3 million years ago. That was the last time the carbon dioxide levels in the air soared to today's levels. Carbon dioxide and other poisonous gasses are released mainly by cars, buses and other fuel-burning vehicles that emit poisonous gasses into the air we all breathe.

 Although alternatives do exist such as electric vehicles and walking, they are either too slow or they also add harmful gases to the atmosphere. The solution that we found was to make bikes more accessible for residents of Greater Boston and visitors.

Greater Boston is a pretty large area with a population over 5 million people, with roughly 66% of households owning cars. This isn't even accounting for the population that uses public transportation every day, nor does it account for the tourists that visit Boston. Naturally, this means the carbon emissions of Greater Boston are really high which affects the livelihood of millions.

WHY DOES THIS EVEN MATTER?

Greenhouse gasses not only poison water and food supply, but also increase global temperatures drastically. Emissions affect everyone, regardless of social status or wealth. This problem is clearly the hardest problem that humans have had to deal with, as it threatens everything we consider to be modern society; agriculture, medicine, economics, access to food, all these things are threatened.

Air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people every year. Airborne pollutants are responsible for about one third of deaths from stroke, chronic respiratory disease, and lung cancer, as well as one quarter of deaths from heart attack.

The buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases like methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) is causing the Earth’s atmosphere to warm, resulting in changes to the climate we are already starting to see today.

SO WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION?

Tackling this problem all at once is obviously an insurmountable challenge. But if we each take small steps to combat it, we would do much more. Our goal is to eventually have bikes be free across the world, but that is impossible without worldwide support. So, our first step is to attempt to make BlueBikes (publicly available bikes) to be free over the summer for residents and discounted for nonresidents.

This solution presents itself because it is a ‘net zero’ way of commuting to work, and it is healthier than driving. Choosing to bike over driving just once a day reduces the average person's carbon emissions from transportation by 67%. 

If we get enough people to sign this petition, it might be possible for all of us to eventually make a positive difference in our society today.