I'm retired, so I don't commute to work, but on the larger subject of cycling vs. driving, I'll say this. About 3/4 of the businesses in Española are on the main drag through town, a four-mile stretch of highway 68 named Riverside Drive, even though the Rio Grande is not even in view from the road along that stretch. I would love to ride my bike to run errands, go to the grocery store, etc., but I don't ride along that stretch of road, for safety reasons.
That portion of the highway is four lanes, two in each direction, plus a turning lane shared by both directions. It is often filled with traffic, and while I actually admire the nimble driving and the courtesy displayed by the local drivers navigating that stretch, which has fewer crashes than I would expect, there are plenty of drivers who must wait, with patience or without, for interruptions in the traffic to pull out of a parking lot from the right, or to turn left or enter traffic using the turning lane. I figure that all of them are way more apt to see a car approaching, than a bicyclist, because that's what they are looking for in terms of their own safety.
I've ridden to several medical destinations in other parts of town, but most other town errands are done with the automobiles. Funny that I'll ride that stretch on a motorcycle, but not a bicycle, and still feel (relatively) safer. Even fewer people see bicycles than see motorcycles, I think, and the consequences of a crash are apt to be more serious for older bodies such as mine.