With gas prices surpassing the $4 mark, long traffic, and crowded parking lots the commute to Fresno City College may seem like a mission within itself.

Instead of having to depend on automobiles or public transit, many students at FCC are opting to ride their bicycles to school.

Nick Flechsing, a student at FCC, said he has been riding bicycles since he could walk. Flechsing said he chooses to ride a bike instead of driving a car. “It’s a healthier alternative and you help save the environment. There are so many benefits. Gas is expensive, insurance is expensive, and the cost to keep a bike maintained isn’t a lot.”

Annually, the average driver spends nearly $3,000 on gas, $1,000 on automotive insurance, and $700 on car maintenance and repair.

With many possible complications that may require monetary action from car owners, a bike could be more of an economic mode of transit.

As well as all the benefits it may have on one’s wallet, choosing to ride a bicycle as an alternative choice for transportation also provides exercise for the body. Studies show that the exercise from cycling gives one a feeling of increased health and well-being, and is beneficial for the cardiovascular system.

FCC student Felipe Bautista said he has been riding his bike to school every day since the beginning of the spring semester. “I get a good exercise coming back and forth because I come back 3 times a day,” said Bautista. He added that he does not have trouble finding parking in the morning.

The benefits that may be reaped by cycling are not only for the individual, but for the environment in our community as well.  The carbon dioxide emitted from motor vehicles has irreparably damaged the atmosphere, water and soil, and the wildlife that inhabit these environments.

The years of subsidizing interstate highways and suburb neighborhoods have wiped away countless acres of wildlife. Another fact to note is that there are slightly more cars in the U.S. then there are people.

David Andrew Escobedo, a student at FCC, always rides his bike to school. Escobedo says he gets to enjoy the landscape and scenery while he rides his bike.

With the high speed limits posted on the roadsides, it is easy for hurried drivers to be oblivious to the features of their surroundings. Speeding is a large factor that contributes to pedestrian fatalities on the roadways.

Escobedo says it would be beneficial for the earth and those whom inhabit it if more people were to choose bicycles as their means of transportation. “We all live here, we all breathe air, we all eat food, and we all drink water,” said Escobedo, “those things are being destroyed by our technology.”

If masses of people started filling the roadways with bicycles instead of cars and trucks, there would be a large impact on health, environmental, and economic aspects of our society.