Living Car Free - How much i save a month by being car free

The recent thread on gas prices this holiday season got me to thinking, ive never really paid attention to how much i save a month by not having a car. I didn't become car free to save money at first it was from a license suspension but now im just so used to it i prefer it. Well i did some figures and this number is based on me buy a reasonable priced car with a loan, also i have a horrid driving record so that kinda inflates my number but i on average save 480.00 a month :eek: i know i never realized it but i guess it all adds up car payment ins. maintenance, gas, etc. Im now even more happy with being car free:lol:

EDIT I added maintenance in on yearly based on the mileage i currently ride then divided, using dealer recommended sched.

If you use the figures accepted by the IRS, AAA and other car organizations ($0.50 - 0.75 per mile), the average American would save $500 to $750 every month. Of course they also have to add back the expenses for whatever transportation they use instead of the car.

Yeah the 480 or so a month is before the stupid amounts i spend on bikes, can never have too many bikes though:)

Unless one gets to commute on terrain he enjoys and would be riding on anyway, I don't think the financial angle is a great one. 'Cause as they say, time is money.

Let's see...I save at least 500 hours a year driving a car to work versus riding my bike (on roads I wouldn't much enjoy riding on, especially at 5am when I go to work). Cost of used car (depreciates about $1k/year), insurance ($600k/year), fuel($1000!), and maintenance ($400) is about $3000/year. Hmm...500 hours of free time for $3000? I'd make that purchase every time! Even if I just went and spend that 500 hours riding my bike anyway, but on roads/trails I enjoy more than my commuting route, ha!

My two transport modes are either bike or train. Using the train is free for me so using the bike will always cost money. If I were to travel on the train, I'd save 90 hours per year. But it's not only saving 90h pa, but the other things I can do on the train like:
read
watch video
sleep

I save 1040 hours every year by being car-free. Since I don't have to earn money to support a car, I can live--and quite comfortably, I might add--on a half-time job.

Working four five-hour days a week with every weekend being a three-day weekend is really tough to take! But I'll suffer through somehow.

Unless one gets to commute on terrain he enjoys and would be riding on anyway, I don't think the financial angle is a great one. 'Cause as they say, time is money.

Let's see...I save at least 500 hours a year driving a car to work versus riding my bike (on roads I wouldn't much enjoy riding on, especially at 5am when I go to work). Cost of used car (depreciates about $1k/year), insurance ($600k/year), fuel($1000!), and maintenance ($400) is about $3000/year. Hmm...500 hours of free time for $3000? I'd make that purchase every time! Even if I just went and spend that 500 hours riding my bike anyway, but on roads/trails I enjoy more than my commuting route, ha!

Do you have any interest in being carfree or in using your car less than you do?

Unless one gets to commute on terrain he enjoys and would be riding on anyway, I don't think the financial angle is a great one. 'Cause as they say, time is money.

Let's see...I save at least 500 hours a year driving a car to work versus riding my bike (on roads I wouldn't much enjoy riding on, especially at 5am when I go to work). Cost of used car (depreciates about $1k/year), insurance ($600k/year), fuel($1000!), and maintenance ($400) is about $3000/year. Hmm...500 hours of free time for $3000? I'd make that purchase every time! Even if I just went and spend that 500 hours riding my bike anyway, but on roads/trails I enjoy more than my commuting route, ha!

Wow, I disagree with your assessment at nearly every turn. But, I'm just lucky enough to have a great commute. I'm out there at 5 a.m., before the wind picks up, before it gets hot, before the rain, when there are no cars--it's awesome!

I think your estimates of car costs are low by half. For example, $1,000 of fuel=@350 gallons, maybe 7,000 miles--I ride nearly double that on my bike every year! 12,000 miles a year X 50 cents a mile leaves me thinking $6,000 a year is a better guess, for most people.

The time is the biggest miscalculation, on my books, at least. I need miles on the bike to train up for my goals. So, when I commute by bike in 80 minutes instead of 40 in the car, I'm getting back 40 minutes a day, if you buy the assumption that I want the miles, anyway.(training for PBP)

Neither answer is 'wrong'. It depends on the initial assumptions you make--different situation, different assumptions, different answer. (But, you do know you're in the car-free subforum, right...?)

I save 1040 hours every year by being car-free. Since I don't have to earn money to support a car, I can live--and quite comfortably, I might add--on a half-time job.

Working four five-hour days a week with every weekend being a three-day weekend is really tough to take! But I'll suffer through somehow.

Me too. I don't have it quite as good as you do, but I am able to work 4 days a week instead of the typical 5 day work week. This is in line with the reports that the average American spends about one-fifth of his or her income on automobiles and related expenses. Hmmm...one-fifth of income is equivalent to one day's pay. Most people could work one day a week for their cars instead of for themselves.

That works out to 400 hours a year. so pacificaslim is working 400 hours a year in order to save 500 hours a year. He considers that to be a good deal. Oh well, to each his/her own!

Do you have any interest in being carfree or in using your car less than you do?

Sure. I've lived large parts of my life without cars, but in places where it makes a lot more sense to do so than the USA. I enjoy watching all the arguments people here make about why it should make sense in the USA as well. I mean, I'm happy for them, but most seem to be making serious concessions on the potential quality of life in order to be car free in the usa (concessions not necessary in other parts of the world or at other times of our lives).


so pacificaslim is working 400 hours a year in order to save 500 hours a year. He considers that to be a good deal. Oh well, to each his/her own!

How do you figure? I certainly don't have to work 400 hours to earn the $3k I figured it cost me to own/operate a car. So I'm confused by this statement of yours.

Sure. I've lived large parts of my life without cars, but in places where it makes a lot more sense to do so than the USA. I enjoy watching all the arguments people here make about why it should make sense in the USA as well. I mean, I'm happy for them, but most seem to be making serious concessions on the potential quality of life in order to be car free in the usa (concessions not necessary in other parts of the world or at other times of our lives).



How do you figure? I certainly don't have to work 400 hours to earn the $3k I figured it cost me to own/operate a car. So I'm confused by this statement of yours.

Like I said to each his/her own. I'm glad we amuse with our arguments.

I save at least 500 hours a year driving a car to work versus riding my bike.
500 hours is more than 2 hours a day, or more than an hour each way. If it takes you over an hour longer to bike to work than to drive, and it costs you $1000 annually for fuel to drive to work, then you probably live at least 15 miles away from work, making bike commuting somewhat impractical. So I’m not sure the problem is with biking per se, but rather with how far you live from your job.

Using the train is free for me

How is that?

I wasn't talking about any time saved, and to begin with i would rather be riding a bike than sitting in a car every day. I like riding it doesn't matter where it is, a road is a road. If you want to get into the argument of saving time and it being worth so much just work from home that would be the only way to save time. And as far as my to and from work rides i would only save 4-5 mins each way it would take a long time for that to add up to anything worth it. Why is there arguments about how much money is saved being carfree in the carfree forum?

I save 1040 hours every year by being car-free. Since I don't have to earn money to support a car, I can live--and quite comfortably, I might add--on a half-time job.

Working four five-hour days a week with every weekend being a three-day weekend is really tough to take! But I'll suffer through somehow.
Lets trade jobs:) i miss 4 day work weeks

Oh, I'm sorry. Please continue on with your self-congratulatory pats on the back. Didn't mean to upset the flow by sharing a differing experience.

Note, regarding carfree forum: yes, this website is broken up into various sub-forums. But many people simply use the "new posts" link when they arrive at the site and just look down the listing of subject lines and read whichever ones are interesting. Navigating this way, one hardly notices which sub-forum the thread is in.

I will continue patting my self on the back, im sorry if it upsets you that i save money by not driving, should i burn it to make you happy?

Lets trade jobs:) i miss 4 day work weeks

Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. Took me eight years to get this schedule.

There are some costs that frequently don't show up. Some of you may see these as either a severe limitation or a liberation... depending on your point of view.

Having a car around allows you to take off to the other end of town to purchase something. For example, I would like to head off to Harbor Freight and buy some tools. The tools are cheap and I sort of need them (?) but the trip is only doable by car. I have managed to survive quite a while without them. Maybe I don't even need them.

Here's another: I frequently turn down lunches with colleagues or near-colleagues because I don't have a car at work. I probably miss out on a lot of socializing and maybe a few career opportunities. Yesterday, I took the family car (and left the missus without one...) for the sole purpose of attending a monthly lunch I had missed since June. I had to struggle through really heavy traffic to get their, bolt down a quick lunch and then make another 15 minute drive back to work. All this and it was a nice winter day and I missed my ride to work :cry:

One good thing about these missed opportunities is that I'm not spending any money on them....

Oh, I'm sorry. Please continue on with your self-congratulatory pats on the back. Didn't mean to upset the flow by sharing a differing experience.

Probably some of us are a bit quick to bite back, because you've inadvertently repeated a pattern that happens here all the time. Some new poster will arrive in the car free forum and their first post will be about how being car-free is not for them. Often delivered with a bit of attitude like your "ha!"

I'm not car-free myself but I do try to minimize my car use and I deliberately chose to live within cycling and public transit range of work. Is that an option for you?

There are some costs that frequently don't show up. Some of you may see these as either a severe limitation or a liberation... depending on your point of view.

Having a car around allows you to take off to the other end of town to purchase something. For example, I would like to head off to Harbor Freight and buy some tools. The tools are cheap and I sort of need them (?) but the trip is only doable by car. I have managed to survive quite a while without them. Maybe I don't even need them.

Here's another: I frequently turn down lunches with colleagues or near-colleagues because I don't have a car at work. I probably miss out on a lot of socializing and maybe a few career opportunities. Yesterday, I took the family car (and left the missus without one...) for the sole purpose of attending a monthly lunch I had missed since June. I had to struggle through really heavy traffic to get their, bolt down a quick lunch and then make another 15 minute drive back to work. All this and it was a nice winter day and I missed my ride to work :cry:

One good thing about these missed opportunities is that I'm not spending any money on them....

Harbor Freight delivers...;)

I have no clue where my nearest Harbor Freight is, the last few items I have purchased from them have been via the internet and FedUp brought them right to my door.

Aaron :)

Of course I would enjoy being able to live without a car and just bike and take trains/buses. When I was a student, I did just that. When I was a young worker without kids I did just that. But then as I became a family man, I moved to the San Francisco area. And as public transportation is very poor in this country, the options are either tremendously limit (geographically) one's life and what he's able to do, or...buy a car. I chose where to live based on schools, culture, convenience for my wife, and so on - so that they don't have to drive all over the place. But it does mean that I have a 15 mile (nearly all freeway) commute and a job that asks me to be able to respond 24/7/365 within 30min so I drive a compact car.

I had previously been quite satisfied with a car free life (in Tokyo), but I must admit that when I moved here and got a car, my life really opened up! The places I could go and things I could do expanded greatly because of the personal automobile system in place here in the usa, compared to even the fully built out and affordable train, subway, and bus system in Japan.

The financial question of this thread is an interesting one and I can see a lot of people really being able to save money by using a bike instead of a car. There are other trade offs that we shouldn't ignore though (time, access, income opportunities, etc.). And it is my belief that until we are able to mitigate most of those, cycling will never be that popular in the USA. We should stop all spending on bike infrastructure, and spend it on public transportation infrastructure instead, as that will lead to a greater increase in cycle usage than both spending on bike infrastructure and proselytizing about the benefits of cycling.

Schools in Pacifica don't seem especially high rated to me. (http://school-ratings.com/counties/San_Mateo.html?type=)

I've never had car payments personally, and I'd NEVER finance a car, so I figure I save about $100 a month by being car free.

I havent sacrificed one thing since ive become carfree, i dont see a single trade off in my life. I live approx 4 miles from everywhere i need to go on a weekly basis, if i need to go further oh well i ride there is it really going to make a difference if i make it there half an hour sooner. The world didn't always have cars, i mean yeah sure they make things convenient, but the trade off for a car is the massive yearly cost that comes with it. And don't pull the blah blah blah it doesnt cost that much to operate a car, yes i believe for some the cost is minimal for me it is not. And im sorry but im the only one i care about when it comes to this subject. And to tell you the truth i could care less about how many people are car free im not in it to get others to do it, for those others that are carfree i give you props if your not car free bug-off and dont tell me how i should do things. I will once again say it, if i wanted to i could go down monday morning and get my license, but i dont see one way me driving would make my life any better.

Harbor Freight delivers...;)


Oops... you're right. Now I can fill up the garage...:D

Oops... you're right. Now I can fill up the garage...:D

And this illustrates what we so often learn from each other on this forum: With a little knowledge and ingenuity, things that seem to be sacrifices turn out to be nothing. In fact, for those who worry about spending too much time on their bike, delivery is probably a better sollution than driving to the store.

I really can't compare the costs. Driving was something I absolutely dreaded; cycling is not only my mode of transportation, but now my primary hobby. I enjoy getting new gadgets and accessories and clothes to make my car-free lifestyle more comfortable and enjoyable.

When it comes down to it, I hated owning and driving a car. The financial benefits (insurance, gas, maintenance, etc) don't matter much.

Of course I would enjoy being able to live without a car and just bike and take trains/buses. When I was a student, I did just that. When I was a young worker without kids I did just that. But then as I became a family man, I moved to the San Francisco area. And as public transportation is very poor in this country, the options are either tremendously limit (geographically) one's life and what he's able to do, or...buy a car. I chose where to live based on schools, culture, convenience for my wife, and so on - so that they don't have to drive all over the place. But it does mean that I have a 15 mile (nearly all freeway) commute and a job that asks me to be able to respond 24/7/365 within 30min so I drive a compact car.

I had previously been quite satisfied with a car free life (in Tokyo), but I must admit that when I moved here and got a car, my life really opened up! The places I could go and things I could do expanded greatly because of the personal automobile system in place here in the usa, compared to even the fully built out and affordable train, subway, and bus system in Japan.

The financial question of this thread is an interesting one and I can see a lot of people really being able to save money by using a bike instead of a car. There are other trade offs that we shouldn't ignore though (time, access, income opportunities, etc.). And it is my belief that until we are able to mitigate most of those, cycling will never be that popular in the USA. We should stop all spending on bike infrastructure, and spend it on public transportation infrastructure instead, as that will lead to a greater increase in cycle usage than both spending on bike infrastructure and proselytizing about the benefits of cycling.

Having spent some time living in Japan, South Korea, and the US I can say with a fair degree of certainty that I can see and do anything by public transportation in Seoul and Tokyo that any other resident with a car can. There is absolutely nothing in Korea and Japan that can not be done by mass transit so there is no geographic advantage given to the automobile. Even ski resorts and national parks have their own bus lines to get to a from.

I have no idea what you mean by, "my life really opened up when I moved to the US and bought a car." Alternatively, when I was living in the US my life really did open up when I made the decision to move closer to school and work, got rid of my car, and had twice the amount of free time to spend socializing rather than paying car related expenses. Oh ya, my girl friend also like my six-pack too.

I was in no way complaining about the transportation system in Japan. What you say is true, at least for metropolitan areas and well known resorts. It is a little hard to be a surfer without a car in Japan and I relied on rides from friends to get to some of the more remote surfing spots, but otherwise, what you say matches my experience as well.

But there is no such system here in usa. If you want to go surfing wherever it happens to be good that morning, you must drive. If you want to go to the mountains for a day, you must drive. And so on. And with a car, one can go wherever he wants, whenever he wants. No planning is necessary (while one can get places by transportation in Japan, it does take a lot of planning and matching of one's schedule to the travel schedule instead of the other way around). Furthermore, the amount of distance I am able to cover in a car is so much more than I could do by train in Japan so I was able to pack a lot more activity into the same amount of time.

Don't get me wrong, I like riding a bicycle. I tend to think they are better for recreation, fitness, competition than they are for transportation in the current USA. I think bikes are perfect transportation for urban life without kids or for college students. I just think that there is some over extrapolation going on here and people need to realize that what works for them (and worked for me previously) does not always work for others and we need to make some changes in the usa to make it more possible for people to live full lives while being car free. (some of you will pipe up that you do live full lives car free, but that's because the thing you like to do is cycling! what if your real passion was surfing or playing the drums or serious mountain climbing or something like that? We need to change this country so that all people like that can still not own a car, by being able to use their bikes around home and then hop on the public transportation to go far away like we do in Japan).

... we need to make some changes in the usa to make it more possible for people to live full lives while being car free. (some of you will pipe up that you do live full lives car free, but that's because the thing you like to do is cycling! what if your real passion was surfing or playing the drums or serious mountain climbing or something like that? We need to change this country so that all people like that can still not own a car, by being able to use their bikes around home and then hop on the public transportation to go far away like we do in Japan).

All I can say is ... bring it on!!!

I agree with Pacifica that we definitely need to spend a much higher percentage of our transportation dollars on putting back in and improving on our public transportation system. However, it is entirely possible to have the same passions and priorities as Pacific and live a full life while being car-free. When I was younger and was raising a family I chose to live in Davis, just a bit up the road from Pacifica. I chose to live there because it had the best schools in the area and provided a nice community where my spouse and offspring could also be car-free without making any compromises. My commute was 25 miles one-way, just a bit longer than Pacifica's, but easily doable by bike. One key difference was that I only had three sites that I would have to show up at on short notice (two in Sac., one in Davis), so I didn't need to drive to meet work-day obligations. The only other places I needed to meet with people were Berkeley and S.F., and those meetings were generally scheduled days in advance. While surfing was never my passion, I spent many a weekend at the Sonoma Coast with my wife, just because I enjoyed it. I'm not sure which I enjoyed more, the 250 mile round-trip or the ocean, but it was only a six hour ride one-way. I believe it takes that long to reach the ski resorts from the Bay Area by car, but hundreds of thousands of people do that trip every weekend during ski season. If I recall correctly, I spent more time on the beach than on the ride, so maybe I did enjoy the ocean more than the saddle. Had my passion been rock climbing, I could have lived on the east side of Sac instead of the west side and still ridden to good climbing sites every weekend. I know of car-free people who live in Bend, OR in order to be able to cycle to Smith Rock. I'm not saying all hobbies are easily accommodated without a car, but a great many can be.

I just don't think it is as difficult to forgo the car as those who drive would like to believe. It does take a commitment, but so do most worthwhile aspects of life. I think you will look up in 2020 and be surprised at how many of those urban hipsters and college kids who are car-free now are still car-free even though they are working full-time and have abundant interests other than riding their bike. If the U.S. military's predictions of astronomical increases in energy costs are correct, the only people who will be able to live in the suburbs are the physically fit people who are able to ride their bikes those distances on a daily basis. That would be an interesting change.

I think you guys are just overthinking it too much. Im not single, im an adult with a full time and a part time job, i have children, and i have plenty of hobbies other than bicycling, and i dont live in a huge metro. I live in the mountains, with a pretty crappy mass transit system, and yet i have no problems and havent for the last 5 years. I don't think we should try and get more people into being carfree or into bicycling itself all thats likely to do is raise prices of bike further, i just started this thread simply to tell you guys just how much money i save being car free and now that ive realized how much i personally save im staying car free.

I was in no way complaining about the transportation system in Japan. What you say is true, at least for metropolitan areas and well known resorts. It is a little hard to be a surfer without a car in Japan and I relied on rides from friends to get to some of the more remote surfing spots, but otherwise, what you say matches my experience as well.

But there is no such system here in usa. If you want to go surfing wherever it happens to be good that morning, you must drive. If you want to go to the mountains for a day, you must drive. And so on. And with a car, one can go wherever he wants, whenever he wants. No planning is necessary (while one can get places by transportation in Japan, it does take a lot of planning and matching of one's schedule to the travel schedule instead of the other way around). Furthermore, the amount of distance I am able to cover in a car is so much more than I could do by train in Japan so I was able to pack a lot more activity into the same amount of time.

Don't get me wrong, I like riding a bicycle. I tend to think they are better for recreation, fitness, competition than they are for transportation in the current USA. I think bikes are perfect transportation for urban life without kids or for college students. I just think that there is some over extrapolation going on here and people need to realize that what works for them (and worked for me previously) does not always work for others and we need to make some changes in the usa to make it more possible for people to live full lives while being car free. (some of you will pipe up that you do live full lives car free, but that's because the thing you like to do is cycling! what if your real passion was surfing or playing the drums or serious mountain climbing or something like that? We need to change this country so that all people like that can still not own a car, by being able to use their bikes around home and then hop on the public transportation to go far away like we do in Japan).

I think if you spend some more time on this subforum, your attitudes about everyday cycling will change a lot. I really hope you give it a try! :)

At the very least, utility and transportation cycling do not have to take away from recreational, sports and fitness cycling. You can do them all!

I don't think we should try and get more people into being carfree or into bicycling itself all thats likely to do is raise prices of bike further...

Please explain your thinking here. It seems to me if more people became car-free we would all be better off. In the long run, the prices of bicycles would probably come down, not to mention the better quality of life we would enjoy: cleaner environment, fewer children with asthma and other diseases caused by air pollution, fewer highway deaths, less dependence on imported oil, a fitter populace...

Please explain your thinking here. It seems to me if more people became car-free we would all be better off. In the long run, the prices of bicycles would probably come down, not to mention the better quality of life we would enjoy: cleaner environment, fewer children with asthma and other diseases caused by air pollution, fewer highway deaths, less dependence on imported oil, a fitter populace...
I kinda just jumped the gun on that statement, im just not a promoter. But i also dont buy into the more people get into it the cheaper it gets, not everything follows the supply and demand scheme, its just my opinion and it probably is wrong, just what ive noticed locally.

Question to the topic: Is money being save or not being spent by not having or using a car? There is a big difference between the two which makes me wonder what is really trying to be pointed out.

I've never had car payments personally, and I'd NEVER finance a car, so I figure I save about $100 a month by being car free.

You still have to consider the cost of the car, unless you are getting free cars from a generous benefactor. Sure you may not be paying for it every month, but you've sunk money into the car, money that could be used for other opportunities, or invested.

I spend about as much on bikes as cars.
Most expensive car = $1500
Most expensive bike = $1300

My point basically was by not having a car i save 480$ amonth, now mind you i do spend a lot monthly on bikes, but i did the same even years ago when i did drive. I collect bikes so i dont consider it an expense of being carfree as most the bikes i have are pretty worthless to commute on. And i understand that not everybody will save that much, and apparently anytime you become happy about something you shouldn't post it anywhere on BF, other wise a bunch of naysayers will pick apart your post. So sorry i was "patting myself on the back" from now on ill just be negative about everything and just randomly start posting in random forums.:) thats mostly a joke

Damn im in a bad mood today sorry

My two transport modes are either bike or train. Using the train is free for me so using the bike will always cost money. If I were to travel on the train, I'd save 90 hours per year. But it's not only saving 90h pa, but the other things I can do on the train like:
read
watch video
sleep

How do you get the train for free in London? More importantly, how do you find a seat on the train to be able to do anything except squash in and sweat?

My ex's work gave her free train/bus passes. I'm guessing something like that is going on.

The main thing that stops me going completely car free is the convenience of a car for longer trips out of town, and to do things like grocery shopping. For getting around locally I usually cycle or walk; the second biggest obstacle to going car free for me is the issue of bike security. I don't really have space to keep a nice bike and an old beat-up bike, and don't want to chain a nice mountain bike next to a line of old beat-up bikes, especially in an area where I'm constantly told bike thefts are on the rise.

That said in terms of what going car free would save me (converted to US money approximately) about $300 in tax, $450 in insurance, $1200 in fuel and about $200 in servicing etc. Depreciation is nothing - the car is worth more as a collection of spare parts than it is as a car. That $2150 or so annually would rapidly be soaked up in costs if I did get rid of the car, on the basis I'd need to either rent a car or buy overpriced train tickets to get out of town - renting a car for the weekend would cost me around $200 a time.

That $2150 or so annually would rapidly be soaked up in costs if I did get rid of the car, on the basis I'd need to either rent a car or buy overpriced train tickets to get out of town - renting a car for the weekend would cost me around $200 a time.

Hang on... I work with some guys who don't have cars. They regularly rent cars for the weekend at a rate of $9 a day. I'm sure they keep checking for cheaper rates, but they seem to be pretty smart about getting good deals on rental cars.

I've also had to rent cars from time to time and managed to get away with much less than $200. (Not counting , of course, the ridiculous insurance...)

I was curious about car rental fees, so fake booked a Nissan Versa Jan 7-10 at Enterprise. Dunno how much the ripoff insurance is. Rental came to $ 48.82 USD

Hard to justify ZipCar with rates like that.

well I don't want to pi-- on anybodies parade, but we love our bicycles (9 of them), but we also luv our motorbikes(5 of them),we really love our cars (2 of them and one is a 2011 Mustang Convert) and of course we like our trucks too ( two of them one is a mini truck for our market garden farm and one is for our camper)...thank goodness we do too... look how much we have spent to keep the economy going (Especially the USA economy, which is lagging, just in case you did not notice)....we don't have tons of money, and we live in Canada ,,,but we are comfortable and fit and healthy,, We each ride our bicycles over 5000 km's per year(3000 miles) Our motorized vehicles are great, and quess what.. we can only drive one at a time... so no greenhouse gases etc etc...only the insurance companies and the dealers luv us...183201Have fun with this post, I'll be watchin' and commenting y'all

Unless one gets to commute on terrain he enjoys and would be riding on anyway, I don't think the financial angle is a great one. 'Cause as they say, time is money.

Let's see...I save at least 500 hours a year driving a car to work versus riding my bike (on roads I wouldn't much enjoy riding on, especially at 5am when I go to work). Cost of used car (depreciates about $1k/year), insurance ($600k/year), fuel($1000!), and maintenance ($400) is about $3000/year. Hmm...500 hours of free time for $3000? I'd make that purchase every time! Even if I just went and spend that 500 hours riding my bike anyway, but on roads/trails I enjoy more than my commuting route, ha!
Unless you are earning money in your spare time, the time has no financial value. Your time may have a personal value to you, but that value is not one that can be measured in monetary terms.

For myself, I like living close to where I work because even if I were to drive in each day, I'd spend far less time behind the wheel than friends who have to commute 60 kilometres each way, five days a week. I just don't care to drive all that much, so I've built myself a lifestyle where driving is kept to a minimum.

As for the costs you mention, please check again. I won't argue on your depreciation and I have no idea on car insurance in California, but if you're driving 500 hours a year or more for commuting purposes, chances are your fuel bill is a lot higher than $1,000 unless your fuel is dirt cheap. Do you keep some sort of fuel purchase record? Also, for that amount of driving, $400 in maintenance costs sounds remarkably low. Are you driving a late-model car with few issues or are you doing most of your own servicing? I'm just wondering how you arrived at those figures and I'm wondering if your costs might not be a little higher than your estimates.

As for the costs you mention, please check again. I won't argue on your depreciation and I have no idea on car insurance in California, but if you're driving 500 hours a year or more for commuting purposes, chances are your fuel bill is a lot higher than $1,000 unless your fuel is dirt cheap. Do you keep some sort of fuel purchase record? Also, for that amount of driving....He didn't say he drives 500 hours, he said biking instead would add 500 hours.

That's right. Biking take me over 1 hour each way, while car is 15min each way. It's mostly highway at 6am, so 75mph or so, while on the bike I'd be lucky to average 15mph because of the 2000' climb (mountain range between beach where I live and Sf bay side where I work). I use an application on my iphone to track gas purchases so my numbers regarding that are accurate. I can do all my own maintenance and repairs on my cars and since buying this used car (2003 ford focus, now has 100,000 miles on it), I've driven it 20,000 miles and only maintenance has been oil changes, the alternator went out ($100 for part, self installed) and I just replaced the tires ($350 but figure that's only once every three years or so). Unlike the OP, I don't have a terrible driving record so my insurance is $600/year insurance.

As for time not being monetary, it is in the sense that if I had not had a car and been able to respond within our 30 min callout time, I'd have lost out on over $300 in overtime over the last two days alone. But regardless of that, I make plenty of money. What I want/need in my life is more time! Time saved getting to and from work is priceless to me. I just wouldn't enjoy riding to work over that route every day. I'd rather ride here on the beautiful coast!

Thanks for that explanation. Now it makes sense to me. If my commute was on a fast highway in the early morning, I wouldn't want to bike that route either. A road with a slower traffic speed would be another matter entirely.

I also understand the value of your time. I don't see it as a monetary value but it has a personal value. The value you're putting on your time is such that you're willing to drive the commute to free up time at other hours. Others may choose to spend the time biking in order to not need to drive.