Faster than you think

Commuting by bike is understandably a risky business, mainly because of the number of cars that compete to use the highways. Bike lanes would solve part of this problem, but the ones in our town appear in such random places that they are as likely to discourage cyclists as not. They mysteriously appear for a few blocks then just as mysteriously disappear without any evidence of urban planning or design. Without bike lanes on major roads, part of the risks of cycling can be averted by using back roads that typically do not have a high volume of traffic during rush hours. For me this means going about a mile out of the way if I decide to ride my bike to work.

Even so in terms of the averages, I get to work faster than you think. In an urban area the estimated speed of public transportation is about 10 mph. For a car it’s estimated to be about twice that. I’ve read that it is closer to 25 mph. So if we go by the averages and calculate how long it takes for me to drive the 10 miles to work, that would be 24 minutes, which is just about right. Since there is no public transportation in our town that would get me from my home to work, this option is out. Commuting by bicycle takes me about 45 minutes to go the 11 miles that allows me to stay off the dangerous four lane highways. This works out to about 14.5 mph. So on the one hand it is obviously slower than a car, but on the other hand it is faster than public transportation would be, if we had public transportation.

Suppose now that you like to exercise, which if you’re even thinking about riding your bike to work would not be out of the question. You might, for example, exercise by riding your bike for an hour, or by going to the gym and riding an exercise bike for 45 minutes to an hour. So if you drive to work, drive home, and ride your bike for an hour to exercise that adds up to about an hour and fifty minutes. On the other hand, if you rode your bike to work and home, that’s an hour of riding your bike for exercise and thirty minutes for commuting back and forth to work. Notice now that you also have twenty minutes left over that you can spend however you want. Though you’re going to say it’s a non sequitur, I’ll draw the conclusion anyway and argue that it applies to anyone who exercises and drives a car to work. By riding your bike you cut your commute time almost in half.

For an average commute of 10 to 12 miles the averages don’t lie: public transportation – 10 mph, car – 25 mph, bike – 44 mph.