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What's your fastest option?

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Commuting Bicycle commuting is easier than you think, before you know it, you'll be hooked. Learn the tips, hints, equipment, safety requirements for safely riding your bike to work.
View Poll Results: What's the fastest way for you to commute?
My own two feet.
1
0.50%
My own two wheels! Ride on!
71
35.68%
Rails or buses.
4
2.01%
Four wheels.
117
58.79%
Other (please describe)
6
3.02%
Voters: 199. You may not vote on this poll

What's your fastest option?

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Old 04-21-07 | 05:15 AM
  #101  
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From: North shore of Mass.
same distance but the bike commute is a lot faster because I don't have to stop for my daily workout on the way home.
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Old 04-21-07 | 05:23 AM
  #102  
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Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid

Shorter by car both in terms of distance and time -- the shortest distance by bike is suicidal. However, that does not make me want to drive more.
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Old 04-21-07 | 05:38 AM
  #103  
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12-15 min by bike, 8 min by car. On the way home is always windy and kind of up hill so it takes almost 20.
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Old 04-21-07 | 05:41 AM
  #104  
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From: Fallbrook,Calif./Palau del Vidre, France

Bikes: Klein QP, Fuji touring, Surly Cross Check, BCH City bike

In heavy traffic about the same and my commute has been 26 US miles.
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Old 04-21-07 | 05:48 AM
  #105  
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45 miles/week
 
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From: Philadelphia, PA

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[edit] The threads did get collated! Cool!

Aaaaaaaaanyway... My old commute (in suburbia) was 1/4 mile shorter by bike (because I could cut through a county park) but 3 times slower (7 minutes by car, 20 by bike).

My new commute I haven't driven, but I suspect would not be significantly faster by car (because I go downtown). However it's about 30 minutes by train (including walking to/from the station), 60 minutes by bike.
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Last edited by Eggplant Jeff; 04-22-07 at 07:38 AM.
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Old 04-21-07 | 05:52 AM
  #106  
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45 miles/week
 
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From: Philadelphia, PA

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Originally Posted by lima_bean
Of course the big downside is that you can't drive a bike through a mass of zombies crushing them underneath on your way to freedom.
You haven't seen my commuter bike.
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Old 04-21-07 | 09:46 AM
  #107  
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From: Houston

Bikes: Bianchi Alloro, Miyata 710, Fuji Espree Fixie convert

5min longer by bike,
2 miles longer by car.
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Old 04-21-07 | 12:00 PM
  #108  
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From: Lenexa, KS

Bikes: 06 Trek 1200 - 98 DB Outlook - 99 DB Sorrento

Of the ways I've tried:

Car: 30m
Bike+Bus: 45m
Bike: 1h45m-2h
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Old 04-22-07 | 11:04 PM
  #109  
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From: Antioch, CA (SF Bay Area)

Bikes: Trek 520 Grando, Roubaix Expert, Motobecane Ti Century Elite turned commuter, Some old French thing gone fixie

Car: 20
Bike: 35
Maybe I can learn to ride faster, but even if I never do, I love the bike, and I always hated the car traffic
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Old 04-23-07 | 08:30 AM
  #110  
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From: San Diego, CA
Driving route to work is 10 miles and it takes 20-25 minutes to get to work. Traffic is not an issue.

The bus/trolley combo takes me an hour in the morning and an hour/hour fifteen minutes in the afternoon. Not sure on the mileage of that route.

Riding takes an hour 30 mins/hour 45 mins and it's a fifteen mile route.

Of the three options I drive to work twice a week, I take the bus/trolley 3 times a week and I don't ride to work anymore. I tried it and it just didn't work for me.

Last edited by here and there; 04-23-07 at 08:36 AM.
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Old 04-23-07 | 08:36 AM
  #111  
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From: Dallas Suburbpopolis
Car is fastest if there's zero traffic
Bike is fastest with traffic: normal 6 mile route has 27 intersections, which is a lot faster to blow through on the bike than hurry-up-and-wait in a car.
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Old 04-23-07 | 12:02 PM
  #112  
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Originally Posted by acroy
Car is fastest if there's zero traffic
Bike is fastest with traffic: normal 6 mile route has 27 intersections, which is a lot faster to blow through on the bike than hurry-up-and-wait in a car.
A similar situation for me. My bike commute is about 7 miles, and it's actually a more direct path than by auto, since most of it is along an MUP that was converted from a railroad track (hence, mostly a straight line). Also, parking at my destination is often hit or miss, and in worst case scenarios I end up parking so far away as to make my walk to my destination just as time consuming as the drive.

Even in bad weather, I find my bike commute takes less time, since auto traffic tends to slow down and get overly congested, while bike traffic thins out.
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Old 04-23-07 | 12:20 PM
  #113  
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From: Rochester, NY

Bikes: Specialized Allez Elite

Car by far, about 25-35 minutes if traffic is "normal" and there are no accidents. My bike route is 2 miles longer (22.5 miles) and takes me 1:30-40. My best time(today!) was 1:27. I'm still pretty slow though so I think I'll be able to get it down into the 1:15 range over the next few months. Assuming decent weather of course.
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Old 04-23-07 | 12:29 PM
  #114  
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A car is definitely faster for my commute.

But... there are two ways the cycling is faster. One is if I count the time for exersize in my car commute time. Another is if I have to drive the kids to school instead of giving them the car. That takes me an extra 15 minutes, so it'd be a tie. Tie goes to the bike.
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Old 04-23-07 | 12:45 PM
  #115  
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From: Toronto, ON
The only of my bike commutes I ever did by car was to/from the university (11 miles one way): I took a taxi a few times for whatever reasons. When there is little traffic, a car is fast (obviously), especially since you can take expressways for about half of the way. However, there are often very long traffic jams in the afternoon (and sometimes in the morning) and the car can get stuck there for good. Happened to me....

So that commute was something like:

car: 25 mins to 1 hour+
transit (subway + bus): 45 mins to 1 hour+ (depends on lines at bus stop and various delays)
bike: consistently 50 to 55 mins. Add extra 15 mins for a flat (rare).

So while bike was not always the fastest, it was by far the most reliable.
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Old 04-23-07 | 12:55 PM
  #116  
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From: Toronto, ON, Canada

Bikes: 70s Leader Precision w/Shimano 600 (road), IRO Rob Roy (Fixed)

Cycling is my fastest option. I don't own a car, so that's not an option for me. The streetcar in the morning particularly stops at 99% of the stops along the route, if I take that direct route I can make the ~3-4 miles in 12-15 minutes. I usually prefer to ride across the lakefront for more scenery and no traffic, that's around 17-20 minutes and usually always faster than the streetcar.

My previous commute from the east end would take almost the same amount of time as public transport (mixture of two subways and a streetcar), my bike route was more direct but overall slower average speed, which made the two almost the same. Unless it was a VERY rare slick-fluid day of quick transfers, the bike always had the edge (consistent 30-35 mins versus anything from 30-50 minutes by TTC)
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Old 04-23-07 | 01:53 PM
  #117  
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the fastest option for me is to ride. 11 miles, usually takes me 35-45 minutes depending on conditions and how sleepy i am.

i am car-free, so mass transit is my only other real option (other than catching a ride in w/a close-by co-worker, something i try to avoid except for real rainy or windy days).
that said, the bus will take me at least 15 minutes longer and i would still have to ride at least 2 miles to get to the right stop, change buses once, etc...

if i was to drive, it would take me approx the same amount of time as the bike ride, so it's bike commuting ftw!
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Old 06-07-07 | 03:03 PM
  #118  
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From: Juarez, Mexico (Next to El Paso, USA)

Bikes: Specialized FSR XC

Currently, car

Currently is car
Distance: 15 miles (uphill in the morning).
Car time: 0:30-1:00
Bike time: 1:20 to 1:35 (Using mountain bike with double suspension, uphill)
Public transport: 1:30-1-50

I am planning on getting an inexpensive road bike (training, touring, and maybe commuting).
After I get I will at least commute with bike once a week. If I get times in 0:45 to 1:00 uphill after I get it, I may end up using it most of the days.

Last edited by rimugu; 06-08-07 at 08:32 AM.
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Old 06-07-07 | 03:07 PM
  #119  
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From: New Haven, CT

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10 minutes by car, 8 minutes by bike
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Old 06-07-07 | 03:17 PM
  #120  
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From: SF Bay Area, CA
Originally Posted by Scorer75
I don't think commuting is a time issue, to me it's more of a lifestyle statement.
+1

Biking takes twice as long as driving, but I think it says more about my beliefs and values, especially since I still keep my car, pay the auto insurance, AND that parking permit for days when biking to work isn't an option (as in me working 20hrs/day in the office!)....
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Old 06-07-07 | 03:39 PM
  #121  
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From: Boston (sort of)

Bikes: 1 road, 1 Urban Assault Vehicle

I work in downtown Boston and commute from Brighton. I put down "two wheels" because, while I could get there faster in the car most of the time, that would be just driving to the front door of my building, and there is no parking. To actually get to work driving, I would have to drive around the corner (assuming I used the nearest garage) and then walk back. At that point, it would likely be a wash time-wise.

My other option is public transportation, and it's really no contest. My choices there are either a quarter mile walk, wait for the bus, ride the bus in part way, change to the subway, wait for a train, and ride that in...or a half mile walk to take the trolley in all the way. My fastest public transportation commute is about equal to my slowest, lollygagging, going-out-of-my-way-by-two-miles-and-stopping-at-my-favorite-bagel-place bike commute.
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