al-wagner

To work.
Car 10 min. 4.3 miles almost no traffic
Bike 24 min. 5.4 miles Ride has some uphill.
From work.
Car 15 min. 4.3 miles more traffic.
Last week it took me 25 min. to get home with my car because of construction that will be going on all summer
Bike 20 min 5.4 miles

The mileage is different because with the car I can take the interstate. With the bike I have to go around it....

lelak

Bike, door to door: ~30 mins.

Walk to bus stop: 5 mins.
Bus: 20 mins.
Walk from bus stop: 15 mins.
Wait for bus: 0 - 30 mins.

Az B

Car; 12 minutes.

Bike; 15 minutes.

Az

jimmuter

Biking takes me about 10 minutes and I park right by the door of the building. Driving takes 5-7 minutes to get to the free parking lot which is a 5 minute walk to work. Walking takes 25 minutes or so. I could take the bus - 7 minutes to the stop, 5 minutes to get to the downtown terminal, transfer and take another 5 minutes to get dropped off right by work. Biking is the fastest and most fun.

thdave

By car, 10 minutes. 30 by bike--but I take a longer route (by 1.5 miles). It is prettier and better for cycling.

LittleBigMan

Bike: 60 - 65 min.
Car: 35 min.
Train/car combo: 50 min.
Train/bike combo: 60 min.
Train/bus combo: 90 min.

DonChuwish

Mine's only 2 miles, but with a steady interruption of lights that I can't get through any better than cars do. In heavy traffic it's faster by bike, in the middle of the night with green lights the car will win every time. For my morning/evening commute it usually works out about even. But if I have to factor in packing my clothes and changing at work... maybe a little more lost time for the pleasure of biking it. But worth it for sure.

-Don

DC Wheels

Car 50 minutes
Car to subway and then walk to work 45 minutes.
Ride to Bus stop, and Bus to my chosen fun route by trail to work 1 hour 45 minutes

DataJunkie

Car: 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the time of day and traffic conditions.
Bike: 2.5 hrs in and 2 hrs back
Bike and bus: 1 hr 45 min both ways.

Eggplant Jeff

So it appears clear to me that the commuter forum (or at least this thread) is heavily biased toward urban commuters. I guess that's really no surprise, after all there really aren't that many of us who are willing to double or triple our commute just for the fun of riding our bikes. Anywhere that is more car friendly the car's going to win out by a long shot (by which I mean, suburbia or rural areas where cars can sustain much higher speeds than you're capable of on your bike). Public trans is rarely going to be faster than anything except in very dense urban areas, mostly because it's almost never direct door to door and you don't control start times (it's always: walk to bus/train, then wait for bus/train to arrive).

My commute is 4.5 miles, 20 minutes by bike, 7 minutes by car, there is no public trans.

badger_bike

I would say I am slightly faster than the campus shuttlebus, but that's because it stops along the way, and I do not. (save traffic lights). However, I think I'm by-and-large faster than my classmates-in-cars, because they have to circle and circle and circle for a parking space, not to mention deal with the thicket of traffic on 1A.

bike2math

By bike: 45 min. +15 or so for the walk to the gym and a shower, (I won't include the time spent working out). +15 if I get distracted by something shinny

By car: 20 min. +15 cause I go to the gym anyway. +15 if I want to be cheap and drive around looking for cheap parking. +15-20 if I get stuck in traffic, get sucked into a detour, or decide to stop and get a pastry. I don't know what it is but on the days I decide to drive there is always some major construction project or what not. Drivers are crazy, why else would they drive?

truman

I leave home ~45 minutes earlier to bike than to drive, but I get to work ~20 minutes earlier than if I drive, to change and clean up.

Going home, I leave the office about 20 minutes earlier than usual, and arrive at home about 20-25 minutes later than if I drove, but sweaty and in a much better mood.

Urban commute, riding, then comuter rail, then more riding.

WhiteRabbit

To work:
Bike: 20-25 minutes
Driving: 15-40 minutes

From work:
Bike: 15-20 minutes
Driving: 20-60 minutes
Bike - Long way: 40 minutes

One of the reasons I prefer to bike is that my commute time is much more predictable. It might be faster to drive in the morning, it might not. I never know.

chajmahal

Drive to work: 10 min
Bike to work: 25 min
Drive home: 15 min
Bike home: 20 min
5 miles one way. Uphill to work, downhill home.

purple hayes

18 miles in suburban Atlanta. in the mornings, about an hour by car and a few minutes longer by bike (maybe 5). Traffic isn't quite so bad on the way home, so 45 by car and about 1 hr. by bike.

I give it another 2 years of residential construction before I can do it faster on a bike.

luckysnafu

Car - 10-20 depending on traffic
Bike - 20-35 depending on which route I ride. I can get home in under 20 min if I ride my ass off on the shortest route. Usually takes me 30 mins to get to work and 25 or so to get home.

walterk46

Including my walk to and from the train stations at each end of the commute, commuting by train takes me about 35-45 minutes, depending on whether I catch an express. I can relax and read the paper. Plus, no change of clothes required at the office. The train wins when I have to get home early or wear a suit during the day.

I can bike the 15 miles to my office in just under an hour, but that does not include changing clothes once I get into the office. So the bike ride probably doubles the time of my commute. It beats the pants off the train in the all important fun-per-mile category, however. Also, I get my exercise in during a time when I would otherwise be sitting motionless on the train.

I avoid driving to the office if at all possible. It takes about the same amount of time as the train if traffic is decent, but traffic isn't always decent, parking alone costs as much as train fare for 3 round trips, and I'm an irritable SOB after spending 45 minutes in traffic. Its no way to arrive home.

staple

Driving: 7-10 minutes
Cycling: 20-25 minutes (different route, slightly longer), plus 10-15 minutes afterward to change clothes and make myself presentable.
Public transit: 30-40 minutes

Cycling definitely takes longer than driving, but even with the time I need to change clothes, fix my hair, etc., it's still only about as much time as if I took the bus or train.

jeff-o

By car is only about 5 minutes faster. Unless the traffic is really bad (traffic accident), in which case the bike is faster...

zoridog

Drive time = 17 minutes of dull existence
Bike time = 37 minutes of fun

Quickbeam

When I drive I take a more direct route on busier streets, part of which is on a highway with a lot of traffic lights. The distance is about 12 miles and it can take me anywhere from about 15 to 30 minutes depending on traffic, lights, etc. On the bike I take a longer route to avoid busy streets but there are still some lights and traffic to deal with. The distance is about 14 miles and it usually takes me almost an hour.

hubcap

Door to door:
bike 1hr 10min
car 30min

bkrownd

bike: 35 minutes
Walk: 60 minutes
Car: 4 minutes
Transporter: 0.3 seconds
beam me up

Kris Flatlander

Driving for me is roughly 30 minutes or so. Depending on the wind my commute is anywhere from 45-60 minutes. Since I am on the prairies the wind makes a BIG difference!