Last time I figured, it was costing me around 55 cents a mile to drive my mini-van. My Electra Townie has cost us about $10 for the past 14 months and around 1000 miles. So that comes out to about 1 cent per mile.
My LHT has cost me about $1 for the past three months, or 250 miles, or about .4 cents per mile.
Driving was costing me around $600/mo. My two boys and I riding our bikes for the past year, or longer, has cost us a little over $10. So, for me, the savings is astronomical ... !!! Oh yes, I've ridden the bus maybe 10 times in the past six months. That a total of $25. But I would have ridden the bus anyways, even if I had no bike, and was still driving, so that really doesn't even make any difference, that is, regarding expenses riding bicycles.
Originally Posted by
joshwa
for me personally I save no money by commuting. very rough number crunching here: to drive my car costs $0.16/mile ($3/gal fuel, oil change, tires) excluding cost of car and insurance because I have those regardless. maintenance on my bike costs $0.12/mile (just tires and tubes). that's a difference of $.04 cents a mile. so to break even on my $800 bike would take 20,000 miles of commuting. only way I see to save money by commuting is by having no car, a cheap bike, or a terribly non-fuel efficient vehicle. does that mean i'm selling my bike? of course not, I do it for the love (exercise ain't bad either).