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Well, the title might be a slight exaggeration. Not all bike commuters are happier than you (especially if you are a particularly happy person!), but bike commuting certainly has more chances of making you happy than driving a car or taking public transit. Here's why.
Health Benefits
First of all, biking is a good form of aerobic exercise exercise that can help keep your heart healthy and reduce your risk of serious medical conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and the most common form of diabetes. And as they say, if you haven't got your health, you don't have anything. So this is a good reason to be happy.
Manage Your Weight More Easily
But even healthy people can be made miserable by weight management problems. That's another reason why bike commuting is a good idea: By burning more calories and building up some muscle mass, you can more easily lose weight (and maintain it once you hit your target). Another reason to be happy, especially in "rich" countries where more people have weight problems.
Cleaner Air
You might think that bike commuters are exposed to more air pollution than motorists, but that's not the case. Studies have shown that you're actually breathing in more fumes in your car. "The nasties are densest at the middle of the traffic zone, and less intense on the edges. [...] studies show you get the biggest hit of the nasties when you're inside a car. Sure, a personal Mobile Emissions Source (MES) appears hermetic, but it's an illusion: MES occupants are very close to sucking on the tailpipe of the MES just ahead of them. In a bus, riders' lungs are a bit above these sources. And bikers and pedestrians are on the outskirts." (source). Cleaner air is certainly a good reason to be happy.
Exercise Improves Mood
Studies have shown that moderate exercise (such as bike commuting) has been found to "reduce levels of depression and stress, improve mood and raise self-esteem, and has also been found to relieve symptoms of premenstrual syndrome" (source). Sure you could commute by car and then later go to the gym, but you'd just be paying more for the privilege of wasting more time. Commuting on a bicycle is extremely inexpensive, and it gives you all the benefits of exercising without having to feel like a hamster in an exercise wheel. Now there's a reason to be happy!
