Imagine there is a professor who lives at 1806 Wills Avenue in Raleigh. She weighs 150 pounds and has a 2015 Honda CRV and a bicycle that weighs 25 pounds. She needs to get to Withers Hall on the NCSU campus, but finding parking can be difficult sometimes she has to park in the Winston West lot, while at other times in the North Hall B lot.

What is the difference in weight she will be moving if she drives versus if she bikes?

How long will it take her to get to work by each of these options? (Be sure to factor in the walking time from the two parking lots.)

How much energy will she use in each case? The CRV gets 24 miles per gallon on a short trip like this. She burns off 50 calories per mile biking. (A gallon of gas contains 31,000 calories of energy)

How much CO2 will she produce in each case. Using a total life cycle analysis, driving emits 271 grams of CO2 per km, while biking emits 21 grams of CO2 per km.

How much space will her parking take up in each case?

What other factors might this professor consider?

What would be your advice to her? Is there anything that could make biking more attractive?