Commuting by bicycle starts saving you $$$ immediately! Driving would have cost me between $70,000-80,000 for the next ten years. Owning, operating, and maintaining three bikes will cost me around $50/mo., or around $6,000 for the next ten years, or less!

I've only spent around $800 total for my mountain bike in the past 19 years. Nothing (except chain lube) in 14 months for my Townie, and only chain lube for my LHT for the past couple months.

Oh yes, we've also owned several other bikes, which I spent around $500 in the past 15 years. So, I've spent about $1,300 on quite a few bikes in the past 19 years.

My total bicycle expenses for the past 19 years comes to around $5.70/mo. ... !!! Can anyone beat that ... ??? Driving your car, that is ... ???

I'd have to pay about $48 a month to park a car at work (or park off campus and walk just about as far as the bike ride), so biking in saves me a ton

I just figured up how much money I've spent on motor vehicles in the past 22 years that I've lived in California .... Comes to around $150,000.00 total, for owning and operating seven vehicles!!!

That's good. Don't forget grease for threads and a good lube for everything else like cables/housing, pivot parts on derailleurs, etc.

I use generic lubricants. Grease is very cheap at the auto parts store. I'm going to try automatic transmission fluid (ATF) for oil soon, as I've read about its merits here on bikeforums.

At my current rate, maybe 10 years. That's OK, though. It's just interesting to crunch the numbers. If gas increases the way I think it will over the next few years, the break-even time will decrease dramatically.

Right, and I'm sure it will increase. My guess is that gas prices will be unstable for the foreseeable future but will average much more than $2.25 per gallon in the US.

That's some creative accounting there. You failed to account for many other costs for the car, such as maintenance and repairs. I find that fuel is less than half the operating cost of a car, which, BTW, does not include insurance, registration, depreciation, etc. On the bike side, you include the entire depreciation cost of two bicycles. Clearly an apples to oranges comparison. You already own the car, and you already own the bicycles. An apples to apples comparison would be to compare the operating costs of each.

Unless you replace a car with a bicycle, you're going to find it difficult to justify commuting on economics alone using a $1400 setup.

But I figure the value of being able to eat what I want to be far greater than the money saved.

Lots of "creative accounting" in this thread and others like it. One would think many people got their cars for free from Oprah- but even in that case they'd have to pay the sales tax. But so few people factor in the initial cost of the vehicle as if only day to day operating costs were the comparison.

For example here's a break down of some of the costs (but by no means all) over 11 years of owning a Toyota Corolla wagon bought new in 1996:

Intial cost incl. taxes and registration: 17,110 (paid up front- no loan)

Insurance for 11 years: 13,600

mileage on car at time of resale: 194000

approx fuel costs: 16,415.

maintenance: 8200. (approx. and probably too low but includes tires/oil changes/2 timing belt changes/ 2 batteries/clutch /brakes/ shocks etc)

parking/tolls- 4320

That's roughly $5100/year to own that car without factoring all of the true costs.
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My car has cost me $27 in maintenance so far (needed a new tire). If other costs come in, sure, they'd count against the fuel. However, these were the numbers as they are for me right now. I'm not going to count costs that don't exist.

You're right that I don't include insurance in my operating costs, but that's partially because it's cheap, partially because it's shared with my parents on multiple vehicles, and mostly because I don't count the cost of accessories in the costs of my bikes. I've already counted registration, and I never count depreciation for any purchase, because the entire value of the vehicle is paid for when I bought it (whether bicycle or car).

See above. I always count the purchase price of whatever I buy. When you buy a laptop, do you start figuring out depreciation, or do you just enter the money it took to buy it into your finance log?

I've done so, and continue to do so. After 671 miles, my black bike costs $1.02/mile, not including accessories. After 451 miles, my blue bike costs $1.17/mile. After 1628 miles, my car costs $1.33/mile, not including insurance. All three of these figures include the purchase costs of the vehicles, as well as repair and maintenance costs to date. As you can see, the bikes are slightly cheaper per mile, but the car isn't far behind.

I'm not trying to justify commuting on economics, or by any other measure. As I've said repeatedly, I enjoy crunching numbers. If you don't like my numbers, crunch your own.

As I've said, I always factor in the initial cost of each vehicle when making these comparisons. It would be misleading to do otherwise.

uke, do you figure your costs by dividing the purchase price over the period of time from purchase until the present moment?

For example, if you bought a bike for $1400 one year ago, do you divide the $1400 over 365 days?

^ noglider, so far, I've divided costs (purchase and maintenance) by the miles for which I've used the vehicle. I like dividing by miles instead of by time because it puts the focus on what's been done with the vehicle, rather than on how long it has been owned. It would be possible to buy an expensive bike, never ride it, and calculate a very low cost for it after enough time. However, someone with a cheaper, newer, and more frequently used bike would be doing far more with it.

Fair enough, but it still seems misleading to divide by miles so far. I would rather divide by expected miles before replacing the vehicle or at least until it needs more investment. As I said earlier, a bike often lasts 30 years or tens of thousands of miles. Your average cost per mile is distortedly high in the first few miles if you throw in the entire purchase cost.

if you are basing your costs on the initial cost of the car plus maintenance divided by miles driven- I tally only $2165.24 spent thus far- how much was the car? And what kind of car did you get for such a low cost?- and you only have had to spend $27 on maintenance? If the insurance is paid for "by your parents" on a multi-car policy the insurance cost is based on the user profile. If you are college age or younger you're more than likely increasing the cost of their policy so "cheap" is relative. And the car is usually insured by the person on the title of the vehicle. Who is the legal owner of the vehicle?

Is this actually your car or a car you use but do not assume full financial responsibility for?

But someone's paying the insurance and there aren't too many places in the US where car insurance is "cheap". Average auto insurance in 2006 in the US was $837/year.

commuting really doesn't use a lot of energy, so I don't see food expenses increasing. My eating hasn't increased since I began riding.

I suppose it depends on where you ride, how far you ride, how you ride and your metabolism. My appetite goes way up when I ride. And since food costs thousands of times more per calorie than fossil fuels do, the cost can be measurable.

I don't believe in dividing by nonexistent values. By this argument, I could add hundreds of thousands of miles to the car's expected lifetime, but that wouldn't make it any more accurate. I go by what I've got so far, not by what might occur in the future.

See above. With the first car mile, my cost per mile was also $2000/mile. That's why it's based on usage. If you buy a $1200 bike and ride it 12 miles over the course of a year, by your count, that bike only costs $100/mo...but it also costs $100/mile. If you buy a $1200 bike and ride it 1200 miles over three months, by your count, the bike costs $400/mo. I'd rather look at it as costing $1/mile.


Your tally is high; the total is $2157. The car was about $2000.

A regular sedan. I've only spent $27 so far on repairs, yes. The car's 10+ years old.

I'm the legal owner. And I'm a wee bit over college age. Costs are higher for younger drivers, but they're much lower for older vehicles. That's one of the many reasons not to buy new.

See above.

It's about $50 per month. Maybe you consider that "cheap". Maybe not. It's about as much as I spend on gas when I've got some out of town assignments.

As I've said, the main reason I don't count insurance is because I don't count my cycling accessories. I don't count those because I haven't decided how to allocate them to each bike, since I use certain accessories (e.g., my helmet, my floor pump) on both bikes. I might just go figure this out, though, when I've got some free time. Right now, I've got a meeting to get to.

I'm not saying you should divide by time rather than miles. I'm saying that the result (cost per mile) is a function of the time at which you do the measurement. To me, that seems useless. Furthermore, you are taking the measurement at different times for the car and the bike. That's why the car comes out ahead. If you did analogous measurements, your comparison would be entirely different.

The car doesn't come out ahead. It still costs more per mile than the bikes do. And speaking of cost being a function of times of measurment, things are in favor of the bikes, since I bought them in August and October of last year, while the car was bought this year. If you'd like to argue that I drive much more than I ride, that's perfectly reasonable. However, arguing that I should divide the costs by months of ownership doesn't take into account whether a vehicle is actually used or not, which I find senseless.

Anyway, now I've really got to go. Catch you all later this evening!

For me I *might* save a little money but since I am keeping my car most of the costs associated with "saving" are in direct proportion to the miles I drive

Car purchse inc tax : 45000
Insurance/reg over 6 years: 3600
Maintinance over 6 years: 3000
Gas @ $3.50 per gallon ave 12000 miles per year, 18mpg, over 6 years: $14,000
Estimated Residual value of car after 6 years : 15,000

~$8400 per year to own and drive this car everyday

If I drive the car less, I reduce gas costs, some mantinance (negligible), and increase residual value (also negligible).

If I got rid of the car, I would save a boatload every year, but its not feasible for me.

So I figure I drive the car 8000 miles less per year (and @ $3.5 a gallon for prem unleaded, 18mpg ave, and not factoring in slightly reduced costs for maintinance and slightly higher residual value) I come up with $1500 in gas per year spent per year.

I probably spend that about much per year on bike crud. Granted, I would probably spend that money on bike crap even if I did not commute,.... so perhaps I just say that my bike habit is "free" because I bike commute.

When I first started going by bike I just did it because I found it fun. Then when I learnt more about the health and environment benefits I kept at it.
Now I do it because I enjoy biking. The health and enviro benefits are just bonuses to me. And as I don't have a license, it's difficult to say how much I save. I don't travel far and if I did I'd go by train.

uke, if you managed to purchase a 10 year old car for $2000 that has required virtually no maintenance then you are indeed lucky and rare. You are, without a doubt, a statistical anomaly.

$600/year for auto insurance is cheap relative to auto insurance. But is it cheap compared to the fact that you could buy an entire new bicycle to commute on every year for the same price?- no. That you would leave it out of your calculations is interesting.

The evidence that autos are more expensive to own than a bicycle lies not even so much in their cost/mile but simply the cost to own it. Leaving out the initial cost of the vehicle and depreciation even if your car sat in the driveway for one month and didn't travel one mile it would cost you $50/month for insurance, taxes and registration costs. If both of your bicycles sat in the garage for the same period of time without moving an inch they would cost you nothing. It costs money just for a car to sit unused.


Why does it have to be about money?- well, the thread title for one. Many of us post delightfully less materially oriented justifications in other threads on BF. This one it happens to be the topic.

As far as being in the best shape of your life and What price can one put on that?- are you suggesting we tally in the cost of health care?

I've got an old beater car, but even before I started commuting, I wasn't driving it to work. Traffic and parking hassles in downtown DC made it not worth my while. So, I was taking the metro (and sometimes additionally buses) to bet from home to work and back. All that added up, on average, to around 6 dollars a day. Figure 20 working days a month, that's $120 a month in savings. Metro fare came out as a pre-tax benefit, so it's probably actually closer to $80-100 a month out of pocket for me, but still a decent savings.

Alas, if I didn't have other pressing financial needs, I'd happily be reinvesting much of those savings into some stuff for my bike, but even assuming I were to buy all the accessories and stuff I want, I think they'd be paid for in just a few months of not paying that Metro fare.

Apart from accessories, I've got some wheel repair/replacement issues to deal with right now, so that'll end up running me anywhere from $30 to $120 depending on what I end up doing.

Other than that, I don't foresee any major expenses. So let's see.

$225 = cost of bike
$200 = wanted additional accessories, upgrades, tools, etc.
$100 = wheel repair (near worst case scenario)
$525

That's about five months of commuting and I'm paid for. Then I'll start to save money. And that's not including the health benefits, the pleasure I derive from bike commuting... Not too shabby.

Of course. I simply gave my personal numbers. Naturally, these will vary for everyone.

I didn't calculate it because it's irrelevant to my needs. A new bicycle each year wouldn't fill the requirements my car does, which is why I have a car as well as bicycles.

Certainly--but I don't buy cars or bicycles to have them sit unused. If I didn't need a car, I wouldn't keep one. The car I'd used before getting this one stopped working. Once it did, we canceled insurance, etc. It costs nothing to sit there now.

I would commute by bicycle, even if it wasn't economically rational. I think I must be into bicycle commuting for different reasons that the OP.

I haven't read all responses, but surely there are others that don't need to rationalize bicycle use by these criteria.

I'm not saying it isn't useful to compile reasons for those who only calculate worth in $ (and cycling clearly wins in this area) but it's not something that I need to split off from the holistic benefits. Bike commuting stands squarely on its own as a comprehensively smart thing to do.

Incedentally, this guy, with a penchant for cost/benefit , did such a thing when he decided to become a full-time bike commuter.