So, last night I was thinking about how many times I've ridden my bike to work over the past month. I have classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and I usually drive to work on those days so I can go to school without smelling foul... So, I have been riding my bike to work three days a week. Actually, I kind of like that schedule. It keeps me from getting burned out on riding my bike. Let's face it, the rituals required to ride to work are a little more intensive than those to drive. But, my point is that you don't have to ride your bike to work every single day to gain from it. If you haven't noticed, I'm advocating riding your bike to work. If not everyday, at least a few times a week. You don't have to decide one day that you're going to start riding your bike to work and then throw your car away. I put together some figures that reflect my own scenario and noticed quite a huge savings thus far.
Have a look at the table below to begin to realize the cost savings. Now, the only thing I have considered is pure fuel cost. Consider that maintenance intervals on your vehicle are generally marked by mileage and you can see that not only are you spreading out the fuel re-fill instances, but also maintenance intervals. This would include many things like oil, oil filters, air filters, tires, plugs, etc...
Now, you'll probably say to yourself, 13 miles per gallon, that's terrible. Well, my Jeep is rated to get 17 miles per gallon in the city. Do I actually get that, No. Simply because there is so much idle time in my commute. An idling engine gets 0 miles per gallon. Couple that with acceleration from a complete stop all the way home and you can begin to see how that mile per gallon figure can quickly fluctuate.
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