By necessary I don't mean health or exercise-wise, which is obvious. I mean such factors as convenience, cost, safety... Thanks for taking the poll.

You forgot at least one choice.

The one I'd have chosen would be, "I could go to work by other means, but the bike is more convenient".

Yeah, I could use the bus, but it would cost $2 each way and take nearly four times longer. And coming home, I'd either have to leave work ten minutes early (which would not fly with my boss, my co-workers, or the taxpayers), or wait at the bus stop for 55 minutes for the next one. (And I could walk home in 65 minutes.) Now that I think about it, walking to work would take less time than the bus.

Yeah, I could use a taxi, but it would cost about $15 each way and take a little more time.

Yeah, I could buy a car, but it would cost a fortune (comparatively), I'd have to take a third job to pay for it, and I'd have to figure out where the put the darned thing when I'm not using it. It's not like I could hang it on the wall in the living room at home, or hang it on the wall in the server room at work like I do with my bikes.

So yeah, I could go to work by other means, but the bike is more convenient.

My commute is only a couple of miles each way. Driving my car every day would barely make a dent in the mileage. I ride solely to feel alive and to blow off steam on the way home.

I chose the first option. I could drive, but the cost of parking seems an unnecessarily high expense. But more importantly, I like riding my bike and it is far more convenient for me to have my bike with me at the end of the day than it is to drive home and get my bike. Or it's more convenient for me to ride to work than to go out very early, get my miles in, come home, get dressed, and drive to work.

i live two blocks from the train station and work 1 block from the train station on the other end, and it's a fast commuter rail train with limited stops. door to door the train takes about 35 minutes. biking typical takes around an hour. the train costs about $8 roundtrip.

i don't know how to answer the poll, the train is more convenient time-wise, but riding is less expensive and, most importantly, way more fun!

My commute is a bit less than 4 miles each way. Takes as little as 10 minutes when I hustle in, usually about 15 minutes returning. I ride for exercise, to get to work awake and energized, and to save money. Parking in my building is $250/mo! Also, in the winter, driving is colder than riding because I warm up faster riding than the car warms up driving. I tried commuting on a scooter, and that was the coldest of all. I can take the bus, there is a stop 1 block from my house and it only takes about 15 minutes going in. But it costs $5/day and isn't as fun. I like riding. I like pushing hard, measuring myself against a familiar route, catching and passing other riders, stopping at the lights with my heart pounding. If I don't ride for a few days, like when on a business trip, I miss it.

where i am public transport is faster and cheaper.

but i like to bike as much as i can

My trip is about 4 miles. Walking would be a bit long. If I took the bus, I'd have to switch buses, and it would take around an hour. Driving, aside from being unpleasant, would leave my wife without a car (which counts as an inconvenience).

A: I Dont Live Next Door to the Bar, downtown, to talk to Friends.
I could walk directly over the hill the town is built on, but I bike around it on the shoreline, instead.

On the way to work, cycling is the best choice. It is faster and cheaper than the bus, and as fast or faster than my car (as fast if I leave before 7:15, faster if I leave after and traffic piles up). On the way home, it is the middle choice. Faster and cheaper than the bus, but slower than my car. A mile and a half long hill negates any benefit I might have over traffic on the way home.

I started doing it for health reasons (overweight blood pressure etc.etc.)
Now I do it because I like to plus all the other reasons!

I need more choices to answer. I don't ride everyday, and it's easier to drive most day. But riding is much more enjoyable, much better for my health, and who knows which way is cheaper.

That's obviously Choice #1.

I chose the 3rd answer. Taking subway would be faster and most likely safer for me, but by riding bike I don't have to breathe the foul subway smell and be overwhelmed by the crowd, will have less odds to be close to crazy people (we're talking about NYC). Now that the MTA raised the subway fare, I have just one more reason to ride my bike. But mainly, for me, it's a matter of feeling more comfortable and pleasant to ride bike than taking public transportation.

Great poll/topic! I chose the 1st one:

For me to catch the bus home is pure hell. 1st bus is about 15 wait (oh & I should point out that I wouldn't get to bebefit from getting relieved 25mins early cause I'm wasting that time on a bus stop). Then I have to catch the connecting bus. On a weekday its another 15-20min wait. BUT SWEET JESUS on the weekend.......ITS ONE HOUR AND TWENTY MINS!!!

I get relieved about 6:30am. On the weekend when I use to catch the bus home I wouldn't get thru my front door till ten freaking am! Which takes me to the last leg of my bus commute.....a 30min walk home after getting off the last bus. People, I'm telling you, buying a bike was the single most greatest thing I could have done.

6:45. My bike path acts like a kind of worm hole that I blast thru in the early am. I'm home & walking the dogs no later than 7:10!

Car free and public transport here is pretty thin. It is either bike or walk, and while I occasionally like to walk for errands, biking is better.

I voted: "I could go to work by other means, just as convenient as by bike.", because technically I could take the bus, which would take about as long as riding in, and actually save me the time that I spend showering and changing for work.

The thing is, I absolutely detest taking the bus. I hate pretty much everything about it, being forced to listen to other peoples conversations, the stench of their b.o. or perfume, having to look out for bum piss, the constant stops and starts and having my knees being constantly slammed into the seat in front of me, etc, etc. Between all that, and the fact that I find that I'm irritable and unhappy when I don't cycle in, I feel like it I don't really have any choice but to cycle in to work.

We don't own a car. We can't afford one at this time. Some years, once or twice a year we'll rent a car to go camping or some other out of town trip and we have a friend that has an extra car that we occasionally borrow, but we're basically car free, so I don't have the option of driving in to work. Which I think is a good thing right now, I've still got a lot of weight to lose, and the few times I've had a car borrowed for a few weeks, the temptation to sleep a little longer and drive in (MUCH faster) and swing through a drive through and pick up some extra bad food was far too hard to resist!

I COULD ride my scooter or take the bus, but I hate either option. Driving the car puts me in a foul mood for the rest of the day so to me for my own sanity I ride my bikes everywhere. Unless there is a pressing family reason to take the car it stays parked.

No, because "Commuting by bike is my only option" does not fit. It is not my only option.

There is an "or" part following that which you seem to have missed

To justify my #3 choice: if I have a flat on my way (not yet and hope never), there is always a subway station within walking distance so I can carry my bike to ride the trains to finish my trip. Like Medic Zero, I detest buses and subway. Sometimes I have to be very early for work; I hated to get up early only to enter the smelly subway, but when I woke up with the thought I'm going to ride my bike, my spirit is up right away

My alternative is a car which I do use if the weather is hostile (heavy rain, snow/sleet), although time wise, despite 20 mile EW journey, the car is only about 15 minutes faster. Given the pollution of riding in traffic I am not totally convinced by the health benefits, time will tell, but I enjoy the ride. Through no planning the bike is a close colour match to the car.

It would be certainly safer for me to go to work by other means, but I choose bike.

Even IF I was to purchase a car again, I would still only use it for trips outside the city, or to haul stuff when needed. My work is very close and would probably take me a very short time to drive there, but I would need to spend time and fuel circling the area for a parking spot, everyday... 230 days a year, sometimes having to circle for more than 30 minutes!

No thanks... it takes me 10 minutes max to change from my cycling clothes, and 0 minutes to place the bike in the executive underground garage (which would be unavailable to me if I had a car).

And in the above mentioned trips and such, I just rent a car for the period needed at reasonable prices and still save tons and tons of money on insurance, repairs and taxes!


Btw, Love your 1302 dbascent1986!

If I put health and sanity reasons aside, at this point in my life and family situation it is absolutely unnecessary but it hasn't always been that way.

Now I have to choose to ride and honestly I can be lacking in the discipline department at times.

In hindsight I liked it more when it was a necessity.

Short distace is 7 miles each way so it's a no-brainer. We retired our second vehicle so while having 5 humans (parents and 3 kids) and one vehicle is less convenient that having two, my continued commuting keeps wife from one more trip in the morning (she already drops 13 yo, comes home leave and drops 11 yo come home and the later drop 6 yoand then pick them all up at the end of the day). I'd do it anyways but with one vehicle it's more convenient.