Commuting - Underestimating bike transit

14 mile one-way commute breakdown--

1) Driving: 45 minutes, 5 minutes exercise.

2) Mass transit: 75 minutes, 30 minutes exercise.

3) Cycling: 60 minutes, 60 minutes exercise.

Any rocket scientists here?

(I love to combine cycling and mass transit, by the way. Mass transit costs less than parking.)

my breakdown is a bit different.

Driving - 15 minutes, 2 minutes exercise
Mass Transit- Too akward to consider
Cycling - 60 minutes -all exercise.

I still chose cycling. I've actually widdled it down from 63 minutes to 58 minutes :D

(I love to combine cycling and mass transit, by the way. Mass transit costs less than parking.)

I've tried the bike racks on the MARTA buses and they really can come in handy. My commute times are about equal between 100% cycling and 50/50 bus/bike. No real advantage except I can get out of the rain for a bit. Also when my bum knee is acting up, I can avoid the steepest hills on my commute.

BTW...

Cycling to work 9 miles one way - 35-40 minutes
Driving - 20 minutes
Bike/bus - 35-40 minutes
Bike/train - 50 minutes

Where I live it is:

25 minutes driving
1 hour cycling
mass transit not available

Originally posted by Sailguy

I still chose cycling. I've actually widdled it down from 63 minutes to 58 minutes :D

That's the best part about commuting, during the summer, I got my commute down to 56 minutes from 72.

Folks,

I also have a one hour +/- few minutes cycle commute each way. Do you do this every day or if not, how often per week? What do you do to prepare for the commute home, food wise?

Commute distance...5 miles

Driving.....10 min
Cycling.....20 min
Bus..........35 min
Walking.....1hr,15 min

Hi; Driving for me is 15-20 minutes. Biking is 45-60 minutes (8-9 miles each way). Time for biking depends on how much weight I have in my trailer and the head winds.

I am trying to ride every day. Some weeks are more successful than others. I have a 15 mile one-way commute with a couple nice hills.

As far as preparation, I usually ride to work before eating breakfast, unless I feel tired, then I'll have a bowl of cereal first. There is free quaker oatmeal at work, so I eat that mostly.

We have a good lunch crew at work, so I usually go out to lunch w/ them, but I need to stop to save some $$. Thinking about brown-bagging it. I want to get a soft-sided cooler that fits nicely on my rack.

On my way home, I hope my lunch energy keeps me going ;) It's usually not a problem, but I certainly am ready for dinner when I get home.

For clothes and the like, there are showers at work, so I bring my change of clothes in my panniers. (Always packed into 2-gallon ziploc bags in case of rain.) I also always carry a fleece pull-over and some other bike clothes in case the weather gets nasty.

I keep my light charger at work, for my NiteRider Digital Pro.. I just got the tailight for the system today.. man its bright. I'm hoping to get a little bit more space on the one narrow climb I have on my way home. I have been thinking of getting a helmet mounted front-flasher to supplement my handlebar headlight. There are days when I get obsessed with work and forget to charge my light system. I have enough battery to get me back and fourth two times if I conserve on the second trip. But I do have to sacrifice some speed and visibility to keep the power in the battery.

I have a 22 mile commute. The breakdown is
Driving - Can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 50 minutes depending on the traffic.
Bus - 1 hour and 30 minutes. Transfer in downtown Seattle.
Bike/Bus/Bike - 1 hour 10 minutes, about 7 miles of cycling.
Bike - 1 hour 15 minutes. Sometimes slower depending on the energy level of the engine.

Taking the bike/bus/bike is nice 'cause I get some reading in and some exercise in the morning. There are showers at work. The cafeteria at work is fairly expensive, so I usually bring my snacks and lunch to work. I wish more of my co-workers would take a bike to work or at least ride the bus.

20 miles directly from home to work (normal summertime route).

Bike: 1h10m, give or take 10.35 seconds
Light rail: forever
Bus: you've got to be kidding
Car: 35-45 minutes

13 miles from daughter's school to work (normal wintertime route).

Bike: 45m, give or take 12.28 seconds
Light rail: not an option
Bus: you've got to be kidding
Car: never do it

The above route (13-miler) gives me a chance to antagonize my family for about 30 more minutes in the morning -- all-important "quality time". It also has become quite a well known spectacle at my daughter's school. More than a few people have said "I see you every morning ...".

current commute (13km = 8 miles)

bike = 30-35min (all exercise)
transit = 50-65 min (15 min exercise)
car = 25-30 min morning, 30-60 min evening = av. 30-45 min (<2 min minimal exercise)

--> bike is usually fastest except for OFF-peak traffic hours (meaning before 7am or after 8pm) when car is slightly faster

My commute is appr. 16 kms / 10 miles one way.

Bike: door to door 35-40 mins in summer, now more like 50-60 mins.
Bus: 6-7 mins walk, a couple of minutes of waiting, 15-20 minutes for the ride and again 10 minutes of walking at the other end. 35-40 mins total.
Car: don't have one, but it would probably be something like 20-25 minutes drive, then anywhere between 5-45 minutes to find a parking place for the cage :) . After that 1-7 minutes walk to office (I would probably refuse to park much further away).

--J

8 mile commute
Bike 45 mins +/- 10 mins depending on how I feel
Public Transport 45 Mins +
Car 60 mins + during rush hours or 20 mins in the middle of the night

Mine looks like this...
(one way)
Car only: 0:59
Tri-Rail (commuter train): 1:45
Bike/Tri-rail: 2:15
Bike only: (estimate) 4:30 +

Makes it hard not to drive.:(

I work in two spots, near and far:

near:
car: 10-15min
bike: 20-30min
run: 35 min or a longer route 50min
(note this isn't exactly the same route in every case)

far:
car: 30-40min
bike: 1.5 hrs
bus: 1 hour
bus/run: 2 - 2.5 hours depending on the route.
run: 3:15 (best time).


regards
Dan

(one way)

Normal:

Bike: 30 min, excercise 30 min.
Car: 20 min, excercise 0 min + $6 parking
Train: 45 min, excercise 20 min + $2.00 fare (estimate)

During snowstorm:

Bike: 35 min, excercise 35 min
Car 60+ min, excercise 0 min (siginficant excercise if car gets stuck) + $6 parking + corrosion from salt
Train: 50 min, excercise 25 min +$2.00 fare (estimate)

The Metro fare is an estimate, because this mode is so insanely slow that I have not used it for years.

Paul

my commute is 7miles from my door to work with a few hills.
car 30 min.
bike 40 mins
no bus
I've working on gettin the biking time down to 30 mins getting stronger on the hills
K

My commute is 14 miles from door to door.

car: 30 to 50 mins, traffic depending. No parking cost, no exercise.
bus: Never tried. Not easy!
train: 15 minutes on the train, but the nearest station to home is 8 miles away, and the nearest station to work is 4 miles away. And no bikes allowed on the train between 7.30 and 9.00.
bike: 55 minutes. Longer for windy days, but not much, and less on my Trek.

I'm ashamed to say I still drive way too much. :(

Ellie

I ride most of the time.

Driving 40 minutes. 18.5 miles

Bike 55 - 65 minutes. 18.5 miles

mother in laws, driving 1 hour 40 minutes, 74 miles.

Bike 4 hours 15 minutes.