Originally Posted by
vja4Him
How do you figure that riding a bicycle is only 1/3 less than driving? Not figuring in the cost of the car or bicycle, assuming that you already own one ....
It was costing me around $600/mo. to drive. Myself and my two boys riding three bicycles costs us for the past three months or so only a couple dollars a month total, for three bicycles!
Because I'm figuring it on my costs - not yours. And mine were far under $600/month. The Pontiac was a car we bought for our daughter, but my estimated costs were based on my own car - an '87 Nova purchased new for about $9000 in '87. It now has 250,000 miles on it, so the purchase price amounts to about 3.5 cents/mile. Fuel cost has been just under 6 cents/mile, insurance has cost another 3 cents/mile, and maintenance 2.5 cents/mile. So the total is around 15 cents/mile.
In comparison, my most-used bike was purchased for $400 used and I've ridden it a little over 80,000 miles so the purchase cost is only half a cent/mile. Maintenance (mainly tires and chains) is similar to the car at 3 cents/mile. But my fuel cost estimate (based on a mix of groceries, energy bars, and cafes) has been over 6 cents/mile, bringing the total to about 10 cents/mile - one third less than the cost for the car.