commute by bike - faster than driving

[k-vette]

Well almost...  I drove home the other day and it took 17 minutes.  My average time on my bike is now under 15 minutes.  Going to work takes 30 minutes since its uphill the whole way.  I am however getting progressively faster and hope to bring the total time down to faster than driving.

Anyone else faster to or from work on a bike?

[tofuchampion]

It's about the same for me - 20ish minutes whether I bike or drive.  The actual drive isn't so long, it's the finding a parking space, walking from there to the building, etc.  On a bike, I park right next to the door and there is always space on the bike rack. 

[Lian]

I commuted to my last job by bike. The job was downtown in a large metro area - car traffic was very slow, and available parking was a couple of blocks away. It was about ten minutes faster to ride my bike in than it was to drive - and I also didn't have to pay $180/month for a parking space.

[GuitarStv]

My commute is 45-47 minutes (about 11 miles).  Usually it takes 30 minutes to drive.  Every time it snows in the winter though it takes about an hour by car since traffic slows down so much.  Takes me the same amount of time on the bike though.

[usmarine1975]

takes me an average of 10 minutes more to Bike.  But I save myself the aggravation of sitting at 21 different red lights on my drive.  I do get stopped at 1 or 2 on the bike but I can usually slow down, coast or speed up to time them just right.  Cost me 10 minutes to get a 30 minute workout.  Win in my book.

[zolotiyeruki]

3.6 miles for me.  7-9 minutes by car, 15-20 minutes on my bike.  Same route either way.

[lauren_knows]

My last job I commuted frequently by bike.  It was 14 miles from my house.  Typically, I could bike it in just over an hour (say 65 minutes), but the drive would usually take around 50 minutes.  However, on any given day there was a 50% chance that my drive could take 75 minutes or more. 

To me, it's insane that you can ride a bike 14 miles faster than you can drive a car.   Bad traffic area + excellent rail bike trail = win.

[Beric01]

My commute to work is a couple minutes slower than driving (around 12 minutes vs. driving's 10 minutes), but my commute home is at least 5 minutes faster (10 minutes vs. driving's 15 min). I just love riding in the bike lane past the "parking lot" of cars besides me. :-)

[CatamaranSailor]

I've been commuting by bike for over a year now. On a perfect day where there is light traffic and few red lights (about 10% of the time) I can shave off 10 minutes driving vs bike. However, more often than not, there is heavy traffic, accidents, etc and it's about the same time wise. What I really love though are Friday afternoons, where traffic is insane, accident, traffic backed up 2 miles and I zip through onto my bike trail whistling without a care in the world. I will never give up the bike!

[Mrs. PoP]

9 miles here.  During snowbird season it's often a tie between car and bike in the evenings getting home (around 35 minutes) due to the increased traffic and the weather cooling down and letting me push it a little faster.  Off season or in the mornings (before the snowbirds wake up), driving would only take 15 minutes, but I still prefer biking as my primary commute these days. 

[SeattleStache]

My 2.5 mile commute is definitely faster by bike than it would be if I drove.  It is literally uphill (and then downhill) both ways but I love it.  I work in a pretty congested area of Seattle (South Lake Union) and can't even imagine dealing with driving every day.

[TrMama]

My commute is about 10 min longer by bike, when traffic is light. However, most days traffic is not light, so biking ends up being either the same or faster than driving. Plus, I get an hours worth of exercise out it. Win win.

I love riding past the parking lot of cars on the highway in the morning. The most congested section happens to be downhill so I get to just fly past them all :-)

[misschedda]

Not biking, but my walk to work is faster than the metro ride I used to take. Metro takes about 15 minutes and walking takes 13 minutes. I was so shocked to find that out, but it turns out waiting to go up and down the escalators in metro stations adds a lot of time during rush hour.

[Knapptyme]

So my commute to work is about 4 minutes and sometimes less (only 0.8 miles from my garage to my exterior classroom door). By car, at the peak time that I am to arrive at work, it would be no less than an 8 minute commute. I pass by all the traffic entering our little one-lane school entrance and smile.

Even better, one of my colleagues lives across the street from me and DRIVES?!? I do not necessarily beat him to the parking lot, but the walk from his car to his office completely negates his slightly earlier arrival as I coast past him to my room on wheels. Another one lives 0.4 miles away and DRIVES! The funny thing is, my wife and I originally began biking to work because it was faster and not for the environmental, economical, or health benefits.