True speed of average car commute

[Rhythm Thief]

"the average person occupies 12 hours a week in order to travel 87 miles: = 7.25mph."

I wonder where they did the survey, inside the M25 probably??

My 25 mile commute takes about 35 minutes, average speed 42.8 mph.

I wondered that. My 75 mile commute used to take about an hour and ten minutes. Now, my 12 mile commute takes perhaps 20 minutes in the car, and 45 or so on the bike.

 

[BentMikey]

People tend to underestimate journey times taken by car, and overestimate journeys by foot or bicycle. I'm willing to bet that's the case with Brandane, who I was responding to, and with most journeys. Parking up and getting to the door often takes a considerable amount of time, much more so than with a bicycle.

As for the shower - do you not shower anyway? In which case you might have a point, but for many the shower time is a normal part of the day, not something done specially for cycling.

 

[Theseus]

Let's be fair though, and count door-to-door times. Your car won't be nearly as quick then, because you're leaving out a large part of the journey.

I would say that a better comparison for bike vs car vs bus would be bed-to-desk & desk-to-tea timings since we have to allow for the extra time it takes us as cyclists to get (showered &) changed at the end of the commute in and the time to get changed at both ends of the commute home.

Admittedly this may only take a short time for some, but for those of us with my sartorial elegance, there is a lot that needs doing.

 

[BentMikey]

I accept your point about those riding to work in Lycra, and then putting on work kit, but what about those people who ride to work in normal clothes? Their getting changed is no different from what they'd do anyway. Going by the people I see on my commute, there are a lot of these.

 

[trsleigh]

So the average person occupies 12 hours a week in order to travel 87 miles: = 7.25mph.

......................
"A people can be just as dangerously overpowered by the wattage of its tools as by the caloric content of its foods." (?Ivan Illyich?)

Seems in line with Ivan Illich in "Energy and Equity" 1974. He worked it out that the average American devotes 1600 hours to his car per year to travel 7500 miles. Approx = 5mph.

 

[ComedyPilot]

2.5 miles.

3:15 to 4 mins by car.

10 to 12 mins door to door by bike. 12 to 14mph depending on wind.

 

[jimboalee]

Heared a radio ad about CO2.

The guy says to the girl "I'm on the CO2 diet". She says "What?"

He says "I'm not driving 5 miles per day and using my bike instead".

He says "The exercise is doing me good too".


Then she says "What are you having for desert?"

He replies "I'll have a piece of the double chocolate fudge cake".


What a bleeding joke.

5 miles on a bike per day is worth bugger all extra food.

DOES HE KNOW HOW MUCH CO2 WAS EMITTED IN THE MANUFACTURE AND TRANSPORTING OF THAT CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE?

 

[WeeE]

2.5 miles.

3:15 to 4 mins by car.

10 to 12 mins door to door by bike. 12 to 14mph depending on wind.

3:15 to 4 mins travelling in the car: + how much time working for the car?

 

[Brandane]

People tend to underestimate journey times taken by car, and overestimate journeys by foot or bicycle. I'm willing to bet that's the case with Brandane, who I was responding to, and with most journeys. Parking up and getting to the door often takes a considerable amount of time, much more so than with a bicycle.

I was actually overestimating, to err on the side of caution!! Barring unexpected hold ups (road works, accidents etc..) it can easily be done in 30 mins..

As for time getting from house to car, and from car into work?? My car sits at the back of my house, so maybe 1 minute. I park in the yard of my work (trucking company) so 30 seconds to get in the door!

 

[WeeE]

I would love to be able to commute to work on my bike, BUT; it's 25 miles each way, much of it on hilly, busy trunk roads. Factor in the weather in the west of Scotland and it's a non-starter.

Statistics are wonderful things and as has already been said in other replies, those figures don't represent the real world. Buy a good second hand car in a low VED/insurance group and the standing costs should be reasonable. Not much we can do about fuel costs as long as HM Treasury keep robbing us blind.

"the average person occupies 12 hours a week in order to travel 87 miles: = 7.25mph."

I wonder where they did the survey, inside the M25 probably??

My 25 mile commute takes about 35 minutes, average speed 42.8 mph.

And yet these car-expenses are (slightly outdated) AA figures and (up to date slightly higher) RAC figures for a bog-standard car up to four years old, beyond which you have to start factoring in more significant repairs.

If anything, given it's motoring organisations doing the sums, it'd be likely to err on the side of conservatism.

Most people buying new also think about the forecourt price and forget they're paying a great whack extra on credit, though that's not part of the reckoning here.

I find it interesting that people want to say "My car costs less than that, (cos it's a tiny car/old wreck) therefore the car-cost figures are wrong", rather than "My car costs less, therefore I'm below-average".

Agreed, though, that buying after that first year's killer depreciation knocks a fair bit off it, as long as you don't have to keep taking it to the garage in three years' time.

You can look up the car websites and see how they work it out: there really isn't much to argue with there.

And let's say they've done a very strange thing for a car-interest group and overestimated car costs by a factor of 20-25%, a thousand quid or so. The average joe is still working 6 hours to make that 4-hour commute possible by car.

 

[BentMikey]

I was actually overestimating, to err on the side of caution!! Barring unexpected hold ups (road works, accidents etc..) it can easily be done in 30 mins..

As for time getting from house to car, and from car into work?? My car sits at the back of my house, so maybe 1 minute. I park in the yard of my work (trucking company) so 30 seconds to get in the door!

Are those estimates, or have you actually timed it door-to-door?

 

[summerdays]

I would love to be able to commute to work on my bike, BUT; it's 25 miles each way, much of it on hilly, busy trunk roads. Factor in the weather in the west of Scotland and it's a non-starter.

Statistics are wonderful things and as has already been said in other replies, those figures don't represent the real world. Buy a good second hand car in a low VED/insurance group and the standing costs should be reasonable. Not much we can do about fuel costs as long as HM Treasury keep robbing us blind.

"the average person occupies 12 hours a week in order to travel 87 miles: = 7.25mph."

I wonder where they did the survey, inside the M25 probably??

My 25 mile commute takes about 35 minutes, average speed 42.8 mph.

Well Mr Summerdays used to do his commute by car - and it would take him about 30 mins from when he rang to say he was setting off to when he arrived by car - never really shorter than that but occasionally a lot longer. Googlemaps says the distance was 5.7 miles. Now he cycles and from when he phones to arrives is about 35 mins - less in the summer and I think its about 6.? miles - he takes a cycle path. (Last night with the wind did take him longer but normally it doesn't vary much).

So the figures do seem to fit for him - this is in a city.

 

[ComedyPilot]

3:15 to 4 mins travelling in the car: + how much time working for the car?

Expand on this please?

 

[Brandane]

Are those estimates, or have you actually timed it door-to-door?

Haven't sat with a stopwatch if that's what you mean. But my shift starts at 7.00, so I leave the house (thats the front door of house!) about 6.35. Barring the stated unexpected hold-ups, I arrive at work (in the drivers room) between 6.55/7.00.

Not difficult at that time of the morning, or when returning about 7pm. It is national speed limit all the way except for the small town of Kilbirnie and the roads in the airport. Dual carriageway from Johnstone to the airport (about 5 miles?).

 

[PK99]

Loads of bias in that one. For instance, I don't accept that you can add the time spent working to earn the costs of the car can be added to the time commuting to give an average speed. I see that as apples and pears, two different things which cannot be added.

It also suggests that those on average pay will spend £12k to £22k on a new car.

I've just scrapped my 15 year old astra - bought for £6,000 in Jan 1995

Running costs for the past few years: £330 insurance, £120 Road tax, £200 average mot and service. 1 major repair bill (£400) in the 15 year period