mcours2006

I thought this might be an interesting survey.

My car commute about 60 minutes round-trip. My bike commute is 100 minutes, if I take the most direct route. So I've bought an 100 minutes of cycling for 40 minutes.

So consider this ratio--time cost quotient (TCQ) = (time spend commuting)/(average car commute time). The lower the quotient, the easier the commute. The quotient would be largely determined by your speed, stop lights, circuitousness of your cycling route compared to your drive, etc. It'd be interesting to compare.

My TCQ is 1.67.

What's your TCQ?

pdlamb

I spend about twice the time commuting on a bike as I do in the car. I've got a pretty good car commute, with lots of limited access roads but often heavy traffic. But I'd still rather take the bike because it's more enjoyable with a side of exercise!

WonderMonkey

I have a spreadsheet that has my drive commute. When I fill up I put the price per gallon. On days I commute I use the miles I WOULD HAVE DRIVEN and the price of gas I paid for that time and have it show me how much I saved. ALSO I put how much I spend on my bike to support my commuting and have it show me what, if any, real savings there are. Obviously this is not factoring in all the other benefits of commuting, just the financial side of it.

All the above was extra info at no extra cost. To get back to what you are talking about but in miles as well.

TCQ Established
Driving Home -> Work = 20m
Riding Home -> Work = 1h:20m = 80m
Math = 80/20 = 4.0

I could lower that by driving over to the bike path and leaving from there. I'd have do combine driving and biking but that's doable.

Driving Home -> Work = 14.5 miles
Riding Home -> Work = 17.1 miles (using perfect route)
Math = 17.1 / 14.5 = 1.18

PaulRivers

I typically find that bike commuting takes 2-3 times longer than a car trip. Not sure what the ratio comes out to there. It's 1 to 2, or 1 to 3.

mcours2006

That would be a 2 or a 3.

mcours2006

I'd be interested in seeing what the cost comparison. I don't do such a detailed analysis. I know that each time I ride to work it saves about 3.5L in fuel, so currently I would save $3.50CAD. But I do have regular expenditures on bike-related stuff, so it may come out even.

joeyduck

My old commute was 55 minutes by bike and about 45 minutes by car. So about the of 1.22.

My new place was about 23/18=1.28

With the day care run minus time for kid wrangling 58/60=0.97

The fact I could cycle as fast as regular traffic is one of the big draws for me no car misery and I get to ride bikes and sometimes extra contact time with the little guy.

mcours2006

Yeah, that's AWESOME!, and being out west you pretty much have no excuse to not ride, rain notwithstanding, of course.

noglider 

I don't have a car, and my alternative, which most people here do, is the subway. My quotient is 1. Cyclocommuting and riding the subway take the same amount of time, one hour.

cooker

TCQ (est) = 1.56666... This may be a high estimate and is based on one datum.

I've only driven to my current office once in the past 2 years, in normal rush hour traffic, but it was definitely faster than biking: about 30 minutes vs 45-50 on the bike. Public transit is about 65 minutes each way. However I suspect that car trip was a fluke and it would normally take 5-15 minutes longer.

joeyduck

It is awesome to bike out here since there is no traffic planning, no good drivers, and many bridges which all cause huge driving headaches. I got a former coworker to start riding, he lived near my sons daycare and one day we kept playing leapfrog, me biking him driving. He got home after I got to my son and he realized maybe it isn't longer to drive and I can drive. Yeah a convert!

Once I got used to the rain I only had ice as an excuse.

I used to give up riding in mid-late November and resumed early-mid February. I felt it was too long of a commute on busy roads, with distracted drivers, darkness, glare, rain, infrequent ice or snow. It was a good decision on the advice of my wife.

Then when we moved closer and I started working again I ended up getting studded tires and went for nearly a year straight only driving probably a dozen times. I really miss riding this time of the year though; maybe it is the sadist in me but there has always been something peaceful and serene hiking or biking alone in the rain.

KCBikeCommuter

TCQ = 2.214

My drive commute in traffic is around 70 min. round-trip.
My bike commute is around 155 min. round-trip.

Still much prefer to be on the bike than sitting in the car.

treadtread

Commuting on the bicycle takes me about 20 minutes (3.5 miles, averaging 10.5 miles with stop signs, lights etc.). Commuting in the car takes about 20 minutes (10 minutes to get out of the garage and past the first half mile). So my TCQ is 1.0

This only fails when I'm on the motorcycle - I can (if I choose to), split lanes (legal in CA) and get through slow patches quicker. Also, the motorcycle is parked outside the door, not in the garage, so I save a lot of time at the beginning. So my fastest commute is on the motorcycle - I'd say about 10-15 minutes.

WonderMonkey

I made the spreadsheet initially because someone was telling me how much money they saved and they counted the miles they rode on the bike. No... We then chatted about what was spent in support of the bike to include increased wear and tear and so on. I love spreadsheets so I made one to capture all that. The costs of normal bike things were pro-rated on commute vs non-commute. Forty percent of miles due to commuting? Then forty percent of new tires cost gets attributed to that column. The fun thing is that as I improved the spreadsheet I just had to mark a line "C" for it to get included and it all calculated out.

If the commuting would put me significantly ahead I could easily say "It's an investment" but as I'm not a large mileage commuter I can't trick myself into it. So I just buy things anyway.

WonderMonkey

Can you take the bike on the subway if you choose to do a one-way?

Tundra_Man 

Driving to work takes about 20 minutes. Riding (in the summer) takes about 40 minutes. So that would be a TCQ of 2.

I ride a lot slower in the winter, probably 50 to 60 minutes depending on the weather. So my average winter TCQ is around 2.75.

I think a big part missing from the formula is prep time. When I drive my car I basically walk out the door, then walk into the office and sit down at my desk. When it's time to go home I hop in the car and drive home.

When I ride my bike, I've got to pack my work clothes, check my tire pressure, then when I arrive I have to change clothes. Have to change clothes again before I head back home, then change out of my sweaty clothes after I arrive. Prep time will add probably at least 10 minutes each way in the summer and 15-20 in the winter.

AlmostTrick

Round trip:

Car: 45-50 minutes
Bike: 100-110 minutes

Car is usually a touch more than twice as quick. (and a touch less than half as fun!)

WonderMonkey

Good point. Have to be fair and do the prep time for shower, etc. when you don't bike.

Darth Lefty 

I'd guess it takes me about 2x longer on the bike. Some of this is bike and gear choices, some is my medical problems and fitness. At best, I think it could be 1.5x longer on the bike.

If I were breaking down my morning into what portion of it is getting ready to ride I think finding the exact start point would be difficult. Was it when I changed out of pajamas into bike shorts? When I packed my lunch? Do I include the daily wasted time finding all the pocket stuff I've strewn around the house?

SpikedLemon

Hmmm... By car, obviously variable by traffic: I'm around 20mins on the low end and 40 min on the high end (most often at the lower end - especially in the morning) each way.
By bicycle: I'm around 45 mins if I take it easy (35 if I push but then I'm sweaty) and it's about 50% bike paths.

2.25 (best case car) to 0.875 (best case bike)
I wouldn't claim the 35 min on the bike as fair as I'd need time to clean up when I get to work. I'd fairly peg it closer to a 1.8.

noglider 

Actually, yes. It's allowed at all times as far as I know. Or maybe it's not allowed during rush hour. The limitation on it is convenience. You have to lift your bike over the turnstile or ask a station attendant to let you in a special door. Then you have to carry the bike up and down stairs. Then you have to hold it on a crowded platform and take up a lot of space on a crowded train car. So not many people takes bikes on the subways often. But it can be done. In fact, my wife and I did a round trip on the subway with our bikes on Sunday, as we rode the Tour De Bronx, and we didn't want to add to all the riding on the tour.

rmfnla

My commute is only 3.5 miles each way so it takes me about the same 15 minutes by either car or bike.

However, parking in Santa Monica can be challenging and I have easily spent another 10 minutes finding a space.

I just take my bike inside.

FWIW, the bus usually takes 30 minutes so riding has a clear advantage in all ways...

wphamilton

There is such a wide variation in driving time that it's difficult to pin down. If I drive and take the highway it ranges from no-traffic no-limit 12 minutes to jammed-up 25 minutes. The bicycle route I take most often is 25 minutes give or take a couple. So the ratio ranges from .9 to 2.25

bmthom.gis

Driving = 20 minutes
Cycling = 50 minutes

If I drive, I have a parking garage to use with a garage pass provided by my work. It's a maybe 5 minute walk from the garage to office door - probably less if I walked fast. Parking is not a problem (except for the rare day that there is a big event at the adjoining hotel or convention center). I save no time or extra expenses minus gas costs. I just like riding

mstateglfr 

110minutes to ride vs 20 minutes to drive. So 5.5, which is why I don't often commute for work and commute for other activities instead.