Shuttle bus (free!) is fastest, at 12-15 minutes. Car would be next fastest, as I could take the same route the bus does, but I'd have to pay $10 to park for the day, and I'd have to buy a car. I ride a more indirect route ~ 5 mi to work, and it takes 20 in the morning and 30-35 in the afternoon... you can guess which way has the gruelling hills. Train - the nearest metro stop is AT work, which is why my apartment runs the shuttle bus. doesn't help me any, unless I want to go into (or back from) DC.

I ride every day, except yesterday, when it rained something like 3" in thirty-something minutes, and was generally pouring all afternoon. My fiancee picked me up and I rode the shuttle in, leaving my bike at work.

It takes me 14-18 minutes each way for my commute by bike, depending on how energetic I am. It would take me about 20 minutes by bus, plus I'd have to walk about 1/2 mile total at the ends. My roommates drive and it takes them about 12 minutes when there's no traffic, but there are often traffic jams on Route 1 and it can take 25 minutes or so in traffic.

So, driving would be (barely) faster, but cycling is more reliable definitely!

My commute time by bike and car are very close. I'd be hard pressed to say which is faster..it would probably just depend on the traffic that day.

Using a car is the fastest, however i don't have one so it's biking. Takes me an hour with the bike, an hour and a half with the bus.

Well in the past the fastest commute was by bike... it would take me about 45 minutes by bike and about an hour by car. The time difference was due to traffic congestion that I could bypass on bike.

My current situation is that I can drive TO work faster... but going home is a different story.... where one road tends to be quite backed up in the evenings with up to a 40 minute wait... I can cover that congested couple of miles in about 10-12 minutes or so on bike...

I've never tried driving, but given that I would have to park ~5minute walk from the building (on a university campus) when I lock my bike up right outside the door, I have to guess that riding is faster. It takes me about 15 minutes for my 4km ride (with 6 traffic lights, with 4 of 6 red on most rides, plus time to lock/unlock). It's been a long time since I've walked it, but I think that would be in the 30-40 minute range. There's a new express bus that would be 5 minutes walking plus 12 minutes on the bus (according to the schedule), plus any wait time at the busstop.

Car is usually fastest. Unless the weather changes or there's an accident. Then Bike and car transit time is about equal. That's OK. If I were to compare bike time to car + workout on treadmill, the bike commute would be shorter and I'd have my workout in for the day. So in that respect, it saves time.

Cool Poll. Thanks for cook'n this one up!

Downhill (to work) - bike beats car.
Uphill (to home) - car beats my legs and lungs

But, if I factor in excercise - bike wins hands down.

My fiance and I have almost equal straight-line distances from home to work, and our workplaces are both located along the same arterial. If she doesn't take the freeway I beat her home during rush hour.

I second the argument of bike time < drive time + exercise time.

Someone had to vote for feet! I live across the street from work. It's so close that getting out a bike would take almost as long as walking there.

I commute 12 km each way. It takes 15 minutes by car, 25 - 38 minutes by bike (it is hilly and also depends on wind, load and fitness). I have not caught the bus, but believe it would take 3 different busses, and take more than an hour.

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Usually the bike. Most mornings the arterial which represents the shortest distance to work is gridlocked for kilometres on end. I usually pass hundreds (sometimes thousands) of cars in that stretch. Strangely, it's usually a little quieter during school holidays*, so on those times a car might be faster, but I've never driven one, so I can't say that for sure. The bus? Forget it. The nearest bus connection is several kilometres away. I tried to bus it one day last year and ended up walking 7km anyway. And that assumes the bus shows up at all (which is not a guarantee by any means in this part of the world).

*yes, it is a major surprise that any road around here would be quieter in school holiday time, considering the number of tourists who visit. I can only assume they haven't discovered the one major non-coastal arterial road in the entire city.

That's a nice compromise, I think that would work well for anyone who works in a congested area. I've thought about doing that with the train too, but it's kind of a waste of time to sit there waiting for it when I could be on my way under my own power.

I put 4 wheels because it takes 5-10 minutes less to ride my car to work then my bike.

In LA, with no traffic, cars win, about 2x faster. I do 15 min bar car, 35-40 by bike.

With traffic, though, bikes/cars equal. 30 vs 30 mins for me.

With a downhill section, bikes win hands down. In fact, I think bikes would win more if it weren't for really heavy traffic zones in which people are in such a rush that it's probably unsafe to "take the lane."

For my commute, definitely faster by bike. If I were to take mass transit from Astoria to where I work on the UES I could either take 1 subway ride and walk about 4/5 of a mile, make 1 subway transfer to go 1 stop and walk a 1/2 mile, or skip that last 1/2 mile and take the bus instead.

+1

I've whittled my ride from Park Slope to Times Square down to about 31 minutes in the mornings. (This does require a bit of seat-of-the-pants spinning up First Avenue.) The way home, though, I tend to play it safer. (New Yorkers will recognize the problem immediately: First Ave. is one way northbound; there's no really bike-friendly southbound route at rush hour. So I take the MUP on the Hudson River.) This adds maybe 10 minutes, but either way, it's definitely faster than the Q train. Plus I don't have to share the breathing space of thousands of irritated New Yorkers. Of course, I may never read a novel again, but that's a different thread.

Where's the option for 4 hooves? In all seriousness, its probably a toss up between bike and car for my specific commute (about 3 miles by bike, maybe 4 or so by car). The bike route is on all roads with a 25 mph speed limit and one light that is almost always green. The car route is along two roads, both with speed limits around 40-45mph and about 4-5 lights (depending the campus entrance that's used).

Last week, I left no more than 2 minutes before my sister and got to the student center about two minutes before her. Factors like parking probably played a part in my win, but then again, it probably should.

I also do a 45 minute run home 2/5 days per week, a 1hr 30 min run home 1 day, and bike the other 2 days.

All options slower than the car except bike on rush hour.

Great workout, though - definitely saves lots of time compared to driving if you include workout time!

from home (crown hill) to school (downtown) 7.5 miles.
Bus is about 40 minutes from when I step onto it, but the wait at the stop can be as long as 20 minutes.
Express bus is 25 minutes.
Car is 20+parking+walking=35 (not to mention the cost)
Bike is 35 min

On the way there (which has a decent downhill down 15th street) I have made it in 20 minutes, leaving my house and getting to class on time. Fastest I've ever ridden and I hit all the lights green.

Unless I have a flat tire or need to carry something large that absolutely can't be exposed to the weather or need to dress up for a presentation I bike, far more enjoyable and just as fast, all things considered.

I'll take a stressless 1hour bike over being cut off, honked at, and red light runners to save 15 - 20 mins anytime.

This may not be popular but: Who else out there feels safer on a bike than in a car? It is only a small
% drivers who are beligerent towards bikes, at least that's my experience

Lets hear some replys


Winnipeg
Canada

I can drive the 12.5 miles in 25 minutes. I can bike it in 50 minutes (improving though....I'm down to 45 minutes on windless days).

I could take the bus in theory....just two transfers and a 2 hour trip.

There are of course, no trains in Detroit.

you must have one of them xtra-xtracycles?

Not really old enough to have a job to commute to although I have done the route my mum does to work countless times. The car is the quickest at around 10 minutes. I've proved to many friends that taking the bike is quicker than the bus. On average by bike it takes around 25 mins. Bus around 30 mins aswell. Ive done the journey once at best just over 15 mins. I'd take the bike over anything though, more enjoyable.