How much is commuting on a bike saving you?

[jules21]

yearly public transport ticket: $1,200

bike parts ordered online: umm... damn.

[DavidS]

Well I haven't owned a car for a few years so the bike commuting is basically saving me the public transport fares. This makes it really easy to calculate the savings.

August 2009 I bought a new bike after my ancient Repco died (didn't really die, just not worth fixing). I got a Giant CRX3 for a little over $700. Add in some other stuff and it cost about $1k. So, going by the distrance to work and public transport fares I figured about 5,000Km and it's paid for itself. Well, after about 14 months I've done over 5,000Km so the bike is almost free now. I say almost because a few other costs have come into it, like a new chain and cassette and new pedals and shoes when I changed from toe clips to cleats. But I figure when I get to 6,000 Km it will definitely have paid for itself.

Plus, plenty of other advantages: Time: I ride about 11KM from Elsternwick to just the other side of the city so a car would take about an hour to work because of traffic, train and tram takes about 45 minutes, bike is about 40 minutes - it is the quickest which, given I am not a morning person and normally late for work, is a real bonus. Health: still can't seem to give up the smokes but this is definitely made me a hell of a lot fitter and I have lost some weight. Convenience: I find it easy to get around on the bike and I can do a little shopping on the way home and also get things home which I have had delivered to work (mainly records!). I have a basket as I don't much like panniers or back packs on a bike - works for me. Stress: cycling is fun, waiting around for our useless public transport system to get me to work is stressful and the line I live on has trains every 10 minutes at peak hour so is quite unreliable.

Lot's of advantages I reckon. Maybe I'll try and leave a bit early on Wednesday to get a free breakfast on Ride to Work day.

DS