Bus/Bike vs. Car for $$$

[KnottedYet]

All King County Metro and Snohomish County Community Transit busses have bike racks on the front. Most are 2 bike racks, but after some bike riding multi-mode commuters complained about full bike racks, the Metro started adding THREE bike racks.

They are very simple to use, and if any of your advocates want to research the racks they could probably find a lot of resources thru the Cascade Bicycle Club www.cascade.org or King County Metro http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/bike/bike.html or Snohomish County Community Transit www.communitytransit.org

[xeney]

You know what is depressing, though? This equation doesn't work out for me. When I was riding my bike to the grocery store, I always wound up starving and thirsty (even if I brought water with me) and bought a water and a Luna bar along with my groceries ... which cost me more than the gas to drive there would have. Even when I drive to work, my commute is so short that I only have to fill my gas tank every couple of months. When I am riding to work there is always some little thing that the bike needs, or that I justify buying because I'm riding to work. (Let's not discuss the number of messenger bags I own.) Walking should be free, but I spend less on gas than I've spent on good walking shoes that I justified because, you know, my feet are my commute vehicle. I am the Imelda Marcos of sensible walking shoes.

My car is paid for and under warranty, so the only maintenance costs I pay for are oil changes and tire rotations, and I need those very rarely because I drive less than 3,000 miles a year. Even if I walk and bike enough to drop that down to 1,500-2,000 miles a year, it is cheaper for me to drive most places than it winds up being to walk or bike. And the bus is always the most expensive option except on those rare occasions when I have to pay for parking (and then I am usually with my husband, so you double the bus fare and suddenly parking is a bargain).

I think it is just too cheap to drive.

[IFjane]

You know what is depressing, though? This equation doesn't work out for me. When I was riding my bike to the grocery store, I always wound up starving and thirsty (even if I brought water with me) and bought a water and a Luna bar along with my groceries ... which cost me more than the gas to drive there would have. Even when I drive to work, my commute is so short that I only have to fill my gas tank every couple of months. When I am riding to work there is always some little thing that the bike needs, or that I justify buying because I'm riding to work. (Let's not discuss the number of messenger bags I own.) Walking should be free, but I spend less on gas than I've spent on good walking shoes that I justified because, you know, my feet are my commute vehicle. I am the Imelda Marcos of sensible walking shoes.

My car is paid for and under warranty, so the only maintenance costs I pay for are oil changes and tire rotations, and I need those very rarely because I drive less than 3,000 miles a year. Even if I walk and bike enough to drop that down to 1,500-2,000 miles a year, it is cheaper for me to drive most places than it winds up being to walk or bike. And the bus is always the most expensive option except on those rare occasions when I have to pay for parking (and then I am usually with my husband, so you double the bus fare and suddenly parking is a bargain).

I think it is just too cheap to drive.

Yes but what benefit is it to your health/fitness to sit in the car and ride?

[onimity]

You know what is depressing, though? This equation doesn't work out for me. When I was riding my bike to the grocery store, I always wound up starving and thirsty (even if I brought water with me) and bought a water and a Luna bar along with my groceries ... which cost me more than the gas to drive there would have. Even when I drive to work, my commute is so short that I only have to fill my gas tank every couple of months. When I am riding to work there is always some little thing that the bike needs, or that I justify buying because I'm riding to work. (Let's not discuss the number of messenger bags I own.) Walking should be free, but I spend less on gas than I've spent on good walking shoes that I justified because, you know, my feet are my commute vehicle. I am the Imelda Marcos of sensible walking shoes.

My car is paid for and under warranty, so the only maintenance costs I pay for are oil changes and tire rotations, and I need those very rarely because I drive less than 3,000 miles a year. Even if I walk and bike enough to drop that down to 1,500-2,000 miles a year, it is cheaper for me to drive most places than it winds up being to walk or bike. And the bus is always the most expensive option except on those rare occasions when I have to pay for parking (and then I am usually with my husband, so you double the bus fare and suddenly parking is a bargain).

I think it is just too cheap to drive.

I hear you. I haven't driven my car in a couple of months but mine is paid for, cheap to insure rarely repaired (at 12 years old) and gets great gas mileage. I haven't driven it since mid-March but it definitely costs me more (out of pocket) to commute by bus and bike. I've spent enough on commuting necessities to pay for my yearly gas. But that's the out of pocket cost, and that's the out of pocket cost for a *comfortable* commute, one that I am lucky to be able to provide myself with; you can do it on a shoestring too, of course. Tap water and some pretzels will get you home too... But my main point would be that we don't always take into account often enough is the cost of our car-driving behavior.

I like to look at the cost in energy rather than dollars. 1 gallon of gas is roughly 31,000 calories. That's a tremendous expenditure for a single day's commute. Thirty times the cost, in fact, of my commute by bike. When you add to that the cost (in energy, in dollars, and in quality of life) of building and maintaining the infrastructure for cars the cost becomes astronomically higher.

I agree that it is too cheap to drive. Far too cheap. We don't see the impact of our choices because we consume enormous amounts of energy at ridiculously low prices even at $4 a gallon (or whatever it is ). I would love to see the price of driving reflect the cost of driving, personally.

My two cents.

Anne

[Torrilin]

One of the first things I added to my bike (after the initial bare minimum utility stuff) was a water bottle cage. $8 for the cage. Each of my three water bottles is a 50 cent bottle of Trader Joe's water. I refill them and reuse them. Even on a 6 mile ride, I may go through 1.5L of water, so I often have to refill while I'm out. The grocery store I use has a water fountain across the street, and a public restroom where you can refill water bottles. Most of the local parks have water fountains too. It's reasonable to be thirsty in when exercising or in hot weather. Both at once will have a major effect.

I'm ok with spending money on a snack when I'm out riding. But I do have a budget for snacks and treats, so I don't want to blow it. I'm trying to get into the habit of making myself a sandwich or burrito to take with, so I don't end up caught short while I'm out. One memorable time when I tried to push through "hungry" I ended up toppling off the bike in slow motion.

Most of the rest of staying in budget is prioritizing. I want to be able to haul things like dining room chairs, wood for an end table, and donations for the local thrift shop. That means I need either a bike rack or a cargo trailer (haven't quite decided which is best). And well, a trailer is Not Cheap. Nor is a good bike rack. Most of my other wants will cost less, but they don't do as much either.

[Melalvai]

That means I need either a bike rack or a cargo trailer (haven't quite decided which is best). And well, a trailer is Not Cheap. Nor is a good bike rack.

Have you thought of a used trailer? Trailers are either for hauling kids or for hauling stuff, but they are basically the same thing whatever the original design. There are a LOT of used trailers for hauling kids, because the kids grow up.

I got a $20 trailer off of craigslist and I use it to get groceries. It is not in great condition but it serves the job. I'll take my niece in it on the trail when she comes to visit.

[Torrilin]

Scanning Craigslist pretty much every day for one . Around here they seem to go for around half off retail, which is still kind of hefty.

[KnottedYet]

The month is almost up, and my gas gauge just fell below 1/2 yesterday. On the same tank I bought at the beginning of the month!

Crazy!

And I really didn't think I was driving my car all that much before!

SKnot figures I saved about $140 this month.

[Laterider21958]

exeny you need a larger drink bottle and a big snack before the shopping trip! You are still saving the environment by riding rather than driving and your health is being boosted by the exercise.

[surgtech1956]

I really need to do something about commuting to work - even though its 18 miles one way. It costs me $6.00 a day(x 5 days a week) in gas.

[KnottedYet]

When I leave in the morning I travel toward the bus stop on a street with a view of the snowy Olympic mountains in one direction and a veiw of the not-quite-so-snowy Cascade mountains in the other.

My time at the bus stop is spent basking in the early morning sunlight.

Once we're on the road, the bus gets several amazing views of Mt. Rainier, rising impossibly high above the foothills. Eventually we swoop down in toward Seattle, and I can see the skyscrapers and the Space Needle off in the distance.

The bus goes on the I-5 bridge over Lake Union, and I can watch boat traffic as we fly overhead. Usually there are a few rowers and crew teams out, a kayak or two, maybe a sailboat. Today there was a seaplane taking off.

From the I-5 bridge we can see at least 3 other bridges. Two of them are draw-bridges with castle-like towers.

When we cross the water and reach Seattle "proper" I can look to the west over the south of Lake Union and the Space Needle, or to the east down nifty little residential streets that I just ache to explore by bike.

We do some tunnel stuff, then emerge into downtown Seattle, where all the east-west streets end in Elliott Bay. I can see the ocean! Cruise ships, ferries, white caps, cargo ships, tugs and barges, glinting sunlight on flat water. My heart just soars.

The bus's first stop is at the jail. These skunky dudes have some of the most expensive views in Washington. Does having a window on the Puget Sound, or Mt. Rainier, or the Cascades, or Seattle make you rehab better? Or does the beauty fall on deaf ears (as it were)?

We cruise on up Seattle's "First Hill," aka "Pill Hill" where there are many hospitals, clinics, cancer research groups, etc. One of my favorite stops has a great view of the salt water, and as we pull away we pass a house that was probably grand and stately 100 years ago, but is kinda run down now. The property it is on is undoubtedly worth MUCH more than the building. I almost wonder why the owners haven't sold yet. There is a handpainted sign in the bedraggled front yard, advertising parking for $10 a day "ring door bell." Their front yard is always full of cars. Do they make enough off parking to offset the millions they could make by selling the place?

The bus winds around First Hill, past some lovely old Victorians and ornate brick apartment buildings and modern concrete apartment buildings. I get off near one of the major hospitals, and walk a few blocks to work. Every morning is a dance around collapsed street people, locked up bikes, intent medical interns, lackadaisical lower eschelon medical staff, gay couples out walking their dogs, and everywhere always bikes bikes and more bikes to admire.

I stay on the south side of the street to avoid the Rite Aid pharmacy. In the morning the corner it sits on is well populated by patrons of the methadone clinic a block away. Only once have I seen it clear; there were three police cars at the bank next door and the Rite Aid corner was miraculously empty. All the methadone patrons had adjourned to the block down from my clinic. This morning there were a couple fights going on at the Rite Aid, and one man was so out of it he was trying to cross the street against the light as the folks not engaged in the fights shouted and screamed at him to "get back". Impending disaster while surrounded by medical professionals.

The last block or two to work are blessedly quiet and zen-like with the smell of jasmine and huge old trees, bamboo rustling in the breeze, and amazingly enough the sound of birds. How odd for the center of a big city!

Not too bad for a daily commute.