Originally posted by JonR
I don't doubt that you'll end up saving more than the $80 a month. Anyway, you'll be getting benefits that money alone can't buy.
For the flats: have you put Mr. Tuffy tape inside your tires?
What do you do for light now? Do you often have to ride at night?
Reading your post brought back memories and gave me a boost: I think I'll have to jump on (well, straddle is more like it) one of my bikes shortly and ride out into that drizzle! 
I bet you are right I save a lot more. My Jeep is a high maintence thing. I love it, but at 14 mpg.. or worse.. Tires, oil changes, fluid changes.. general wear etc et al...
One of the reasons I like to ride the bike is I sit all day at work. When I'm out in the desert in the jeep, I'm still sitting on my can. Don't get me wrong, I love bieng in the jeep, but the heart gets not that much exercise.. And, there is a certain joy and beauty to riding and seeing the city at a slower pace. The guy with the chickens and roosters that crow at 5 am (nieghbors must love that). The mentally handicapped boy who waves at me every day on the way home (he's a mile stone for me, and his happiness at just saying hi to me and getting a hello back makes the trip kind of cool).. Things like that... The guys at the food vans waving at me.. it's all a great taste of the world I wouldn't see in the Jeep on the freeway home. You can't buy that anywhere.
I asked on this forum about tires, but it would seem that your recommendation is another option that I haven't explored. I'll be off to the bike shop tonight to see what is what.
I ride at 430 am so I have to have a light. I bought a a niterider light wich works out pretty well. The battery seems to last about 3 or 4 days with out chargeing.. as I live in California, it's good because the old electric bill can be a wee bit high...
It's a 14 mile commute to the ferry, and 1 mile from ferry to the building where I work.. not bad. I'm glad I'm starting now in cooler weather so that I can climatize as the heat rises..