Originally Posted by
JohnnyGalaga
I actually think there is a fair amount of operational costs with commuting on a bicycle. You get way more flat tires than a car, so you're constantly spending time and money fixing them. Decent bicycle tires aren't cheap, but you get way fewer miles out of them than car tires. In terms of $$$ per mile, car tires cost much less.
What I save on operating expenditures for an automobile more than makes up the extra cost of bicycle tires. Since repositioning myself further left into the travel lane, the number of flats that I have experienced has reduced substantially, and I haven't had a flat in over two years.
Replacing the tires on my SUV cost me $400 after 40,000 miles, making a per mile cost at 1 cent, where as my bicycle tires cost $45 after 3000 miles, making a per mile cost of 1.5 cent a mile. That is not cost prohibitive enough for me to switch back to driving, especially when my insurance savings alone amounts to 2 cents per mile. I can only imagine the per mile cost savings if I added in vehicle depreciation, fuel, and maintenance.