I regret to say that if you're breathing harder you're sucking in more of those fumes.

Huh? Maybe in some cases. In my case the commute is much longer by bike since I can't use interstate highways. I'd have to guess that it is probably a wash in most cases.

According to certian statistics it costs me about $0.72 a mile to drive my Jeep Compass. I believe this includes average cost of all possible maintenance, insurance, financing, registration, etc. Basically any sort of cost involved with motor vehicles was factored in and averaged and $0.72 a mile is about what it costs me to drive. I'll be conservative and say would I drive about 7,500 total miles during the time of year I ride bike. That equals a total of about $5400. Since 2008 I have commuted or rand errands on my bike a total of; 1,345.46 miles. 1,345.46 x $0.72 per mile = $968 that I saved by NOT driving my Jeep to commute to/from work or run errands. There is no way I have spent $968 since I started tracking this in 2008 on my bike.

I do not buy that driving a motor vehicle costs the same as commuting by bicycle.

When I sold my car in 2002, I recall that at that time the average cost per year to run a vehicle was $7000 (Canadian). That cost included everything...insurance, maintenance, fuel, depreciation, etc. With that saving in mind, I budgeted to spend about half that $7000 per year on a combination of alternative transit…bikes/equipment, public transit and the occasional car rental.

My greatest expense is public transit, which is about a grand a year and I spend very little over that amount for all modes of transportation in the whole year. I bought myself a "pretty" bike for a little over a grand and use my "beater" as a workhorse. The cost of running both bikes is so negligible, I consider it almost nil. In fact, if every year someone stole my good bike and I had to replace it with a comparably priced one; I’d still be much further ahead than with the car.

Don’t' forget, the cost of maintaining a car (especially insurance and fuel), have gone up more than the cost of living since 2002 when I sold the car, so I'm much further ahead than the ruff shot cost analysis predicted at the time.

My advice is if you are making an OK income and you are able to sell your car, then get yourself a nice bike and don’t fret about picking up some luxury bike extras as a treat.:D

Leo

With the tone of you reply, I regret to inform you that in my car I'm on the interstate in stop and go traffic where thousands of cars go through and someone's tail pipe is right in front of me. Where on the bike I'm on far less travelled back roads with much less vehicle traffic and thus far better air. I am working harder, but there's much less tailpipe in the air to begin with. And that's not even counting the miles of off-street bike trails I'm fortunate enough to enjoy that don't even parallel a street, or the how the exercise you would get would likely to offset any additional pollution. Or that I seem to remember some article about how the air in the cabin of a car being much more polluting that simply being outside on the road, though I can't seem to find it again so I'm not sure it counts...

There are disadvantages to bike commuting, like the weather or taking additional time or not being able to hop in your car and go to lunch with someone else....I just don't think air pollution is one of them unless you're under some really unusual circumstances (like the only way you could bike is a path running alongside a busy freeway), and even then it's up in the air.

The big things that put cars over, so far as I can tell, are maintenance and parking. This assumes you aren't buying a Really Nice Car, since of course they're expensive on their own.

But if you've got free parking, bike commuting and car commuting can be a wash. Parking gets really expensive at higher density levels.

If everything is fine, you shouldn't be getting flats on your bike too frequently. Otherwise, too, maintaining a bicycle is far cheaper than maintaining a car (i.e., it's close to free, whereas the latter — with oil checks, transmission maintenance, gasoline, etc. — costs you forever after the initial purchase).

This said, biking isn't a practical "alternative" to driving in many situations, and it's wise to stop trying to "compare" bikes with cars.

As for the 1.5x higher death rate for cyclists. The biggest problem I have with this stat is that it is measuring rate by miles traveled. I think hours driven vs. hours cycling would be a much more relevant measure.

A cyclist is never going to match miles traveled by a car, so it really isn't comparing apples to apples. For example, I spend three hours commuting to work and back (46 miles). A car can travel roughly 180 miles in that same amount of time.

Time of exposure to the dangers of a given task is a much more accurate measure of risk than mileage.

Hmm... Troll alert?

Rrrright. And an elephant is not bigger than a gopher. :rolleyes:

Two months of car insurance alone would cost me more than all the bike maintenance over the last couple of years.

Maintenance is such an insignificant expense when it comes to comparing the cost of owning a car vs. bike, that mentioning it as the first two reasons (out of three) really does not make your argument sound very convincing.

And every time you're out of 3 bucks (if you don't patch) and ten minutes. At five flats per year (which I think is a pretty high number), that's 15 dollars and almost an hour of your time. Wow. Impressive. Not.

Anyway, I know it's bad luck to brag about a long flat-free stretch, but in the last two years I had perhaps two or three flats, one of which was my own fault (riding an old bike with worn out tires).

When I read stuff like this, I always wonder what I'm doing wrong. I've been on the same set of tires on my primary commuter for the last, um... three, I think, years. That's about 10k miles. I've no intention of replacing them anytime soon - they're doing great. $90 (Canadian) per pair, Schwalbe Marathons. I'm sure you can find them cheaper in the States.

Since you argument that "bikes cost more $ than cars" has no wheels to stand on, you're deciding to go into the non-monetary aspects. Funny how you mention the advantages of a car, but fail to mention those of a bike. How about the improved fitness (and thus prolonged life expectancy), or the fun factor?

I haven't yet been limited by my choice of transportation as to what jobs I chose to take or to decline. It's not as though you're forced to ride your bike for the rest of your life. If you get a new job far away from home, you can always devise a different transportation plan (whether it be a car commute, a multimodal commuter, or moving closer to your workplace). Once you have a job that's bike-commutable, commuting by bike and living car-free is certainly cheaper. Also, don't forget that with remote workplaces come their own costs: namely, a huge chunk of time wasted every day by sitting in traffic.

Get a trailer and you'll be able to carry a lot of stuff. For the other people - get more bikes. :) Another perk of a bike: great social activity.

Again, I've never felt restricted in this regard. You can always rent a car, you know, if you want to transport something bulky. You can also get lots of things delivered: even if you have to pay for it every once in a while it will be cheaper overall than owning a car.

They are not.

Not greatly. I recall a difference of a factor of two. If you measure by hour of exposure, it goes in favour of the bicycle, for about the same factor.

But in the time it takes you to get there you're actually doing something good for you body and soul while at the same time accomplishing the mission of getting somewhere. This SAVES time. No need to drive to the gym to do boring stationary bike cardio and then drive back.

Sitting in a car, you breath them in too. On a bike though, you get exercise which makes you fitter. Ever heard of that 20:1 ratio (per every life-year lost to injury, 20 are gained as a result of health benefits of road riding)?

It depends on the situation. In many situations, including my own, it's vastly superior when it comes to economic benefits as well as lifestyle benefits.

My costs over 1 year and 5000 miles of commuting: Bike, $300. 3 Tires and 3 tubes, $70. Upgrades - stem, handlebar and bar-ends, $50. Waterbottles, pump and computer, $50. That's about $470, and really that's it.

In savings we ditched one car, which would have been about $500 in gas and insurance alone over the same period. Figure in repairs and that's where it really looks good - I could replace my whole bike for another $300-400, but there's not much you can do to a car that's that cheap.

I'm lucky enough to work in a building with showers, attached to a small gym. I think it's a bit ironic that I can go downstairs to change into my cycling clothes to ride home, on a gorgeous summer day, and find people in the gym riding stationary bikes to nowhere. I want to scream: "Winter will be here before you know it!! You can do that when it's -35ºC outside!!!" (And yes, I'm a bit of a fair weather cyclist. I take the train when it's that cold)
A few years ago someone measured air pollution in various places and found that the worst place to be, in terms of exhaust fumes, was inside a car at rush hour. The fumes get inside and don't easily get out again. So, you're actually breathing less pollution on a bike.
Where I live, people who can least afford cars are pushed further and further from the city core into outlying neighborhoods where public transit is bad to non-existent. Living in inner city downtown neighborhoods is now this chic expensive yuppie thing. Bad urban planning can force people into cars as much as any perception of safety.

WTF :twitchy: Are miles different lengths for cars and bikes? :notamused: dumbass

Nah, bikes can go places cars can't -- shortcuts and less circling for parking, that kinda thing.

Hell, I'll bite.

1996 Suburban . . . $8,500
Registration...........$125
Insurance..............$43 (full coverage)
Tires....................$1k (yes, that's 'cheap')
Gas per week.........$75
Oil Change @ 3k......$30
------------------------------------------

When I drove my Suburban, I averaged roughly 300-500 miles per week. My wife found routine excuses to 'go drive to Burlington' to price things out that we never purchased, go walk Target for 'savings' and other odds-and-ends.

We sat down and realized we put 90k on a vehicle in less than a year (when I bought her a new car in 2001). I live in Texas so I can only assume it would be worse if I lived in a large Metro area. Routine trips were less than 3 miles.

AN average day went something like:

8 a.m. - drive 2 miles to Elementary school, drop off son.
10 a.m. - drive to McDonald's for 'food' - 2-3 miles round trip
Noon - drive to work (wife drove truck back home) - 3 miles round trip
3 p.m. - wife drives to pick up son - 2 miles
5 p.m. - wife drives home to pick me up for dinner - 1.5 miles
6 p.m. - I drive back to work 1.5 miles
11 p.m. - I drive home for the day 1.5 miles
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total mileage averaged 15 miles a day, without bull**** trips. Usually we could easily push 20 miles a day.

On my days off we would drive over to Mercedes, down to Matamoros, etc. Added mileage usually was around 100 miles a day. If we decided to drive down to the beach, now you're talking a measily 40 mile round trip to the coast and back.

So in a single week, 20 miles of commuting costs+140 miles of bull****=160 miles a week.

160x4 weeks (and that's a light number) probably came close to 800 miles a month, but probably closer to 1.5k miles a month.

All that mileage means maintenance costs. Maintenance that included replacing a water pump, CV joints ran me up near $1.3k for the year in 'minor repair costs.'

I replaced a windshield at $215 and, because I spent so much time in my truck, upgraded my stereo for a paltry $399.

I'm not even going to bother adding it up, because the final equation that you're not accounting for is the invisible consumer equation.

See, driving a car is lazy. So lazy, people don't realize that their consumer habits are attached to it directly. Big box stores bank on your ability to go out for a drive, and because you use a gasoline vehicle for 'freedom' you play into their hands. Gas stations offer sodas, and other easy to acquire consumables to the drivers because odds are, you're going to be thirsty when you go in and buy gas repeatedly every week.

-----------------

Now that my truck sits, I had to learn to make some adjustments.

My son rides the bus to school. My wife may not like it, or think it's safe for an 8 year old yet - but she's adapted to it.

I ride everywhere. Everywhere. So I have to think about my consumer spending habits. Do I really need that? Will I be able to carry it home? That alone has changed my costs.

My bikes have cost me less than $2k total. That includes riding gear, shoes, et al.

If I get a flat, the cost of patching it versus replacing a truck tire is minimal.
I do my own maintenance. I wanted to learn to be better at it, so I went to the LBS and made friends with the owner and asked him to teach me in exchange for free labor. End result? I can now do anything that is needed, and I got a nice long-term part time job out of it.

So by comparison, last year I spent upwards of $15k to be 'free.'
This year, I've spent $2k on a bike that already has outlived my Suburban (which is broken and awaiting $3k in repairs).

Even after next month when I repair the truck, it will sit until November 18th when I take my wife to the hospital for her planned C-section. Even then, I'm taking the bike to ride home at night and back to the hospital every day that week.

I think the comparison would only be more obvious if I rode a hand-me down or thrift store bike like MANY of the locals here do because they can't afford cars.

My bike cost $319.99. Free tune-up and a year of "tweaking." Fenders and rear rack = cheap, install was free. I've ridden it more than 500 km/h in two months. The cost to ride it these past two months = $0. I have no fancy "gear." I wear whatever clothes I already own. I did buy a cute cycling outfit with a skirt merely to deal with cycling in hot weather, wearing jeans on a 60 k/m ride = ouch. I bought panniers, a bell, a bike computer, lights for around $110 which I got when I sold a speedlight (flash for a camera) I didn't need that I got for free in the first place.

I may have to replace my rear brake pads at some point in the future, how much do those run? $7? At my LBS if I buy the pads there, they install for free. How much do car brake pads cost?

This thread annoys the crap out of me. Riding a bike is a gazillion times cheaper than riding the bus or driving a car.

Even if we ignore the initial cost of the car, which is likely enough to kill the entire calculation, I just got my Escape back from the garage for the routine 100,000 mile maintenance (nothing broken, just routine maintenance) and it cost just under $1,400. I also know I need a new battery before winter hits again.

I won't spend anywhere near that on bicycle clothing and parts, not even over the next three years. It is ironic though, because I rarely drive the thing. My wife drives it all over the place, and she has another car of her own she just likes the Escape better.

I have no doubt riding the bike is cheaper.

Including maintenance, repairs, oil changes, insurance, fuel, property taxes, registration, county sticker, and tolls, I easily spend $5000/year keeping two cars on the road. By contrast, I spend about $100/year on bike parts and maintenance. If I bike commuted, I'd probably have to up that by a factor of 5. That's still a fraction of the cost of maintaining the car.

If you have a load of maintenance costs on your bike, you might consider a new bike. I have hardly any maintenance costs. I bought a second hand Giant OCR from someone, and have changed out some parts.

Right now I am at €482,45. If I had been using mass transit like trains, buses et cetera, I would already have payed €1050, just for transport. So... It's definetely cheaper!

My cost to commute by subway = free
Journey time = 50 mins to the door

My cost to commute by bike = idk, but over last three years I spent £2.2k on bike related purchases (including the bike, £400) for fun/want/desire

If I was going out with friends, most lilel I'd use the subway, otherwise it's the bike all the way.

I am buying an Iro Mark V Pro which is equivalent to the cost of putting gas into my Honda Civic Si for two months! It will literally pay for itself and also help my training for the 2010 LA Marathon. (I'm surprised how efficient bicycle commuting is; 1 mile per 7 minutes on my cruiser)

If you go car free, there's tremendous savings. If you're not car free, there's almost no savings.

If you still keep the car in the driveway and pay for insurance, that's the majority of the expense of having a car anyway. The rest is gas and maint and gas and maint on a reliable car is not much. Gas is about 10 cents per mile on my Toyota Corolla (30 mpg, $2.80 per gallon). Maintenance is only 5 cents a mile maximum.

My commute is 15 miles round trip. At a savings of $0.15 per mile if I commute 250 days a year, which is almost everyday, I only save $562.50. That's not that much. If you buy a beater bike, you save money. If you buy a decent new bike, you lose money.

If I could get rid of the car and sell it, I would save money. As it is, I'm losing money.

Not true, at least not in my situation.

The going rate for parking in downtown Sacramento is $200 per month. Without even considering gas, depreciation, etc., I count $2400 in annual savings. With just what I save in parking, I could buy a very nice bike every year and break even.

I'm currently keeping a car in the driveway that isn't used much. Insurance is $240/yr and registration is another $50. So for about $300/yr plus per-mile costs the car is available for those times when alternative means of transport are inconvenient, costly, or not feasible. If that's the majority of your car expense then you must not be doing much driving at all - good job.

As alluded to in this thread, it's not all about money.

Or I sure hope it's not.

My car insurance costs about $700 per year. Average insurance cost in 2006 was around $800 annually according to this site: http://www.iii.org/media/facts/statsbyissue/auto/

You must have a really good car insurance plan. I think for most people the cost of the car payment and insurance would be the majority of the cost of keeping a car. How much do you save on just gas and maintenance?

Hrmmm.......

Car: $8K in 2004, paid off in 2009. (yay!)
Bike: $100.00 in 2009, paid off in 2009. (yay!)

Yep, the cars cheaper. :)

Granted I do eat more food when I bike commute, but hey, I like eating.