Commuting - Confession: I drove to work yesterday.

I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and was unable to make other, suitable travel arrangements. Sniff, I, I, feel so ashamed :( .

Anway, it's been over a year since I last drove to work and it just felt odd. But, out of curiosity, I wanted to time my drive and compare it to my rides.

Here's the scoop:

Mileage: 25 miles (about 12.5 each way), round trip
Driving trip time: 70 minutes (25 minutes to work, 45 minutes to home).
Average cycle time: 85 minutes (40 minutes to work, 45 minutes home).

Just as a suspected: The morning commute by car is much quicker than cycling. But, who wants to get to work sooner anway? And, of course, the trip home is nearly (well, actually identical in this instance) identical. I'm betting most people just don't realize this.

Oh, and I have taken the trip by bus before also. The bus takes about 120 minutes total - an hour each way.

I'm certain that there would be a threshhold of mileage which would make cycling unfeasable, but in my situation, it's the perfect answer.

Say it aint so, ChezJfrey! :(

Actually, I don't see any harm in using a vehicle for its intended purpose, which is for the occasional journey when a bike or mass transit is just not feasible. :)

Thanks for the info on the commute times between modes of transportation- I had a feeling the results would be similar to what you found.

hey ChezJfrey,

i totally know what you're talking about... it just feels weird to drive to work. after about 1 year at a company in Portland i drove one day and didn't even know where to park! (we had covered indoor bike parking)

well, after being completely car-free for the last 3 years, i bought a car 2 weeks ago (mostly for my girlfriend who has a new job 38 miles away and there is no train service the last 6 miles and she a hard-core cyclist, but I am the only winter-snow-freak)...

i'm currently working 175 miles away Mo-Th and usually take the train. i drove just for the heck of it and to compare. i saved about 30 minutes on a 4 hours trip verses Train/Bike - it cost triple and no relaxing/sleepeing and no riding, just driving, so i am back to train/bike this week!

my normal commute in Munich i was often able to compare (7.5 miles one way):
* bike = 25 to 35 minutes (winter longer)
* car = 20 minutes in the morning, 35-50 minutes evening
* transit = 55 minutes each way

---> the bike doesn't take any longer, PLUS i get to ride! and the travel time is virtually constant --- or at least predictable as weather you can "see" but traffic you cannot

but yeah, no need to feel guilty. there's nothign wrong with using a car once in a while, or when it is really the best choice... it's just driving for ALL things or worse driving short distances (my girlfriend has a new job in a hospital in a small villiage in the mountains and has a room in corporate housing and she has a picturesque "dream-walk" of about 300 yards, and i observed in horror as one of her co-workers DROVE the 300 yards and then had to look for parking!)

I suspect that the cycling took less time, actually, if you include the hidden time costs of driving. You have to work to pay for gas and eventual car repair, tires, oil and all that stuff. Can you refigure the cost with all that stuff? Car owners are worse off, because they would have to add the time-cost of buying the car and liscences, and the rotor rootering of their underexercised heart.