jyossarian

How does $12 a week translate to $80 a month? That cartoon character can't do math right.

ajmstilt

I quit smoking at the same time i started bike commuting. That alone financially makes it very worth while. And indeed i credit biek riding as what finally allowed me to stay "quit." Also since i no longer stop to buy smokes every morning, i no longer pickup an energy drink and donut, or other snack. All together i was spendign about $10 a day on just smokes and stuff... add in $30 or so for gas a week, and I'm saving well over $200 a month.

thdave

Dude,

I think you're saving more than that (unless you only commute 8 days a month. If so, you must be going a long distance to save $30/week in gas).

Irregardless, it sounds like this has been a financial and health boon to you. Hat's off.

DataJunkie

Heck yes. Ajmstilt is probably more in the $400 range a month. Not to mention the decrease in potential diseases \ sicknesses. Hats off to him\her!
I quit smoking almost 10 years ago and still remember how difficult it was. Heck, I still get the urge occasionally.

cooker

My alternative to bike commuting is taking public transit, which I usually do in January and parts of February. Tickets are $2.25 ($4.50 round trip), but 2 or 3 times a week I take the express bus one way for an extra fare. So my transit costs average out to about $5.35/day. So if I ride 150 days a year I can spend close to $800 per year on bike stuff before it actually costs me anything. Most years I spend well under that.

However the biggest financial benefit of bike commuting is realized when it allows you to sell your car, (or one of your cars if your family has two or more). Those fixed insurance and depreciation costs are a big burden to shed.

jaydubya

I still have my used vehicle that was already paid for when I started commuting a few years ago. So, my only saving are gas (about 1 gallon per round trip, right now that's about $3.45) and the deferred maintenance costs by driving less. The insurance isn't that much, and the registration is pretty cheap too. Still, I think it is certainly worth commuting by bike. Like others have mentioned, there are many more benefits that the direct monetary ones.

nashcommguy

This right here was one of the many reasons I started cycle-commuting. In 1987 in Chicago a Transit Pass was 50.00. I was spending 2.5-3 hrs per day either on the bus or waiting at the stop. I remember the day very well. It was in the morning and freezing cold...I was on the bus w/a bunch of unhealthy, unhappy people and a guy goes by on a bicycle and had a big smile on his face. Suddenly, I think...50.. per month...tons of time...I HATE THIS!!...I got a bicycle from some friends I was helping move that very next weekend. Spent the next week borrowing tools from neighbors, got some lithium grease, WD-40, a cresent wrench, pliers...I've still got my 1st 8,9,10mm and 3d hand. My first rain gear was 3 Hefty trash bags, 2 plastic grocery bags, rubber dish gloves and an old shower cap on one of those 'old school' white Bell helmets I found at a thrift store for .95. Can't imagine how much money I've saved over the years.

devianb

Thats how I feel about public transport too. I still wish I had a Trans Am to cruise around in, but the bike makes a great alternative compared to the bus. I don't work or go out that much so I only save about $30 max a month.

dobovedo

I have personally found that saving money by riding instead of driving is a total myth.

But that's because I don't do it right.

I ride expensive, high maintenance bikes. I buy way more clothing gear than I actually need. I eat more expensive, nutrient rich food to replace the calories I burn than it would cost to simply fill my tank with gas.

On the other hand, I never tried to convince anybody that I was in this to save money.

And on the other, other hand, I had a triple angioplasty 5 years ago that ran up about $40000 in total medical costs. That from being a big fat lazy slob who drove 2 hours roundtrip to work everyday and worked 60 hours a week sitting at a computer.

So maybe I am saving money... it's just in the lack of medical bills?

Depends on how much the knee replacements cost.

evblazer

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one. I find it funny that people in the office think I'm saving so much money since I'm not paying $3 a gallon for gas.
Last year for what I spent on bicycles and bicycle stuff I could buy gas for my commute for the next 30 years at $3 a gallon.

cooker

I know you were being facetious, but for the benefit of others, you're probably more likely to need a knee replacement if you don't cycle, and instead walk around overweight. As long as you adjust your seat height properly, spin, and generally look after yourself, your knees should tolerate cycling forever.

Photosmith

Now see that's exactly what I've been looking at myself. I've had my Honda Civic for 11 years now and done a pretty good job of tracking expenses. I look at it on a cost per mile basis and at least so far, my car is cheaper, but I figure that the bike would be cheaper eventually. Well, eventually.

For the car, I figure I've spent around $46,000 in the last 11 years and 165,000 miles I've had it if you increase the gas price to today's dollars.

Car + financing: 18000
Gas @ $3/gal: 14100
Insurance: 9900
Maintenance: 3000
Repairs: 1000
Total: $46000
$46,000 / 165,000 miles = $0.28/mile

My bike on the other hand I've spent $1078 on so far and logged 360 miles. I won't document exactly how I've managed to spend $1078 when the bike itself was only $348 other than to point out what you and everyone else knows, which is that accessories add up.

Bike: $348
Accessories so far: $730
Total: $1078
$1078 / 360 miles = $2.99/mile

So yeah, right now my bike is 10 times as expensive as my car BUT in theory I could probably log at least 5000 miles or so and only rack up another $400 or so in expenses. That brings it to $1500 / 5000 = $0.30. At that point the two are in price parity and over time the bike will get even cheaper per mile while my car on the other hand is getting very close to the end of it's useful lifespan.

So.. yeah. Bikes are a LOT less expensive up front, cost nothing to insure as long as you have excellent health insurance coverage that covers road accidents on a bicycle and once you've logged enough miles, the overall cost potential of a bike is to be cheaper per mile. Now if you factor in the fact my bike seats only me, while I can put my whole family in my car, well then... it becomes clear why I'm not able to give up owning a car completely, but I do think it's a fine idea to have both a car and a bike and use each appropriately.

squeakywheel

It says $50 today. I wonder if Rick fixed it. I think it said $80 yesterday. I kind of liked it better before. Makes the guy look like he's exaggerating beyond reason. Anyway, I can see myself in that character.

For me, the real savings of bike commuting are when you can eliminate the need for a whole car. It doesn't necessarily have to be car-less. If your family can reduce their number of cars by 1 because of household members sometimes bike commuting, then you come out way ahead.

vincentpaul

Hmmm, all this healthiness is going to drive our insurance costs up in the long run ......

caloso

Seriously, I think there was some study (UK Health Ministry? WHO?) that said basically that.

thdave

That looks like a good estimate of car costs.

That said, the bike estimate is highly skewed by the limited miles. I've got a $700 into my bike, with about $400 in accessories/maintenance since I got at the end of 2005. But I've ridden over 3300 miles. 1100/3300= 33 cents/mile. Before Christmas of '05, I used a 17 year old bike that cost $200. I rode it to work for 5 years or so, with just a few expenses. I'll ignore that part of it.

Plus, the new bike will last as long as the car, if not longer, and the accessory costs will slow down. My bike came with pretty much everything. I'm spending money on studs, upgraded parts, helmets, cyclecomputer, special underwear/clothes, maintenance (I usually do this myself). I'd estimate that going forward I'll put in $125/year.

So, for 10 years I'll assume I'm spending $2100. I'll likely ride 15,000 miles. That will be 14 cents per mile. Using your method, I'd be saving a good 30 cents a mile vs the car.

Note that this is my biggest hobby, too. I'd be spending the money on it regardless, since I love to bike. In a lot of ways, my bike expenses are only slightly altered by by commuting.

Net effect of this detailed analysis: bike commuting is free!

big scholar

Hey DC, just wanna show support as a Miami native (Hialeah). It can't be easy to commute out there. Every time I'm down visiting, I try to imagine how I would make it work if I lived there again. Mind if I ask what area you live in, and what the traffic/lane scenario is?

DCvision

It's not so bad.. I live in Coral Gables, about a mile from a MetroRail station, so if I wimp out, I can catch the train.. but for the past couple of weeks I have been riding both directions. Work is downtown, about an 8 mile trip. For the most part, I ride on the Mpath a MUP under the train tracks, and traffic downtown is actually not that bad.. thanks for the shout out.. and you must be crazy to deal with the hills of San Fran!

big scholar

The hills are no joke for real. The trick is finding ways around the ones you can avoid!

That sounds like a pretty solid route man, big props for doing it. Having lived in that city for most of my life, I know how car-centric it is. Worst drivers in the world...

Rick Smith

It was $50, just a messy $50 that looked like $80. I cleaned it up.

I agree with your comment about the ultimate savings being the elimination of the car. I tried and failed over the last year to convince my wife to get rid of the car if I could commute the entire year without it. I almost made it, but had to drive five times.

dobovedo

How ironic that I am reading this reply with an ice bag wrapped around my right knee!

And yes, I was definitely kidding. I know waaaaaaay more people who have had knee replacements from being overweight than from riding.

BTW... my soreness is from trainer riding, climbing and skiing, not from commuting.

dobovedo

If you think that's crazy, check this out:
Bicycling Wastes Gas?

Makes the argument that the extra calories we need to burn to ride a bike instead of drive costs more in energy consumption than simply driving a car, given the typical American diet. Why? Because cows eat far more grain than they produce in beef. In other words, it's somebody pushing a vegetarian agenda.

Michel Gagnon

For both vehicles, fixed costs are very important. My car costs are currently almost twice as high as yours because I have driven only 190 000 km (118 000 miles) in the last 11 years, and nearly two thirds of that mileage was done in the first three or four years.

On the other hand, I have a touring bike bought in December 2000 for 1400 $, plus nearly 500 $ of accessories (different cassette, racks, lights and lights upgrades) and another 300 $ of maintenance and parts (winter tires, replacement tires and a couple of chains), and I have ridden 35 000 km with it. So it comes to:
Total cost: 2200 $
Distance covered: 35 000 km
Cost per kilometre : 0,063 $/km or 0,1012 $/mile

mstrpete

Let's see:
Used Huffy MTB at Goodwill, 2003: $25
Various bits (racks, mirrors, blinkie etc.), from Goodwill or yard sales: $30
Tires and tubes for various bikes $150
Bells and headlights $60
Labor to set up new bike (warranty replacement, bike was free) $70
Rain jacket, pants, gloves$120
Helmets $70
Wald paperboy rack, Craigslist $20
Bike trailer, will use this year for grocery runs etc: $30
Total for me so far (est): $575

I started commuting by bike part-time in 2006, and went full-time in April of 2007. I live 2 miles from work and 5 miles from school, but that was deliberate, so I could easily commute by bike. I swapped that first 10-speed Huffy at the local bike co-op for a 21-speed Huffy, which I gave back to the co-op when I got my (free) Trek 830 MTB, which got replaced under warranty when the head tube cracked. That replacement bike, a Trek 820 with Conti road slicks, is my main ride. I have three other bikes, all of which were freebies as well.
I'm not trying to be critical or judgmental of all you big spenders, because everybody has a different situation and different needs. But at the same time I want to put it out there that it can be done rather cheaply; I wouldn't want any would-be commuters put off by thinking the start-up cost will be prohibitive.

crhilton

Don't forget. For every penny you spend on gas you spend about 3 on everything else attached to your car.

I use this to get an estimate of the cot of commuting. Unfortunately it only does newer cars:
https://www.edmunds.com/apps/cto/CTOintroController