Environmental pollution is a major problem nowadays and it is on a rise

due to increased use of transportation that emit harmful gases into the
environment. The infographic titled, “The Benefits of Shifting to Cycling”
was published by the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy
(ITDP) and UC Davis. It is an institute with a large student body which this
infographic encourages the readers to chnge their lifestyle by switching
from their harmful gas emitting vehicles or other mode of transport to
become more eco-friendly and help in saving the environment for the
upcoming future. The audience whom this multimodal text aims are in
wide range but in particular it is the American audience who with a small
shift in their transport lifestyle could brings about a great change in the
society and nature. This infographic conveys its message of the – through
the combination of persuasive techniques such as Logos, Ethos,
imperative sentences and so forth along with visual features- color, icons,
and an intuitive layout to its audience.

To begin with the text from the very beginning till the end of it have
utilised logos for the readers to understand the benefits of shifting to
cycling with the support of logical and statistical reasoning. The lines “In
every country, at least 35% of trips are under 5km, less than a 20-minute
ride on a bicycle. Around 50% of trips are under 10km, less than a 30-
minute ride on an e-bike.’ uses numerical support (percentage to inform
the readers about the distance they could exactly cover and in how much
time through the use of bicycle or e-bike. Making them think that perhaps
changing their mode of transport is much easier and effective than they
thought. Further ahead logos is used to make the readers aware of what
they can expect in a positive way if they start using bicycle of e-bikes
through the line “We could avoid 300 mega tonnes of global CO2
emissions, a 7% reduction in urban transport emissions over BAU” and
“47% total reduction in the comprehensive HSC scenario”. And it is in
“save cities $25 trillion over the next 35 years due to cycling” the readers
are additionally informed of not only the environment is benefitting but
them altering from common modes of transport to cycling can help them
save money for their nation too. Indirectly hinting at the financial growth,
they will be part of for the country. Once moving away from the logos
readers might be curious about why they should trust the facts and
figures stated by this text and the curiosity or doubt is put to a rest by the
publisher by employing Ethos at the end part of the infographic. ITS UC
Davis with an explanation who they are and what they aim at in “works
around the world to design and implement high quality transport systems
and policy solutions that make cities more liveable, equitable, and
sustainable.” In the right hand corner along with “30 years of ITDP”
stating how long have they been in this field of work on the left hand
corner of the text.

Moving ahead from the persuasive techniques the infographic has made
an interesting choice of color, specifically the usage of green, is one of the
ways in which the infographic sends a message of cycling being beneficial
to the environment to its readers it also highlights the growth in the
number of people that the publisher hopes to see by the increase in
bicycle use in the near future. The infographic starts with the title, in
white, against a green background thus providing an immediate insight
into what the benefits of cycling are, as green is a color that has heavy
connotations linking it to the environment. Additionally, the choice to have
the title text in white portrays concept of purity to the audience. By the
simple choice of white text on a green background, the ITDP has informs
and persuades the readers that switching to cycling is something positive,
and beneficial for mother nature. To add on to the same, green is a color
not only linked positively to nature, but it is also connected to the idea of
money. By using the color green for the text that says “Save cities USD 23
trillion.” the ITDP is helping readers imagine the concept of money and
saving it, by associating it with green. Furthermore, including “USD” when
this targets a majority American audience to motivate readers to feel
more passionately about changing their lifestyle, and be more determined
to save not only the environment, but also save money for their country.
Therefore, the association of the text with the color green helps convey
the message of helping the environment by switching to cycling. Color is
not the only element that grabs the attention of the readers and informs
about the urgency and positive side of switicgging to bicycle it is also the
icons that are scattered throughout the infographic. The image of a
bicycle is placed next to the title in white color and big font stating
“SHIFTING TO CYCLING” instantly provides a visual cue for what the
infographic is going to be about without even reading through it
completely. The icon of the cycle can be noticed by the readers five more
time placed around, reinforcing the idea about the topic of this infographic
again and again. By having them next to the text detailing the speed of a
bike ride, the ability to save money, and in two of the “six more ways to
make the change” it is consistently associating bicycles with positivity and
beneficial change, subconsciously encouraging readers to involve
themselves with bicycles and the act of cycling. In addition, the USA is a
very diverse country, with many immigrants who may not speak English
fluently so the utilisation of icons like them helps to pass the message
down more easily than ever such as the car with a red cross through it,
next to the text about minimizing the usage of cars by removing
incentives. Due to the usage of short and crisp sentence the reader, no
matter their age and qualification is can read through easily and will
understand what that particular icons and lines mean effectively. As well
as the use of diagrams such as bar charts, helps provide the feeling of
trust for readers. The bar charts next to the infographic’s statistical
claims, that there will be a reduction of “300 megatonnes of global CO2
emissions,” creates the feeling that this is something which is backed by
research, as any kind of diagram is associated, at least to some extent,
with research and evidence. Making the readers feel encouraged to take
up cycling, as they have been presented information, they feel is factual
and reliable from a trustworthy organisation too. Moreover, the layout of
the infographic also helps in easy conveying of the importance of
switching to cycling to its readers. Readers will bbe able to observe that
the infographic is laid out in three sections: what the issue is, the benefits
of switching to cycling is from other transportation is, and how to change
the existing lifestyle to help the environment. This simple flow of the text
clearly outlines what the reader should do, allowing them to have a clear
understanding of it after finishing the infographic. The readers are
informed of each new section by a color change. While the point about
saving money has a grey background, the list of lifestyle changes is white.
Though very simple, this creates a feeling of a intuitive flow of the layout
helping the readers with the message, allowing them to clearly remember
the ideas of how cycling can benefit the world.