I also find cycling to be fast and practical in the city. Driving a car or taking the bus, not so much.

In Chicago we have a new parking fee system that adds to the cost of driving the car by a factor of 2. I often need to spend $2 to $6 just to park on the street for two hours. If I go downtown or to Michigan Ave, parking can cost $7 per hour!

Chicago buses are usually slow, dirty and at $2.25 a ride, not all that cheap.

I’m not a regular bike commuter, but will bike commute about 50 to 75 days a year. I have 30 mile commute when I need to travel to the office in the suburbs. The distance is not the biggest issue, it’s the heavy traffic near O’Hare Airport that makes bike commuting the whole distance a little too stressful and unsafe. However, I will commute to the suburbs as an inter-modal cyclist & bus commuter. I’ll cycle 8 miles, put the bike on an express bus for 9 miles, and get off the bus and cycle the last 13 miles. It allows me to enjoy a safe cycling route near my home and office. The bus is fast and travels by expressway, allowing me to avoid congested roads and homicidal drivers.