Article: Why biking to work is a barrier for most Americans

[scoot]

@lordofthemark 113429 wrote:

I think you misread the linked piece to indicate 10x the current cost, I did not see that number there

The chart in the middle of the article claims that for every $1 someone in Vancouver spends to drive themselves around, taxpayers chip in an additional $9.20. So I interpret that to mean that internalizing these costs to the original driver would require collecting $10.20 from the original driver. Am I misinterpreting this chart? I presume that the computation accounts both for direct public expenses (e.g. highway maintenance) as well as the assessed value of indirect costs to society (e.g. air quality).

The IRS computes driving expenses to be roughly 50 cents per mile. If that 10x factor is legitimate, applies to Fairfax County as well, and costs were internalized here, it would then cost drivers $5 per mile. Or roughly $50k to drive 10k miles in a year. That would have a massive effect on total miles driven (as well as housing markets, job markets, land use policies, food prices, etc.)

Of course, it is certainly wrong to assume that the marginal costs of driving would remain constant with such a huge shift in the economy (and such policies would have to be phased in so slowly that the numbers would change significantly before coming close to total internalization). I’m sure the reality is quite non-linear. But it’s definitely food for thought.

[lordofthemark]

@scoot 113440 wrote:

The chart in the middle of the article claims that for every $1 someone in Vancouver spends to drive themselves around, taxpayers chip in an additional $9.20. So I interpret that to mean that internalizing these costs to the original driver would require collecting $10.20 from the original driver. Am I misinterpreting this chart? I presume that the computation accounts both for direct public expenses (e.g. highway maintenance) as well as the assessed value of indirect costs to society (e.g. air quality).

The IRS computes driving expenses to be roughly 50 cents per mile. If that 10x factor is legitimate, applies to Fairfax County as well, and costs were internalized here, it would then cost drivers $5 per mile. Or roughly $50k to drive 10k miles in a year. That would have a massive effect on total miles driven (as well as housing markets, job markets, land use policies, food prices, etc.)

Of course, it is certainly wrong to assume that the marginal costs of driving would remain constant with such a huge shift in the economy (and such policies would have to be phased in so slowly that the numbers would change significantly before coming close to total internalization). I’m sure the reality is quite non-linear. But it’s definitely food for thought.

The numbers in the infographic seem very different from the results shown for the sample route which looked more realistic. Note that in analyses like this there are always lots of assumptions and analytic issues. Even if there is a rationale behind these numbers, don’t expect them to persuade everyone.

[Steve O]

@Terpfan 113424 wrote:

A friend of mine was complaining about a cyclist on RC Parkway this morning. He said, it’s not that he opposes cycling because he supports more bike lanes, just that he doesn’t want them on big roads like RCP. I politely pointed out the path is beat to crap back there, the speed limit is low, and what’s he racing too?

I’m waiting for the next opportunity when someone tells me a story about being slowed down by a cyclist on the road. I will suggest that they really should thank that person on the bike. Because for every one he or she sees there are literally scores more on side streets and taking invisible trails and shortcuts. The amount of time that person has been saving every week because of the 30,000-100,000 daily bike commuters in the DC area who are not clogging the roads with their cars is 10x whatever few seconds they lost due to that one encounter. So they should give them a big “thank you” wave.

Last summer I was volunteering for BikeArlington at the County Fair and engaged someone in conversation who was complaining about bikes in the street this and bikes in the street that. I suggested that he was exactly the person we needed to ask the county officials to create more facilities for bikes. Since with better facilities for the people riding bikes, the less he would have to worry about mixing with them on the streets. I actually got him to agree with me.

[mstone]

@Steve O 113449 wrote:

I actually got him to agree with me.

We call that the “smile and nod”.

[scoot]

@lordofthemark 113444 wrote:

The numbers in the infographic seem very different from the results shown for the sample route which looked more realistic. Note that in analyses like this there are always lots of assumptions and analytic issues. Even if there is a rationale behind these numbers, don’t expect them to persuade everyone.

Excellent point. There is a ton of room for variation here.

FWIW, the external costs in the chart seemed surprisingly high to me, although the ones in the sample route seem low.

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