http://www.ridetowork.org/<br /><br />[hr]<br /><br />From their website:<br /><br />HISTORY<br /><br />Ride to Work Day History<br /><br />Ride to Work Day was inspired by &quot;Work to Ride - Ride to Work&#039;&quot; marketing materials created between 1989 and 1991 by the Aero Design and Manufacturing Company, a Minnesota based manufacturer of motorcycle riders clothing. In 1992 these items inspired motorcycle magazine editor Fred Rau to write an editorial calling for a national ride to work day.<br /><br />The first annual Ride to Work Day event was proposed in Road Rider magazine (now titled Motorcycle Consumer News) in the May 1992 issue. This is an excerpt from that &quot;Ride to Work&quot; editorial: &quot;You may remember several months ago when Bob Carpenter, commenting in his &#039;Two Up&#039; column, mentioned how neat he thought it would be if there was one day a year when everyone who owned a motorcycle used it to ride to work. That comment was prompted by a T-shirt produced by Aerostich RiderWear that simply said, &#039;Work To Ride, Ride To Work.&#039; Everyone seemed to think that a national &#039;Ride To Work&#039; day was one heck of a good idea.&quot;<br /><br />The first Ride to Work Day event date was July 22nd, 1992, which was the third Wednesday of that month. For several years various motorcycle businesses informally continued promoting every third Wednesday in July as Ride To Work Day. These early advocates included Road Rider Magazine, Dunlop Tires, and Aerostich/Riderwearhouse. The event continued to grow as an informal grass roots demonstration every year until 2000. That year a non-profit organization, Ride to Work Inc., was formed to help organize and promote Ride to Work Day. The first Ride to Work Day event led by this group was the third Wednesday in July of 2001.<br /><br />Ride to Work is a 501 c4 nonprofit, all-volunteer effort. Organizers include Andy Goldfine, Lynn Wisneski and Christine Holt.<br /><br />[hr]<br /><br />MOTORCYCLE TRANSPORTATION FACT SHEET<br /><br />NUMBER OF MOTORCYCLES COMMUTING<br />Out of a total 129,141,982 commuters in this country (USA, 2003) 147,703 of them ride motorcycles to work regularly. That’s only 0.11 percent. US Census Bureau<br /><br />Of all the motorcycles registered in the USA, (6,567,197) 4.3% of them are used for year-round primary transportation (282,389), with an additional 9.9% used seasonally for this purpose (932,542 total). Motorcycle Industry Council<br /><br />NUMBER OF MOTORCYCLES ON THE ROAD<br />As of 2003, there were 5,370,000 motorcycles regularly in use in the United States. US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics<br /><br />As of 2003, these 5,370,000 motorcycles traveled an average of 1,800 miles a year per motorcycle (9,539,000,000 total miles). US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics<br /><br />TRAFFIC CONGESTION<br />The average roadway delay per person in 2001 was 26 hours per year and in 2003 it was 47 hours per year, an increase of 81%. The average commute time one way is 25 minutes. Texas Transportation Institute<br /><br />JOURNEY TIMES <br />The average United States driver travels 29 miles per day and is driving a total of 55 minutes per day. (This is an average vehicle speed of 32 mph.) US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics <br /><br />Tests comparing car and motorcycle performance on real journeys suggest that traveling by motorcycle can shorten journey times by as much as 33 minutes of every hour for town centre and city travel, and 20 minutes of every hour for travel through a mixture of built-up and non built-up areas. Motorcycle Industry Association (UK)<br /><br />POTENTIAL AGGREGATE BENEFIT <br />Motorcycles cover 1-2% of the total distance traveled by road, and cars cover 86%. If 2% of car commuters switched to motorcycles or scooters, the current level of motorcycle utility use would effectively double. Motorcycle Industry Association (UK)<br /><br />Average 2002 annual household private vehicle expense is $7,371. This is divided into $3,665 for vehicle purchases, $1,235 for gas and oil and $2,471 for insurance and misc. US Department of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey <br /><br />PARKING SPACES<br />3 - 5 motorcycles fit per automobile parking space. Ride to Work<br /><br />TOTAL FUEL CONSUMPTION - 2003<br />Motorcycles 191 million gallons (50.1 avg mpg x 1,800 miles per year per motorcycle)<br />Passenger Cars 74,590 million gallons (22.3 avg mpg x 13,000 miles per year per car)<br />Light Truck/SUV 56,302 million gallons (17.7 avg mpg x 13,000 miles per year per Lt Trk / SUV)<br />US Dept of Transportation, Bureau of Travel Statistics<br /><br /><br />NORMAL WEEKDAY MOTORCYCLE COMMUTING DAY FUEL USED (estimated)<br />150,000 commuting motorcycles x 5 mi average commute distance x 2 (both ways) = 1,500,000 motorcycle commuting miles per day. 1,500,000 motorcycle commuting miles @ 50 mpg (avg) = 30,000 gallons per commuting day. <br /><br />100,000,000 commuting passenger cars, light trucks and SUV’s x 6 mi average commute distance x 2 (both ways) = 1,200,000,000 car, light truck and SUV commuting miles per day. 1,200,000,000 car, light truck and SUV commuting miles at 20 mpg (avg) = 60,000,000 gallons per day.<br /><br />RIDE TO WORK DAY FUEL SAVINGS (estimated)<br />150,000 motorcycles use 30,000 gallons per normal commuting day x 2 (an estimated 150,000 added motorcycles on Ride to Work Day) = 60,000 gallons used by motorcycles on Ride to Work Day. 60,000 gallons used on Ride to Work Day - 30,000 gallons used by motorcycles on a normal commuting day = 30,000 additional gallons used by motorcycles on Ride to Work Day.<br /><br />On Ride to Work Day, there are an estimated 150,000 additional Ride to Work Day commuting motorcycles and 150,000 less commuting car, light truck and SUV’s. A 6 mile (avg) commute x 2 (both ways) x 150,000 commuting car, light truck and SUV’s = 1,800,000 car, light truck and SUV miles. 1,800,000 car, light truck and SUV miles / 20 mpg (avg) = 90,000 gallons. 90,000 less car, truck and SUV gallons - 30,000 more gallons used on Ride to Work Day = 60,000 less gallons of fuel used on Ride to Work Day. If every work day were Ride to Work Day, 60,000 gallons saved x 250 work days = 15,000,000 less gallons used per year.

This is this Wednesday...if you don&#039;t ride to work - here&#039;s as good excuse as any to take the ride to work O0