Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=internet-bob.10510.0196.eml
Date: Mon,  3 Oct 2005 12:04:02 -0700
From: rhawks(AT)lmi.net
Subject: [BOB] What do you save by bike commuting? Was: Bike reboom


In my household, we have one car. I use it to go to work
about 8 times a year max. With 4 weeks of vaction, plus
10-12 holidays, plus the average number of sick days, I'd say
there is about 44 weeks, or rounding up, 220 days of commuting
by bike.

My commute is 17 one way by bike. I could use the tunnel to
ride that I use when I would drive, but it's a very unpleasent
experience and I'd rather not do that once a day, let alone
the twice the round trip requires. So, I ride the extra 12 miles
daily that it takes to get to a bridge. Clearly I save on
the gas it takes to drive, but only 25 miles daily (the straight
run is 12.5 miles by car). There is roughly 19 workdays in a given
month, so 19 X 25 is the car mileage, or 460 miles. Using 
today's gas prices isn't fair for the past year, but show of
hands, who expects gas prices will go down overall in the next
year? Our one family car gets 20 mpg city/highway mixed which
is the type of driving I would be doing, so 22 gallons at $2.95
is $64.90. At this rate, it would take 6 months to reach the 
3000 mile total to change the oil, but I think there is also
a 3 month rule involved so assume the cost of an oil change
divided by 3. I change my own oil still, so that cost is the cost
of 4 quarts of oil plus a filter, which is about $12/3 so
$4 a month for oil.

Since I don't have the second car in our family, I believe I
can claim I save even more by bike commuting. If I duplicated
our only car, then I'd have a 15 year old car, so the price of
the car, less it's resale value after the period of amoratization
would cost about $45 a month (4 years of ownership, $2160 of value
used up on a used car). So my running total is $122.75 per month.
I believe the cost to register and put plates on a car like this
is less than $100 a year, so call it $6 per month. $126.75 running
total. Insurance is something I don't remember exactly, but I
think it is about $75 per month. Odd that the biggest cost per
month so far is for something that you hope you never have to
use. $201.75 a month. If my current car is a guide, then there
is usually about $1000 in maintenance costs per year. Remember this
is a 15 year old car used as an example. $1000/12 is $83.33 a month.
The running total is now $285.08. I believe it would be much higher
if we used a newer car, even if the gas mileage were 50% better.

If you wanted to do the same tally of costs for a car, consider if
you pay for parking at some point as a result of driving to work,
and factor in any tolls you might pay (in the Bay Area, bridge
tolls of $3 per day are common).

The costs for riding a bike have to be weighed against this, just to
be fair. It stands to reason that for me there is no zero cost
way to commute. On the year, I will have 34 x 220, or 7480 miles,
using the route I actually travel. Assume 4 tires a year, and $15
a tire. The tires I use are usually $20, but I always buy a bunch
during a sale. Someone claimed on this list that a chain will
last 1500 miles. I get far more mileage out of chain than that,
so say 2 chains, for $15 each. Tubes run $4.50 each and I get 
a lot of flats so 6 tubes a year: $27.00. Running tally is
$60 (tires) plus $30 (chains) plus $27  (tubes): $117 a year.
Granted other things will wear out, like brake pads. I run mine
for a long time so they last a year. I get the cheapest coolstop
Continentals or so rounding up I bet those cost $20 a year. $137
yearly. These don't wear out that fast but say $20 for freewheel
cog (single speed) and $30 for a chain ring. I don't wear these
out in a year, but I need something for the tally. $187 a year.
I suit up in cycling clothes. I paid $60 for a pair of shoes
and I've used them for 4 years so far. $203 a year so far. Let's
say I use two pair of shorts a year, and I get them for $40 each.
$283 a year. I've commuted by bike on bikes I've rescured from
the trash, and fixed up. Less the cost of consumables I've already
listed, if I bought a used bike (to mirror a used car) for $200
and used it for 4 years, that works out to $4.17 a month. 
Beyond that, it gets harder for a yearly figure. $333/12 is $27.75.

If I walked or rode to BART, then to the Ferry then to work
and reversed that at home, the monthly cost for me is:

Ferry, round trip $3, BART round trip $3.30 a day. $6.30 X 20
is $126.

Monthy figures:

Riding: $27.75
Public Transportation: $126
Driving a car I already owned, and writing off all other costs
for some other reason: $68.90
Driving a car I would buy just to commute, and including
maintenance costs, insurance, tags, etc: $276.23

So, by biking, I save $41.15 a month over using a 2nd car I already owned
and justified owning using other means. I save about $250 a month
over buying a 2nd car, which I don't already own. I save about $90
over using public transportation.

I recognize these costs are not exact, but I think they are
a fair and reasonable approximation. There are some other
ways to offset things, such as if I were the gym type, I
could 'save' the cost of membership by cycling. To be honest,
I'm not the gym type, as this image is too ingrained in my
head about what gym membership represents in this society: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthews/273052/


In short, the real savings in bike commuting is to either not get,
or get rid of a car. I think the real cost of driving, in terms of
money you actually spend, less the costs on society, is closer to
the figure I arrived at using the 'buy a 2nd car' scenario.

The answer for me is pretty clear. Cost wise, it's far better 
for me to ride. 

Comments welcome, no doubt I've forgotten something in
my caluculations.

rob hawks
richmond, ca
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