I counted 73 cars that passed me on my 18 mile commute to work this morning. I leave around 5:15am. I was on my bike about 1 hour and 30 minutes as I stopped once to take off a layer and once by the bank to get some cash out. The odd thing is during my first 9 miles only 6 cars passed me. The second half of my commute is on much busier streets.

Anyone else every count how many cars they get passed by on a regular commute? I might start counting more often to get an average. I wonder what going home is like?

I did this once. In five miles of Central London at 7am, a grand total of 3 cars passed me.

Not surprising that the figure is this low though, there were the 250 that I passed getting in their way.

How many potentially shady characters did you count on the commute?

What are you Rain Man? Are you talking about only in the leftmost lane or cars in multiple lanes? I ride on a few 3 lane roads so I think it would be a bit hard to keep count. Interesting way to pass the time, but if you're really interested in traffic volumes you might want to check with the Dallas Department of Transportation.

That's a nice sig, Treespeed Very true.

A bit more than half my commute is on 35-45 mph multiple-lane roads and I also leave for work at around 7am when traffic starts, so I'll really have to pay less attention to where I'm going to count all the cars. I'd imagine more than 100.

I have never thought of counting cars. On the way into work I am pondering my list of the top 3 or 4 annoying hills I ride.
For the denverites, #1 quebec in DTC and #2 being dahlia. Both aren't bad. I just need something to think about. Time to move to a new subject next week.

Just the same old guy. He doesn't even look my way now when I pass. I'm sure he knows it was me. Haha. Get over it man.

I'm talking any lane that is going my direction. I ride on a 3 lane road also for at least a few miles then it turns into a 2 lane road again so the counting got easier. Haha. I'm going to try it on the way home today but I have a feeling it will be a bit more difficult to keep count as I leave work at 4pm when all the traffic starting.

Not RainMan, just bored on the commute this morning.

That's pretty bored. I'd guess at less than 20 on my way in to work. Some days it could be 50+, but today was typical.

I think my worst was just on Wednesday when I got stuck at a RR crossing. I was 3rd in line and by the time the train finished passing there had to be a 100 cars behind me (at least it seemed like it). It was only a 2 lane road so I sprinted to the first business after the crossing, pulled in, and just let everyone go on by. Figured people would be real pissed after waiting on a train for 10 minutes then being stuck behind me to. I was in no hurry.

ha, ha!

Like the OP I often find myself taking on weird math puzzles while I bike (and I suck at math). I once counted the cars on Storrow Drive that were backed up for three miles parallel to the bike path, I then estimated their speed based on mine, their average gas mileage at that speed and how many gallons were being wasted every weekday morning in the fifteen minutes between 8:45am and 9am for one year. I did all the computations in my head and had what, I think, was a pretty reasonable estimate by the time I reached my destination. Naturally, I forgot it within minutes but it was a very significant figure- frightening, in fact, to consider that this happens in every city in the world every day.

I don't count cars... too busy tring to huff and puff up the hill to count the hordes of cars screaming by. Maybe I could count one day on the way home. Usually, it's late enough at night to count with ease. Plus, there's no major climbing in that direction.

A grand total of 9 today. I left really early and used the MUT route for a bunch of it.

Where at in TX are you? I wish there was a path/trail that would actually be useful for me. There is a pretty descent on in Richardson near my school that connects with some other's that I've used to go to my credit union. But nothing useful on my way to work.

There are way too many cars for me to count on a typical commute, but based on how fast they pass me (one every couple seconds in the less busy areas, multiple cars per second in the busy stretches), I'm pretty sure it's in the 1000-2000 range on the way in.

Going home, I get passed by more cars because more of my commute is done during a peak time.

Count them? I'm more concerned with keeping them from running me down.

I started counting on the way home. When I got to 15 in the first 5 minutes or so I said screw it and gave up.

1036 cars and 2 bicycles