What time do you save by commuting by bike?

[Pete.]

I worked this out recently.

I live in Kent and mostly work in London. I normally start work at 8am so when I use my company van to travel in I leave home at 4.45am to be sure to get into London, get parked up and make my way to site in time.

Because I don't like driving, and especially sitting in traffic I take my bike when I can. So far I've used it every day for almost the whole of the past year. On my bike I leave about 6-45-7am and can be pretty sure I'll have time for a cuppa on site before starting work at 8. Going home the difference is less and very much depends on traffic but it's usually a good half hour quicker on the bike.

So let's say I save 1 hour 40 total per day times 250 working weekdays in the year (I work most weekends, we'll let those cancel out holiday days) that's 415hrs a year - or two weeks , three days and some change a year less time out of my house if I use my bike instead of driving to work.

That's a hell of a time saving over a year, but still not the best thing about using my bike. When I drive in and out of London I get very stressed and very tired after a long day's work. When I use my bike it has the opposite effect, I have time to un-wind and arrive home in a much better frame of mind.

What does it mean for you?
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Wonko The Sane]

It gives a narrower 'window' of time variance than in the car - if the motorway is crap it only slows me down it doesn't usually stop me.

also gives me the option of going through the centre of Manc
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[Vracktal]

my house in Guildford to work at London Bridge is approx. 1.5 hours by train, versus 1 hour on the bike. If you exclude purchase price it's cheaper as well. And more fun. win-win-win!
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2007 BMW R1200R: On road
2009 BMW G650X Challenge: On road
1975 Norton Commando 850: Off road, awaiting recommissioning

[CaNsA]

Travelling 6miles through rush hour traffic by bike - under 30mins from engine on to engine off.

Travelling 6miles by bus through rush hour traffic - 80mins +/- 20mins from getting on the bus to getting off the bus

Travelling 6miles by through rush hour traffic - 70min +/-10mins from engine on to engine off.

[ADSrox0r]

I certainly save time but the time spent fannying around getting leathers and other chaff on and getting the bike out certainly detracts from the benefit.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[t121anf]

None, it would take longer.

I'd be at work by the time I got the bike out of the garage and helmet etc on.

Iirc I can cycle faster than I can drive it to. (When I weighed less and was a little fitter.)

[Musketeer]

In my area it would take longer to go by bike.
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[Itchy]

15 minutes door to door brisk pace, normally 20-25min. As I can park right outside the office as there are hoops. (Though I don't actually work for them and don't go there so often).

Car minimum of an hour and 15 minutes + longer if I consider finding a parking space and walking into the office.

So 10 hours a week.
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[axelfoley]

Surrey into London, the time saving is probably 15 minutes a day. Although the train is unreliable so sometimes takes another 25 on top. Best thing is knowing how long it'll take, plus, as per OP, the totally stress-free state of mind at the end of each journey. And it's fun.

[ripzay]

I live less than 2 miles from work but use my bike.

If I were to use a car it would take me 15 minutes longer, and that is just getting off site and on to the main road.
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Current: 2005 KTM SuperDuke 990
Previous: 1996 Suzuki Bandit 600
Previous: 1994 Suzuki GSX-R 400

[bamt]

It takes me an hour +/- 10 minutes each way - the faster times on empty roads, the slower on bad traffic days. In the car it was between and hour and 3 hours, normally an hour and a half - but I could never guarantee which it would be. With roadworks earlier in the year a colleague who lives down the road from me was taking 2.5 hours on average to get in. On average over the year I'd say I save an hour and a half a day on the road.

Add in the changing and faff time, and on a good day it makes next to no difference (or may be a little slower). But it's far more enjoyable, and costs me significantly less taking all costs into account - fuel, servicing, clothing, depreciation, etc. In fact, the bike is effectively free for me (£200/month saving in petrol pays for a lot of servicing etc, especially as I do it all myself).

[DrSnoosnoo]

My commute is 30 miles each way. In the mornings I would say at least I would save 30 minutes, when traffic gets stuck in Shipley, it will save up to an hour.

Coming home is a different matter, I've left work in the car (after an interview) at 3.30 and didn't get home until 6.30! That may have been a strange day, who knows but it would definitely take me an extra hour to get home if I took the car.

Each day I'm saving 3 hours I'd say, traffic around Keighley, Shipley and Bradford is atrocious.
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Did have: '95 ZZR600 '83 CG125 '97 ZZR1100 '15 Hypermotard 821 SP Do Have: '10 ZX10R

[thx1138]

when I used to commuter from Worthing to Yapton on the A259 by Superdream, it saved me oodles of time. Nearest train station was in Barnham, so that was a long walk to work from the station, and had I owned a car there were plenty of long queues that I filtered past.


Now, it's quicker to walk as I live so close.

[Vincent]

If we're talking week days between 9am and 6pm, A trip I do regularly....... which involves crossing town........ takes up to an hour in the car.

It takes 7 to 10 minutes on the bike and about 15 mins cycling.

Visiting my son in Clapham from Cambridge, (65 miles), takes about the same time in car and bike up until the last ten miles which takes 80 mins in the car and about 10 mins on the bike.

For short distances around town and taking into account prep for the mo'cycle.....sticking boots, helmet, gloves and jacket on etc, the bicycle wins hands down.
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Space Is Deep

[wots]

Another factor here, and Pete touched on it. Is the time you HAVE to leave, versus the time you want to leave. I work in Walton-On-Thames and live in South London. If I leave in the car @7am I can make it to work before 8, unless something silly happens. However if I leave any later, it gets worse and worse. Such that an extra 10minutes can head towards an hour. I leave about 7:15 on the bike and will still get there well before 8. If I'm late, although the traffic is still heavy, it doesn't slow me down so much.

BUT, there is one reason I ride a bike more than time saved. Stress, living where I live, made me an angry stress driver. Everything irritated me, because it's just all slow. That and watching the fuel gauge drop rapidly. Riding a bike is pleasurable, I look forward to my commute!
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Currently: Yamaha DT 125 LC2,Repsol Fireblade, and Bumblebee MSX 125

[Baffler186]

in flowing traffic, bike takes 14 minutes, car takes 15. If heavy traffic, it only adds a minute to the bike commute but at least 10 with the car. Actually the bike is no quicker for me usually as I have to park further away and get my gear off, then walk a bit, but I still love going on the bike and would not change it for anything, so much so that I don't even own a car anymore.

Bus would involve 20 minute walk , 20 minute journey, then 10 minute walk.
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Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[andys675]

only 7 miles to work, but that congested it takes twice as long in the car, on a saturday it's a lot quieter and can do it in 9 minutes just at my normal comfortable pace

saves 30 minutes per day
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[andym]

When I was living down south the traveling time was more or less the same on the bike or in the car (about 20 miles each way, but I was about 2 minutes from the motorway at each end), the only difference was the (then) £6.10 per day bridge toll on the way home every day in the car.... the bike got through free

[waffles]

I do about 25 miles each way, in the car that takes me 40+ minutes (depending on whether the road into Maidstone is free flowing or clogged up) plus there are no more parking spaces as my employer handed out more parking permits that they have spaces for. On the bike it takes me 30 minutes plus I park wherever the hell I feel like so long as I tuck myself out of the way.

Downside being that I often have to lug lots of stuff too and from work so taking the bike is not always an option available to me.
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Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[Beehive Bedlam]

I got to Oldham where I am currently working in 37 minutes tonight G maps estimated 59 minutes via car.

[esullivan]

The car isn't really an option where I work: Just inside the City in Finsbury Circus. The comparison is the tube. When everything is working perfectly, which to be fair to London Underground is most of the time, it takes 1:15, door to door. On the bike, including 10 minutes to get in and out of my gear, takes about 45-50 minutes in the morning and 1:10-ish on the way home.

So, not a huge difference in time, but there is some.

I reckon the monetary cost is roughly the same if you include everything: depreciation, fuel, insurance, tyres and other consumables, gear, etc.

The real benefit is mental. Two and a half hours on the tube, five days a week, is murder on your mental health. It leaves you tired and depressed, while a couple hours a day on the bike is engaging at least and often uplifting. You can't easily put a value on that benefit.
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Current: '14 VFR800X Test passed 31/10/12.
Previous: '12 NC700S, '11 CBF 125, '04 SH 125.

[Andy9934]

I used to save 30-40 minutes per day. The bike took about 30 mins each way and the car was about 40-50 minutes each way.

But as others have said, the consistency was very valuable. I didn't have flexible hours there so if I went in the car then I'd have to leave earlier to ensure I got there on time if the traffic was bad.

Getting changed just about cancelled the time benefit, but the cost saving and fun factor made it worthwhile overall.
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Surrey
Honda Varadero XL125

[Northern Monkey]

Takes the same amount of time on the bike as the car, but +10 minutes getting bike out garage and getting bike crap on, vs being out the street 40 seconds after closing the door when in the car.

x 150 days a year I take the bike.

150 x 10 x 2 / 60 = 50 hours lost per year
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[The Shaggy D.A.]

The bike is in a separate block to the house, so takes the same half hour by car or bike by the time I've added togging up and walking round to garage. If the traffic is shite, the car journey can take up to an hour, but the bike journey stays the same.
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[Kamikaze Bob]

My commute is only ~17 miles each way, and I don't take the motorway route as it's always chock-a-block so average speed only gets to about 45mph assuming there's no crawling for no reason, which there always is anyways. A-road runs parallel to the motorway but runs through a few villages slowing things down, so in the car it takes about 30-35 minutes and my wee Fiesta can't overtake without loads of space and a good run up so if I get stuck behind the twat in the Freelander doing 45mph on the NSL and there's too much opposing traffic I'm stuck until he turns off. The bike is 25 minutes usually as I can get by a lot quicker and filter through the usual queue at Blackburn cross before I hit work.

There's a lot of delays for road works just now on my route so it's a few minutes longer but nowhere near as bad as it would be in the car. Bike was off the road for a week last month and I was crawling the walls on that commute.
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2001 Honda VFR800fi