. Modes of transport like cycles are now slowly coming back into vogue in many areas, and in some towns and cities far thinking councils have already made cycling the way to travel.
The advantages of cycling as compared to other forms of transport are manifold. Cycling is great cardiovascular exercise and has proven health benefits. It is as easy on the pocket as it is on the environment. No fuel means no astronomical fuel bills or sticker shock from sky rocketing fuel prices and it also means zero emissions, zero damage to the ozone layer and no greenhouse gases. Cycling is a quiet and efficient means of transport. Most vehicular traffic in cities is because of cars and other vehicles occupied by a single person. Cycles take a fraction of the space on the road as compared to any motorised vehicle and they are completely silent. Over the kinds of short distance that a lot of the city commutes daily, a cycle may actually be faster than sitting in a traffic jam.
Businesses, schools and other institutions and city councils looking for ways to promote cycling spend a lot of money building expensive cycle lanes and traffic signals for cyclists. One of the often over looked methods of promoting cycling is to install cycle shelters. In most cities, one of the reasons people think twice before cycling anywhere is the absence of a safe location to park and lock their cycles once they get to their destination. More people would use cycles if they were sure that there was a safe cycle shelter that provided a lockable stand for their cycles and protection from the elements at their destination.
Modern cycle shelters are not only easy to install, taking just a few hours, they are also very durable. They not only protect people and their cycles from the elements but stand up to the elements themselves for years. A well designed and well built cycle shelter will provide service for years with very little maintenance and upkeep. Various new materials make these shelters cheap as well. Councils can install many more shelters for the same budget now and really give this happy trend a big boost.