"I passed you on your bike, I can't believe you got here before me"

[Sheffield_Tiger]

One of the girls at work (I say girl, she's 30 now, I remember her as the 19yo office junior) said to me today how she drove past me about 3 miles away from work

"I can't believe you're here before me!" she remarked

"Yes, and I stopped at Tesco, locked my bike, did some shopping, loaded up and STILL got here before you"

Perhaps that answers the question "how come you cycle when you've got a car?"

 

[Sara_H]

I have to see my son off to school before I leave for work in the morning. I can't possibly get to work by bus or car in time!

 

[Linford]

Cycling across town with moderate traffic, bike wins every time. Cycle across town in light traffic, bike wins 80%of the time. Cycle 5 miles to work out of town.. if factoring clothing changes, security on both ends etc, then cycling is slower than the car and motorbike due to the time and the nsl's. In journey time, cycling is realistically about 10 minutes behind the car when the roads are quiet, on a par with them when busy as all modes are quicker in places than each other, and the cycle can take advantage of short cuts the others can't use.

 

[Kies]

Uxbridge to Central london is around 22 miles.

Rush hour car takes 80-100 minutes
During the day - 1 hour 15 minutes
Late evening - 40 minutes

Bike at any time of day - 90-100 minutes

 

[CopperCyclist]

For my 6 mile journey, bike takes between 20 - 25 minutes depending on traffic. Car takes between 15 - 30 minutes.

The bike only really loses out due to me having to shower and change when I get in.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

A few years back, in a local cycling forum, I did a survey among the forum members of how their commuting times differ between transport modes, and this graph was the result:

About the only conclusion I could draw from this is that there isn't any real difference between the bike, PT and car times. But given all the other benefits of using a bike, I still think bikes win overall. You could also use this on those people who say "cycling would take too long", by telling them that once they're used to cycling (which I think most of my target audience for this survey was), it won't take any longer than any other mode of transport, overall.

By the way, the sample size was 43. I asked people just to give me their max/min times for cycling, PT and car. Initially, just a few people responded, but then the discussion thread got longer, and more chipped in, and I actually got some reasonably good data . As I mentioned above, though, this sample set is probably skewed towards those who are (relatively) experienced cyclists, which most of these forum members were.

Of course, the length and amount of hills in the different commutes were other variables to consider, so I'm not claiming my little survey is unflawed.

 

[ufkacbln]

Putting other factors in will skew the statistics.

We should simply look at door to door times

Where I work I have two colleagues who live near me. One travels by bus, I travel by bike (usually similar times) whilst the third drives and is less reliable timewise AND takes 20 minutes longer.

HOwever they are required to use a Park and Ride with a limited bus service, so it is hardly a fair comparison

 

[winjim]

Bike, car or tram: my commute takes exactly the same amount of time. Only a couple of miles though.

 

[MarkF]

My wife works at a college 1.5 miles away, mostly she rides in but sometimes she'll walk, whichever, she always beats the bus and 3 of her office colleagues doing the same nose-to-tail grind.

 

[Kestevan]

I work at the same place as Mrs Kes, it's a fairly hilly (1100ft) 10 mile commute passing through the centre of Huddersfield.
I ride, she drives - I'm usually faster.
I drive, she rides - I'm usually faster.

Although tbh there's usually only minutes in it either way. However the occasional traffic snarl-up or roadworks can turn a 40min drive into 80min easily - never has this effect on the bike.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I can drive to work in 20-30 minutes, biking takes me three hours.

 

[sazzaa]

My cycle and my drive in take about the same amount of time at the moment, maybe slightly quicker on the bike if traffic is heavy. But a main commuter road is away to be closed for 4 months so I'll guess cycling will win then!

 

[downfader]

Southampton...

If I take the bus door to door its about 50 minutes.
If we take the car at night its 20
If I bike in rush hour it takes me a MAX of 30 mins (usually 23 is my average for the 6 mile trip)

Driving in "rush hour" (most ironically named) you'd be lucky to get there in 45...

 

[fossyant]

Car or bus, via the 6 miles to work is about 60 minutes.

Bike via 14 miles to work is about 60 minutes. 6 miles takes about 20 !

 

[Beebo]

Although tbh there's usually only minutes in it either way. However the occasional traffic snarl-up or roadworks can turn a 40min drive into 80min easily - never has this effect on the bike.

That's a huge factor, the bike will always be a known speed day in day out, with a slight error for weather etc.
In a car the slightest extra congestion can add huge time to a journey, same with the trains.
The bike is a far more reliable option for travelling into London