to get from one place to another. This can be on foot, bicycle, roller skates, skateboards, or any other means of transportation that requires physical effort and not energy from outside yourself!
But why put so much effort into active transportation?
We believe it’s a solution that fights both climate change and sedentarization: two birds, one stone! Read on to learn all about the benefits of active transportation, and you’ll be convinced too!
What means of active transportation are available?
Of course, the means of transport used depend on the distances to be covered. For shorter distances, we recommend walking. This low-impact exercise will enable you to reach your destination without physical exhaustion, and will give you great flexibility in the routes you take.
For longer distances, we recommend cycling. By accelerating your speed without adding impact on the body, cycling is an excellent means of active transportation. What’s more, many municipalities offer infrastructure for cyclists, such as bike paths, reserved lanes, special parking lots and more. Find out more in your community, or read on to discover our tools for optimizing your bike commute!
Why should you choose active transportation?
Environmental benefits
It goes without saying that using the natural energy of the human body, rather than the non-renewable energy of fuel-powered transport, has a huge impact on the environment. Admittedly, it’s sometimes impossible to complete an entire journey by active transport, but adopting this mode of travel as a habit, on a small or large scale, has a positive impact. Each active trip neutralizes the GHG emissions of that trip. So whether it’s twice a week, or every day, be creative and see how your commute can be transformed!
Social benefits
Active transportation will put you in touch with the local community. You’ll discover a world of resources and individuals rallying around the same causes. Whether you’re coordinating your travels with friends, family and colleagues, or visiting your nearest bike shop, you’ll inevitably come into contact with the community and exchange ideas based on this new common ground. By getting around on foot or by bike, interactions are multiplied, amplifying the feeling of belonging to a community.
Health benefits
The government recommendation for physical activity is one hour per day per person. This can easily be achieved by commuting to work or other places. By integrating active transportation into your lifestyle, physical activity will become part of your daily routine, and you’ll benefit from better musculature, a better cardio-respiratory system and positive effects on your mental health. In fact, moving around before work improves concentration and serotonin secretion, which will increase your motivation and have a positive impact on your mood! You could see positive changes in your physical and mental health, and thus in your performance in different aspects of your life!
Economic benefits
Still not convinced? Active transportation is also the most economical mode of transport. Depending on the distance you have to travel, it may be free, or it may involve low costs, but no matter what, it’s always preferable to motorized transport. Transportation is the 3rd biggest expense for the average family in Quebec. By reducing your transportation expenses, you can save money and invest in other types of spending that contribute to your well-being! Of course, it’s not possible to completely eliminate transportation expenses, but if it’s just a matter of spacing out your gas fill-ups, over the long term, the difference can be remarkable!
How to start?
First, evaluate your situation. What is the nature of your trips (duration, distance, time of day, etc.)? Is it possible to cover all these trips by active transportation?
If so, great! Start planning your trips using the tools below!
If not, evaluate your options. Is it possible to use a combination of active transportation and public transit? Or active transportation and carpooling? Be creative and think of all the trips in your daily routine that could be optimized, not just the long ones.
Second, plan your trips. How long will it take to cover the given distance by active transportation? What mode of transportation will be optimal? Is there a network dedicated to the mode of transportation you’re using?
To answer all these questions, we recommend that you get in touch with your community. Whether it’s at a community transportation or sports event (see our events in your region), by asking your municipality, or by using one of the following tools, you’ll benefit from valuable advice from regulars in the field of active transportation!
- Strava: social sports network for creating routes and sharing your sporting activities. You can see the routes taken by friends and family, or create your own routes and segments. You can also join groups and take part in challenges! Bonus: you can earn several badges or trophies by completing certain challenges, improving your times or distances, riding a segment more often than your peers, etc. Strava will turn active transportation into a game!
Facebook: We’ve repeatedly asked our community to share their active transportation tips. Join the discussion and see what options are available near you!
- Ride with GPS: an application that lets you create routes according to specific criteria. You can choose the type of route you want to take and customize your itinerary according to your preferences. Routes created by others are also visible on the application so you can see the routes taken by the community around you.
Third, specialize. Join our active transportation events in your area! Debates, conferences, safety workshops, bike mechanics workshops, all the tools you need are available free of charge! Take a look at our program.
Fourth, become an ambassador for active transportation! Make your friends and family aware of the benefits of active transportation and become a benchmark for positive change!