While we're in Bike Month, I would also like to point to a post I did last year in which I question the car as a time-saving device (that being one of its chief benefits, supposedly).
As I said in February of 2008...
...According to that last website, my wife and I are spending a little under $7,000/year for our car [which is about the average in the US].
Let me go ahead and say $7,000 for the purpose of my following illustration.
Now, if we work 250 days (5 day workweek x 50 weeks) a year, that means we're paying $28/work day for owning a car (7000/250). That means, if you make $9/hour, you have to work 3 hours every day to pay for that car. If you make $14/hour, you're working 1 1/2 hours to pay for it.
I bring this up because I want to make the case for walking/biking/busing places instead of driving. Some people look at me and say, "You're spending 1 1/2 hours each day walking to work and back home! That's great if you can work it out, but how do you have the time to do so??!!"
The answer is, because I'm not working 1 1/2-2 hours to pay for a car. In fact, by the time you figure that if I drove, I'd be spending at least 1/2 hour to get to and from work, then I'm coming out with at least 1/2 hour MORE free time than the person in my situation who drives. More still, if that person also later drives to a gym (where they pay MORE money) to exercise...
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More to come...
12 comments:
Dan,
While you are correct in noting the costs of driving to work, and that we do spend part of our work day earning the money to pay for the car. How do you calculate the costs of necessity. How do you value the extra time it takes to ride vs. drive.
Most importantly however, is the fact that most people either choose willingly to "pay the cost", or they cannot choose (commute is too far, or need to move large quantities of things). Do you presume to choose for them?
Craig asked:
How do you calculate the costs of necessity. How do you value the extra time it takes to ride vs. drive.
I'm not sure what you mean. If you assign a dollar amount to your "free" time as you do to your "paid" time, I value it the same. If it takes an hour and a half to walk vs how much time it would "cost" me to pay for a car, the walking may well come out ahead.
I'm not sure of your question here.
Most importantly however, is the fact that most people either choose willingly to "pay the cost", or they cannot choose (commute is too far, or need to move large quantities of things). Do you presume to choose for them?
No, I don't. You can note that there is nothing in my essay about "forcing" anyone to do anything. I'm merely pointing out that the time "saved" by owning a car is not necessarily true time saved. It's just paid for in other areas/ways.
The point here is that simplicity is not as expensive as some tend to think and that "labor-saving" devices often aren't or don't.
OK, You've just described life. It's all about choices.
Can you make some suggestions for buying a bike?
While I biked regularly for several years (I've taken to walking more lately), I'm no great expert on bikes.
My main suggestions would be...
1. Don't get a walmart/target bike, go to a local bike shop if you can afford to at all.
2. If you can't afford a local bike shop, buy a used bike in a yard sale or elsewhere.
3. Make sure it fits you properly and feels comfortable to you - if it's not comfortable, you won't enjoy using it.
4. Lightweight is good.
5. Wear a helmet and act like a car (studies show that cyclists that behave predictably like cars are more visible than bikes that go off and on sidewalks/roads/with traffic/against traffic, etc and that bikes that are more visible are less likely to get hit.
Is that helpful?
Yes - that helps. Thanks.
What prompted the shift from biking to walking? Any suggestions on that?
1. As much as I like biking, I like walking even more. The advantages of biking - quiet time to think, exercise, reflect - are all multiplied in walking.
2. My bike commute was probably less than 20 minutes one way and on flat ground, which meant there was hardly any exercise (magnitudes more than driving, but not a whole lot, really, thanks to the energy efficiency of bicycles) and I realized I had time to go ahead and do the walk, even though it takes more like 45 minutes. I simply needed the little bit of extra exercise. Plus, as noted, I enjoy walking even more.
As to suggestions for walking? I don't know, for me it was mostly the recognition that, yes, I could devote that extra time and that it was worth it.
In moving from car commute to bike commute, there was hardly any time loss (for me, it's about a 15 minute car ride - by the time you count finding a parking place and walking in from that parking place vs a 20 minute bike ride) but I knew there was no way I could walk there that quickly.
But as I realized that it wasn't significantly more (many - most? - people have a 45 minute car commute to work, so compared to them, no loss at all, right?), I just felt it was worth it.
Beyond that (deciding that it's worth it, for me), I don't know of any suggestions. Find the most pleasant route to take, I reckon.
Hey, very nice. Another context I've been thinking about actual costs is big box retail. We spend thousands on gas, insurance, and upkeep on a car but then drive it to a discount retailer "save" a few cents on lightbulbs or broccoli.
Something tells me that as we slow down on spending taxes on roads and fuel becomes more expensive the neighborhood market will make a comeback.
Let's hope so.
And thanks for the comment, Joshua, come back any time.
Here's a contrasting view.I don't take a position either way, but simply offer it for comparison.
I agree, if you are an adult with a family and make about 15 per hour then you should ride a bike to work.
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