Researchers say New Zealand could save $200 million per year in health costs if more motorists opted to use a bike instead.
The Centre for Sustainable Cities says it would take only 5% of car trips being replaced by bike rides to make the savings.
Manager Jan Logie says the extra exercise would also save the lives of more than a hundred people each year.
She says a 5% change is not radical, as it is just getting back to the number of cyclists in the 1980s.
But she says people won't opt for bikes instead of cars until the roads are safer and urban areas are improved for cyclists.
