Cycling as an investment

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  • November 20, 2014 at 4:57 pm #916117
    baiskeli
    Participant

    I didn’t ride today – took Metro, carefully balancing a homemade pie for an office potluck – but this post applies to using transit too.

    As I watched my neighbors leaving for work in their multiple cars, I thought about how using Metro or cycling or any other alternative is like an investment if, as with our family, it allows you to own only one car, or even no car. We save thousands of dollars by foregoing a second car. So the small cost of cycling and transit is like an investment, in that it saves us alot more cash than it costs us, and we can invest that cash now in savings for retirement or college (or living expenses for a child with a disability, as we have).

    Made me feel smart.

    FYI, this is also a good way to talk your spouse into letting you spend more on your bike. “It’s still cheaper than a car, honey.”

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  • November 20, 2014 at 5:07 pm #1015360
    dasgeh
    Participant

    Cycling is certainly an investment in your health, mental and physical.

    The money you save by cycling is only an investment if you, well, invest it. You may also choose to spend that money on more bike stuff, more dinners out, etc or hide it under your mattress. From that perspective, cycling is savings that you may choose to invest, but is not an investment in and of itself.

    November 20, 2014 at 5:10 pm #1015361
    Crickey7
    Participant

    I sure wish I had a dollar for every dollar I saved commuting by bike.

    Oh, wait . . .

    November 21, 2014 at 3:32 pm #1015439
    Terpfan
    Participant

    This is the rationale I use to defend to myself and to my wife when I buy new shoe covers ($60), new hat ($30), bar mitts ($50), etc etc etc.

    November 21, 2014 at 3:49 pm #1015445
    Mikey
    Participant

    just think of all the starbucks drive-thrus you are missing by biking – that stuff adds up too.

    November 21, 2014 at 6:09 pm #1015469
    ShawnoftheDread
    Participant

    @Mikey 100377 wrote:

    just think of all the starbucks drive-thrus you are missing by biking – that stuff adds up too.

    Hmmm… I seem to hit two coffee shops every Friday, and sometimes one on Wednesday.

    November 21, 2014 at 6:55 pm #1015475
    Oblivious Recidivist
    Participant

    I live out in the burbs, fight a lot of traffic when I drive, etc. The main benefit I get is that I swap out the “dead time” of commuting in the car for something I enjoy doing.

    But I did also calculate that I save almost $7 a day in gas every day I bike. Which is $700 every 100 days. And $7,000 every 1,000 days. See how I did the math there?

    November 21, 2014 at 7:04 pm #1015477
    Powerful Pete
    Participant

    Given the number of bikes, accessories and other cycling related doodads I possess, I think that my cycling habit costs more than commuting by car would.

    But I love every aspect of it – the riding, the salivating over new bits to buy, the buying, etcetera. So it is worth every penny.

    November 21, 2014 at 7:19 pm #1015480
    worktheweb
    Participant

    I actually calculated my savings out with metro fare, metro parking, and gas for the distance I would be driving to get to metro one day when I was feeling guilty for dropping some coin on the bike and its accessories.

    Long story short: I have nothing to feel guilty about.

    The daily cost to take metro was around $14 a day ($4.85 parking, $8.05 Metro Fare Round-trip, $1.10 or so for gas). That ends up being $308 a month or about $3,700 a year. I don’t spend anywhere near that on my bike, even on expensive years usually well below < 1K. When you factor in that it takes about the same time and I don't need to worry about a gym membership, all the more in the cost-effectiveness column. My office even pays me $0.50 a day for biking in as part of our wellness program, so that's $100-$125 more for doing it to defray expenses of maintenance (depending on how many off-days I have to take). If I were to drive the whole way, the daily cost is probably around $25 ($550/mo, $6,600/yr), although I’d probably kill myself dealing with the traffic. All told, all three modes take about the same time to get in, but only the bike makes me enjoy the trip.

    November 21, 2014 at 8:17 pm #1015493
    Steve O
    Participant

    For the 23 years I’ve been married (plus a couple before that), our family has owned just one car. We raised two children from birth to now HS & college. My very rough, back-of-the-envelope estimate for savings by eschewing a second car is in the $60k-$90k range. That’s a pretty big chunk of change: probably the equivalent of all the vacations we took during that same period of time.

    The bike was a big part of that, but I also depended on Zipcar, Metro, Enterprise, creative carpools, taxis, Uber, etc. It does require more planning and thinking ahead (and a rare occasion of sacrifice of some kind).

    More on the plus side: the physical and mental benefits of using my bike a lot are enormous, but impossible to quantify.

    November 21, 2014 at 8:50 pm #1015500
    Powerful Pete
    Participant

    Steve, that’s impressive. No issues during the HS “I need to borrow the car” years (I ask as I am rapidly approaching this)?

    November 21, 2014 at 8:55 pm #1015503
    Bill Hole
    Participant

    I usually bike from Silver Spring to Arlington. I’m getting over a cold this week and it’s costing me $9.40 a day to ride Metro. That adds up fast!

    I also save a bundle not needing a second car. So biking really has been a good investment for me.

    November 21, 2014 at 9:08 pm #1015505
    Steve O
    Participant

    @Powerful Pete 100436 wrote:

    No issues during the HS “I need to borrow the car” years (I ask as I am rapidly approaching this)?

    For most of this time there have been issues of one kind or another. I chose to find solutions that did not require purchasing a second car. This was not always easy. There have been quite a few occasions where having another car would have been simpler or would have more easily solved an “issue.” If you are seeking the path of least resistance, that is a different path.

    That said, if you are clear in your own mind, then you will be smart enough to figure it all out. If your children know that there is only a single car, then they will have to work within the system. My son was occasionally able to borrow the car, but it generally required an advance request and some planning. My daughter is not old enough to drive yet.

    November 21, 2014 at 9:10 pm #1015506
    Steve O
    Participant

    @Bill Hole 100439 wrote:

    it’s costing me $9.40 a day to ride Metro. That adds up fast!

    Really puts you in a hole, Bill!

    😎

    November 21, 2014 at 9:27 pm #1015509
    dasgeh
    Participant

    @Steve O 100441 wrote:

    For most of this time there have been issues of one kind or another. I chose to find solutions that did not require purchasing a second car. This was not always easy. There have been quite a few occasions where having another car would have been simpler or would have more easily solved an “issue.” If you are seeking the path of least resistance, that is a different path.

    That said, if you are clear in your own mind, then you will be smart enough to figure it all out. If your children know that there is only a single car, then they will have to work within the system. My son was occasionally able to borrow the car, but it generally required an advance request and some planning. My daughter is not old enough to drive yet.

    In my head, apps like Uber will make this easier. Hopefully.

    November 22, 2014 at 5:39 pm #1015560
    AFHokie
    Participant

    I’m about to start a new job downtown near Federal Triangle, so I’m pretty sure I’ll find a place to lock up the bike, but I don’t yet know my options as far as showers, etc. By bike its about a nine mile trip each way so its about the same amount of time as taking the bus/Metro. Plus, it’ll combine commuting with workout time. Ideally, My goal is to bike in at least half of the year. Taking the Metro will cost me ~$6-$8 dollars a day depending which station I get on/off at (multitude of options based on which bus/train arrives first). So the Metro will cost me about $2k a year to ride.

    Without traffic driving is the fastest, but when is traffic not an issue? Plus, driving is also the most expensive; $250+ for parking, plus gas & maintenance costs.

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