True speed of average car commute

[WeeE]

Do you ride a bike WeeE?

Oops, did I misread the question - sis you mean commuting?

I grew up in a carless family (too little money, too many kids; or too little money because too many kids!) and living in a built-up area, it never seemed quite worth it to me., although I am dissatisfied that I never somehow have got round to even learning to drive - that's a skill everyone ought to have if they can.

 

[WeeE]

Maybe I'm missing something here? Are we to assume that the hours working to pay for a car (initial cost, depreciation, fuel, maintenance, tax, insurance etc..) are ALL done purely to pay for commuting to work??
.

No. But most people say it's the main reason they own a car; or it's the reason that they can't give up owning one.

We do tend to think of car use in terms of ownership, even while cars sit inactive for 90-95% of the time we own them.

I do think a lot of people could have happier, freer lives and still use cars at times, without having to give a huge chunk of their waking lives to personally, individually owning one whole car.

 

[WeeE]

Bottom line is, I know that car ownership is a costly business, but it is a financial sacrifice I am willing to make so that I can enjoy the convenience of owning a car.

Bottom line is asking how "enjoying the convenience" of car ownership reconciles with working an extra day every week.

 

[gb155]

I have just worked out that I saved £2k in FUEL alone in the last 12 months, My car has a computer that works out the Ave speed, its showing 12 Mph, My Garmin Edge says 14Mph, WIN WIN

 

[trsleigh]

Hello trsleigh and welcome! You'll find a small, select band of Illichists hanging about here - we can always use another .

Glad to hear it & thanks for welcome.

 

[WeeE]

I have just worked out that I saved £2k in FUEL alone in the last 12 months, My car has a computer that works out the Ave speed, its showing 12 Mph, My Garmin Edge says 14Mph, WIN WIN

Wow! (And there was me doing sums on the basis that people will use about £500 pa on an average car commute!) Congrats on having an extra 2k to play with!

So your your bike-commute is quicker than your car-commute speed?

 

[WeeE]

Me too. You mentioned both your car and your bike travelling speed, leaving out the time you also devote to making the commute possible: in the case of the bike, negligible, in the case of the car, more time than you spend in the car.

You seemed to have decided to ignored the entire point of the initial post, that's why I referred you to back to it. Or maybe you were making some implicit point that I didn't get.

 

[gb155]

Wow! (And there was me doing sums on the basis that people will use about £500 pa on an average car commute!) Congrats on having an extra 2k to play with!

So your your bike-commute is quicker than your car-commute speed?

Yup, tho the numbers re: speed are skewed now as I am cycling double the driving distance, IE, I work 6.5 miles away from home, meaning 13 miles a day, however I am cycling 12-15 miles in the morning and then 6 miles home.

If I drove the 6.5 mile route it would take a MINIMUM of 30 mins, My PB for cycling it was 19 Mins.

Its doesnt feel like I have saved any money tho, but thats because im now a bike whore

 

[Arch]

My only problem with this is how it translates in my head. The sensible approach is to think, ditch one of the cars and save £3-5k per year. What actually plays through my head is £3-5k to spend on bikes this year But then I realise that my car finished depreciating quite some time ago. So I can only calculate based on VED, petrol, insurance and service/mot savings. My standing costs on the car are about £1k annually and, due to cycling, I'm on only my second tank of petrol this year. If not cycling then I'd be running at about £2.5k per year. In my first year of cycling I've significantly exceeded that figure in bike/kit spend.

But don't these sort of cancel each other out? You spend so much to get started in the first year*, but you won't need to spend anything like it again for a while, unless you go mad with acquisitiveness...

*you spent 2.5K to get set up? What did you get, a gold plated bike and Shantung silk shorts?

 

[BentMikey]

He's not the only one who exceeded that in the last year.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Surely if you're spending £2.5K+ on bike stuff you have to factor in the work you're doing to pay for that, just as you do with a car? personally, I have three bikes and a big box of bits, and I keep my bikes (and my car) going on a shoestring.

 

[Arch]

Surely if you're spending £2.5K+ on bike stuff you have to factor in the work you're doing to pay for that, just as you do with a car? personally, I have three bikes and a big box of bits, and I keep my bikes (and my car) going on a shoestring.

I think you'll find the bikes at least work better with a chain - string stretches...

 

[marinyork]

Surely if you're spending £2.5K+ on bike stuff you have to factor in the work you're doing to pay for that, just as you do with a car? personally, I have three bikes and a big box of bits, and I keep my bikes (and my car) going on a shoestring.

Bicycle freedom day :?:.

Anyway I think it a reasonable enough question. Although in my early years of cycling I spent very little and ran at a profit various polls done on here, c+ and elsewhere seem to suggest a lot of people spend a fair whack on cycling to say the least...

 

[MacB]

But don't these sort of cancel each other out? You spend so much to get started in the first year*, but you won't need to spend anything like it again for a while, unless you go mad with acquisitiveness...

*you spent 2.5K to get set up? What did you get, a gold plated bike and Shantung silk shorts?

Oh they do cancel out and I haven't even attempted to factor in health benefits etc. The spend mounted up due to a combination of self indulgence and stupidity. Plus I got bitten by the bug and the N+1 aspect really took hold. 1st bike was wrong for my needs, is now my lightweight weekend ride. 2nd bike was spot on for commuting but too expensive to leave around outside shops. 3rd bike is do all shop/pub/trails and built up 'cheap'. It just seems to add up, I make it £2700 on bikes alone before I even start adding up, clothing, lights, luggage and tinkering with new bar setups etc.

Amazing how much you can spend and still not have a bike anymany would desire

 

[al78]

(Is this the right forum?)

Your average 87-mile weekly car commute takes 12 hours to accomplish: so its real speed is around 7mph.

I'm kinda staggered by this - keep looking for the big obvious arithmetic mistake I must've made. But it's in the right ball-park, definitely.
Figures from AA, RAC, ONS, OfT.

Summary: If you're an average person using an average car to get to your average job in 2009 the true price of your (24 minute, 8.7 mile) twice-a-day trip is:
one-fifth of your take-home pay
and 12 hours a week out of your life (8 working + 4 travelling).

Following post to "show the working" (though I got a B for arithmetic, I warn you.)

I'm not convinced that including the working time is strictly valid, given that if the employee gave up their car tomorrow their working hours would still remain the same, it would instead translate into more disposable income. Even then, some of that income would be eroded by the cost of the alternative method of transport (cycling would be cheaper but public transport may well not be).

There is also the assumption that on average people replace their car every 3-4 years and always buy a brand new one. Is this really valid?