As gasoline prices climb, some people might envy Orem's Brad Woods and his family, who used just one-quarter tank of gas during the entire month of March.

The Woods family uses bicycles to commute to work, attend meetings and run errands like grocery shopping and going to the bank and post office. They have a "bakfiets," a Dutch word for cargo bike, which has a bench in which the kids can be strapped. The bike is equipped with rear-mounted saddle bags that can be lifted off and taken into a store and which hold as much as four gallons of milk.

Woods acknowledged that using just one-quarter tank of gas doesn't happen every month, but said that using just one-half tank per month is not uncommon for his family.

"The kids have a blast," Woods said. "My daughter prefers the bakfiets to riding in a car. [The bike] is 8 feet long, and it takes some getting used to, but it rides like a Cadillac. We have people stop and stare at us, and ask us where we got it. ... People in south Orem have probably seen us riding around in it. It's everywhere!"

The cost of a bakfiets is in the $3,000 range, but Woods said a person would spend $6,000 or more to buy a small, fuel-efficient car. "Even buying a very expensive bike will pay for itself in short order," he said.

In addition to providing benefits such as a healthier lifestyle, bicycling allows a person to take life at a slower, more relaxed pace, and to plan ahead, Woods said.

"When you depend on a bicycle for transportation, you plan what you're doing. You don't want to be going from one side of town to another when you are expending your personal energy and you are the engine."

Woods believes that the way to get people to use a bicycle more often is by enhancing convenience -- allowing a rider to just get on and go quickly. Bicycles today have built-in features that eliminate the need to wear a strap on the pant legs, which keep the pants from getting tangled in the drivetrain. New systems make bikes easier to lock.

"Kevlar line tires are a must in my opinion," Woods said. "They are made of the same type of material that bullet-proof vests are made of, and they virtually eliminate flats from glass and puncture weeds. Any bike shop can help you with the tires."

Woods, who is the manager of Mad Dog Cycles on 800 South in Orem, said there has been a definite "up-tick" recently in sales of city-type bikes for commuting and getting around town. Such bikes now account for about one-third of total sales. The bikes have an upright riding position and larger diameter tires, and are slightly wider for more cushion on the road. They can have racks and fenders installed on them -- racks to carry items and fenders to better protect the rider from wet weather.

Preferences vary, but Woods said there are many solutions, "for just about any bicycle anyone would want."

Woods has been a member of Orem's Transportation Advisory Commission since it was organized one year ago, and he brings a bicyclist's perspective to the commission's deliberations.

"Communities are not designed for people -- they are designed for cars," he said.

The bicyclist believes that in some ways, Orem is a community that is "perfectly arranged" to be a bicycle-friendly place, but it would help to have buildings close to the street, wide sidewalks, trees and street furniture (benches, art, community bulletin boards), narrow lanes with room for bicyclists, and "dramatically slower" speeds.

"The difficulty is in the cars, high speeds, and people not paying attention because of cell phones or the radio," Woods said. "But it will take more than a willingness of the City Council or the Transportation Commission to make changes.

"People need to get out of their cars and start walking, biking or taking the bus. It will do a whole lot more for you than make you feel good. It will make your community more friendly."