Originally Posted by
adlai
...the greater mobility of the car allowing you more freedom in getting to jobs, carrying capacity of people and cargo...
I'm reminded of a few things.
The first image that comes to mind is me in the bike lane zipping past cars stuck in traffic crossing the bridge into or out of DC at rush hour. Are they more free or more mobile than me then? And the fact that my old commute, via Metro, took ohe hour door-to-door. By bike, 35 minutes in the saddle and 15 minutes to shower and change at work - that's faster than the train and I don't need the 15 minutes to shower when it's cooler (i.e., the six months of the year from November through April) which makes it even faster!!!
Second, a Top Gear episode years ago where they sat and actually counted how many cars had more than one passenger in them. Their experience? Almost no one had extra passengers at rush hour, and that was on a motorway in the UK where fuel costs a hell of a lot more than here. My own eyes have shown me that almost no one is ride-sharing in the cars I see on my commute, either. So who exactly is taking advantage of this "carrying capacity of people"?
As for cargo, I have yet to encounter an occasion when I had so much to carry home or to work that it would not fit comfortably in my backpack or in a good set of panniers (if I had them).
Interesting, too, that you should use the term carrying capacity, which in its truest form is an ecological term, of course, referring to the ability of an ecosystem to support a population of a certain species. Earth's carrying capacity for humans is most certainly affected more adversely by car commuting than by bike commuting, but I'll leave that one aside. The environmental benefits of cycle commuting seem to be in the same category for you as the health benefits. That is, something to be ignored because they shift the cost savings comparison even further in favor of bikes...
As for cold hard cash (time savings, health, environmental benefits aside):
Driving is hardly a commute option for me. I just refuse to spend that much money for parking, esepcially when I can bike commute nearly as fast as I can make it by car at the same time of day. I commuted by Metro before. Over $5 RT per day in fares. Purchase of bike, accessories, and some minor repairs will have paid for themselves by the end of the summer (i.e., within the first 6 months of bike commuting).
Originally Posted by
robi
a couple of inner tubers, etc...
Even though I'm trying to get more exercise and have been bike commuting for months now, I'm still a couch potato at heart. Is that my
inner tuber?
