Psychic Benefits of Bicycling

Generally I try to write about scientific topics, or non-scientific topics in a quantitative way.  I'm having trouble finding articles that study the psychic benefits of riding a bicycle compared with other modes of transportation including driving a car, walking, or taking public transportation.  I'm surprised that some economist or ergonomics evaluator has not measured this.

I did find a good article called "Bicycle Blueprint" that articulates the benefits of bicycles:

• does not operate on electricity or use a combustion engine, therefore it has a smaller (but not zero) carbon footprint, cyclists still have to eat!
• is quiet and does not contribute to city noise pollution
• fits neatly into the "door zone" of any street due to its small size, roadsharing is easy!
• offers mechanical advantage, shoppers can carry goods in a basket or bags, and the weight can be borne by the bike
• is "human-scale," not some giant metal box on wheels

The article also articulates the benefits of cycling:

• control over the schedule, no waiting for a bus or train, but there are still stoplights and stop-signs to obey
• offers some (but not too much) exercise
• allows the rider to be more interactive with the environment: smells, sounds, sights

Psychic cost is "incurred directly due to emotions that a certain kind of activity engenders." As David Brooks wrote in a NY Times Op-Ed, "The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting." This is known as the commuter's paradox. People think that the time savings associated with driving will provide a greater psychic benefit, when in reality we forget that driving has a great deal of unpredictability and we are disappointed when it takes longer than it should.  Therefore driving has a greater psychic cost than cycling.

Many experiments, albiet some non-scientific ones, have shown that cycling beats driving.

• Annual Great NYC Commuter Race bike wins over public transit and car
• Video here: https://vimeo.com/12469993
• BikeShare data in Lyon, France bike wins over car
• Los Angeles Carmageddon bike wins over plane and public transit
• Pro Cyclist vs Stunt Car Driver bike wins in Los Angeles
• Video here: https://youtu.be/Neljzmh30l4
• Des Moines, Iowa bike wins over bus and car
• Tucson, Arizona bike wins over car
• Savannah, Georgia bike wins over bus and car
• Vancouver, British Columbia bike wins over transit and cars
• Our humble experiment bike wins over car and walking in Glendale, CA

https://experiencelife.com/article/bicycling-values-the-cost-of-car-vs-bikes-commutes/

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/makin-money/car-vs-bike-vs-bus-comparison-three-la-commutes

http://www.betterbybicycle.com/2014/01/actual-car-vs-bike-commuting-comparisons.html

I really liked the calculation in "Bicycle Blueprint" that showed for an equivalent number of calories (or Joules of energy) a cyclist can travel 10 miles, a pedestrian 3.5 miles, and an automobile 100 feet. Even without a quantitative metric for psychic cost/benefit, that's pretty powerful math.