First you are in luck because Madison is a platinum rated bike city, so it’s a great place to use your bike to get to work or to run errands! There are many benefits to using bikes as transportation: health, community, environmental, and financial.
An 18 year study of 82 thousand adults found that cycle commuting halves the chance of early death. Cycle commuters greatly reduced their incidences of heart disease, cancer, and mental health conditions.
Biking also increases connections among neighbors, improves neighborhood safety, and reduces travel times for everyone because bikes take up far less space on streets than motor vehicles.
Replacing motor vehicle trips with cycling trips reduces carbon emissions, air pollution, noise pollution, and the disruptive and energy intensive construction of motor vehicles and their associated infrastructure. It’s one of, if not the most, effective ways for regular people to help the environment!
Finally, the average total cost of owning a motor vehicle in America is now $12,000 a year! On the other hand, a reasonable estimate for bicycle ownership and maintenance over a 10 year lifecycle might be ~$500 per year. If you have the capability to replace a motor vehicle with a bike for most of your travel needs, you can save a lot of money! If you are concerned about the occasional trip which requires a motor vehicle, a car-share service like Zipcar could help bridge that gap.