Nightshade

Your poll ignores the fact that millions of people who would like to ride can't due to infrastructure
concerns, distance, weather issues, age issues, health issues or physical ablities.

For these people safe mass transit is critical to the economy.

Avraham

Right now it is much slower for me to bicycle then take public transportation. When I get my bicycle fixed and tuned up, and get in better shape, it might get close. Public transportation is about an hour. Bicycling is an hour for about half the commute. Nowhere near by car, when I get a ride, 15-30 minutes, depending on traffic.

This is my first post. I started to commute part way last year for health reasons and just loved it! Started learning repair and maintenance with my old bicycles, and slowing getting tools and supplies. Didn't start up yet this year, but I am really looking forward to it!

littlewaywelt

12 min door to door ride.
20 by car.

knucklesandwich

In the morning, driving is much faster than biking: 15min vs 45min.
Evenings it's more like driving 30+min vs biking 45min.
Public transportationis about the same as biking.

gronk40

I have about a twenty minute drive (very direct route) or forty minute bike ride (meandering route on bike paths)

vtjim

It depends on where I park, so I said about the same. It would probably be about 15-20 minutes by car vs. 25 minutes by bike if I pushed. That's the best-case, and I'd have to pay to park.

For free parking, that includes a shuttle bus to the office. It would be MUCH longer than riding. Perhaps double the time.

murphstahoe

I take the train to work with my bike. It takes 15 minutes to ride to the train station. There is no way I could make it to the train in the same amount of time in a car, and it would be next to impossible to park.

mtnwalker

Driving in to work takes about 20-30 minutes depending on traffic.
Riding in to work takes 40-60 minutes depending on my route and how my legs feel.

Riding definitely takes more time for me but that is offset by the benefits I get from riding in to work.

closetbiker

It used to be that riding in was somewhat slower, but with the build up in traffic and rebuilding of the airport and movement of the parking lot and lunch room for employees (between the parking lot shuttle and the walk through the terminal, it can take over 15 minutes for employee's just to make it to their car), it's faster now.

I can only see it getting worse for driving as time marches on.

riderintransit

Tansit takes and hour, riding takes and hour. On the bike, I don't have to deal with people stinking of piss and beer at 06:00.

Mr Wonderful

My partial bike commute is much slower. However, I am biking to get in shape, and I can get two hours of exercise in for about an hour of commute time loss, which makes it very efficient from that perspective.

I might see an mpg increase because to get to my partial commute parking spot is quiet lazy roads versus full throttle freeway driving typical of my area.

Jeffbeerman2

6.3 miles by bike on surface streets. About 7.5 by car on highway

10-20min by car (depending on traffic)

25-40 min by bike depending on motivation and weather/wind

-holiday76

now that there is construction on the only road out of my neighborhood, the bike commute it probably 10-15 minutes faster. Takes me 30 minutes to cover the 9 miles to my work.

vaticdart

To work from home it takes longer by bicycle when you factor in the time it takes to cool off and change; maybe 10 - 15 minutes for driving compared to 20 - 25 minutes for cycling.

To home from work it takes less time: 20 - 25 minutes by bicycle again, compared with more like 30 - 45 minutes with lots of sitting in rush hour city traffic for driving. Bicycling home is always more spicy than the other direction: the extra traffic means more cagers blowing through stop signs and expressing antagonism. I've only exchanged words a few times in a year of serious bicycle commuting, and it's always been on the way home.

As others have said, it's totally worth it. I'm moving into my late 20s and I'm in the best shape I've ever been in and I'm actually physically addicted to my daily exercise regimen while so many others that I know struggle to motivate themselves to go the hamster gym.

dr_bovine

I've never driven to work, but I'd imagine that driving would be a bit faster. If it was right in the middle of rush hour, however, the bike might be considerably faster. All I know for sure is that the bike is way faster than public transportation, which is my only real alternative.

ECDkeys

On a normal day, it takes me 35 minutes to bike vs 15 minutes to drive. However, I work on a campus with very limited parking, and my best option is a public parking ramp close to the building I do most of my work. I have driven there only to find out there's an event at the arena (usually sports, but sometimes a rock concert or political rally), and it is impossible to park in that ramp or anything else close by. So I end up driving a few blocks away and end up having to walk, which makes it longer for me to reach my destination. With my bike, I'm guaranteed a dependable arrival time, which is most important to me.

spokenword

my current job is in downtown Boston, so driving in would be a nightmare. In the two times that I did it for an interview it's usually taken about 45 minutes, if I chose to park my car in the building garage, which charges $35 a day. There's a $10/day lot out in Fort Point, by the State Courthouse, but this would also add at least 15 minutes of walking to the commute.

Public transit was roughly 45m - 1hr. as well depending on luck with bus and T connections.

Door to door, by bike, it's 25 - 30 minutes depending on my luck with the lights. Shower and changes of clothes probably add in another ten minutes.

My previous job was out in the 'burbs' and that was about 1 hour by bike and 30 minutes by car. I'd drive in if I had early meetings at work or some evening commitment at home. Now, it's nice because that excuse is gone.

ottawa_adam

30 minutes by bus versus 30 minutes by bike, door to door. Guess you can figure out what my preferred option is?

noisebeam

Bike
Wake up: 6:00
Change, pack, leave home: 6:25
Arrive work: 6:50 (25min drive time)
Finish shower/changing: 7:00
Walk to and arrive at office: 7:10

Motoring
Wake up: 7:00
Shower, dress, leave Home: 7:25
Arrive Parking Lot: 7:40 (15min drive time)
Walk to and arrive at office: 7:45

Summary
Cycling: 70min wake up to desk
Motoring: 45min wake up to desk

Al

gharding

Never driven (or taken a cab) to work, so I don't really know how long it'd take. I'd say I get there probably in the same amount of time. Traffic gets backed up on the Williamsburg bridge, Delancey St., Broadway, and cars can't even GO down Wall St. Biking is about 20-25 minutes faster than taking the subway to work, though (mainly because I have to walk to the train station).

Paul L.

Hmmm, driving for me is a 40 minute drive as opposed to a 85 minute ride + a 10-15 minute shower prep.

Now, seeing as the commute is not the only thing I am doing at the time lets compare apples to apples-

40 minute drive + 85 minute workout = 125 minutes

85 minute workout/commute + 15 minute shower/prep = 90 minutes.
I come out 35 minutes ahead of the game.

d2create

25 minutes by car (10 miles), 45-50 by bike (11.25 miles).

sean000

My commute is less than 4 miles, and I can pedal it in about the same amount of time it takes to drive (unless I take the scenic route.

I used to live in Washington, DC. There it was ALWAYS faster to bicycle... especially when you factored in the time it took to find parking for a car.

Machka 

Back when I was commuting in Winnipeg, a one-way trip took the following times ...

-- When I had a car, which I didn't for the last 6 years I was there, my commute was 10 minutes.
-- By bus, my commute was about 45 minutes (2-3 busses and feeder routes).
-- And by bicycle it was 20 minutes in the summer and 30 minutes in the winter.

I usually opted to ride my bicycle because it meant I could sleep in ... and it was a lot more pleasant than riding the bus!!


My commute the last several summers has been MUCH longer. It takes me just shy of 30 minutes, one-way by car, and about 1.5 hours, one-way by bicycle.

K6-III

By car:

20 minute walk to car
40 minute drive during rush hour
15 minutes looking for parking

1:15 total

By bike:

40 minutes riding at a reasonable pace on my commuter
30 minutes on my road bike+15 minutes to change/clean up

Fastest:

Throw bike on front of bus 15 minutes on bus + 5 minutes on bike makes 20 minutes total.