Reading the article on the relative costs of riding a bicycle vs. driving a car (What Right Have I?) got me thinking. How much am I paying per mile on my commutes?
I took all the costs I’ve racked up, from clothing to commuting accessories to bike maintenance and parts, and divided that by the number of miles I’ve ridden so far. It’s a lot higher than I imagined it would be. I’m paying premium prices to ride my bike right now.
At $1,260 spent, and 773.02miles ridden, that comes out to about $1.63/mile. I expected a lot less than that, but having thought about it, it does make sense.
The cost of entry into commuting by bike amounts for most of the money I’ve spent. I had nothing. No racks, or bike bags, or lights. Those are things I had to have in order to make it work. My timing had something to do with it as well. Had I started in the summer, I could have gotten away with the clothes I had, but I didn’t. I started nearly in the dead of winter and had to gear up for sub-freezing weather. I had nothing prior to December. Clothing costs a lot, even when you avoid the high price biking specific gear, and go for cheaper department store stuff. Altogether, I spent a lot to get into commuting by bike, so I could save money on gas and get healthier, to say nothing about training for the TBP.
Compared to driving… as near as I can tell, I’ve driven 1,289 miles, and spent about $1,348 all told. That amounts to about $0.91 per mile. So far, it’s been personally cheaper to drive.
Ick.
I have the “benefit” of living further from work than you do and having to pay for parking. As such, every month that I leave the car parked at home for 100% of my work days saves me $150 in fuel and $50 in parking. I do occasionally have to shell out for some parts, tune-ups or accessories. And then there’s a slight increase in food intake. It’s not $200 per month, though.
You also have to stretch that out and account for the fact that you’re paying for insurance, tires every xx,000 miles, oil changes every 3-5k, brakes, auto taxes (license plates) and then compare that to the routine maintenance that your bike requires.
I would definitely call that a benefit. I’m looking for ways to extend my distance as the weather warms up. While it’s still cold, though, I’m more interested in just getting home. :)
The ongoing expenses of the automobile will, most assuredly, exceed that of the bike in the long run… of that I have no doubt whatsoever. My monthly expenses, after all, even if the car sits idle all month, will continue to add up. It will be very interesting to look at the numbers at the end of a full year of bike commuting to see just where things end up. Until then, I’m just collecting the data for computation as it comes to pass.