# Gas Prices and Driving Revisited



## Tjoiwr (Jan 2, 2003)

I didn't want to re-open a week old thread but I do have a comment. 

I'll bet that the money saved on gas by people switching to bike commuting will pale in comparison to the reduction in health care costs incurred by a more active society.


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

When I had my long commute- 20 miles each way, I ate the gas savings as extra calories needed to make it through the day. 



Tjoiwr said:


> I didn't want to re-open a week old thread but I do have a comment.
> 
> I'll bet that the money saved on gas by people switching to bike commuting will pale in comparison to the reduction in health care costs incurred by a more active society.


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## mmorast (Oct 22, 2007)

I thought I was eating my savings too. Then I just went and bought a pound of oatmeal for $1.00. That fueled my commutes pretty well. So that for a week plus my normal food bill. That is 35-40miles round trip commute.

Monte


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## jay1097 (Apr 16, 2008)

I plan on commuting to work this summer and i think I will save about 100-200 dollars on gas (not including any possible speeding tickets  ) I only live about 10 minutes away from work but the bike ride will only be about 15 minutes so it's not that big of a deal. The best part is that just about my entire commute can be done on bike paths.


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## FlintPaper (Dec 28, 2006)

I would like to think that my bike commuting will help with general health. I know that my last Dr's appointment didn't show the expected high blood pressure and cholesterol that my genetic legacy would indicate. I also have noticed that I'm not getting sick as much, and tend to get well faster. 

I have to wonder about food though. The riding is forcing me to eat more food at regular intervals and has made me much more concerned about the health of what I'm eating. I would wonder if eating 3 healthy meals a day is doing as much or more for my health than the riding.

And on cost, the riding is causing me to not drive to lunch every day at work. I was spending 10-15 bucks a day on lunch. The savings from that have been huge, far greater than the gas savings from my Sentra.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

Tjoiwr said:


> I didn't want to re-open a week old thread but I do have a comment.
> 
> I'll bet that the money saved on gas by people switching to bike commuting will pale in comparison to the reduction in health care costs incurred by a more active society.




sadly, I don't think we'll ever know... not enough people will switch... unless gas goes waaay higher, like >$10/gal. 

but you'll have to factor in a few more getting hit by cars and/or crashing and their medical costs, and those incurring injuries when going from a sedentary to more active lifestyle and those costs... it might very well be higher or at least a wash


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## RoadLoad (Jan 18, 2005)

The nicer weather has a lot to do with the higher number of riders I'm seeing, but I would bet some number are out because the cost of a tank of gas adds up over the course of a month. Simple math for me plays out $5 in gas each day driving, $5 to park and $3.50 for the subway - $13.50 a day I keep for myself when ride.

When I don't ride, I run during lunch so my snacking during the day is the same whether I ride or not.


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## MTT (Oct 14, 2005)

I don't know about you guys, but when I am riding every day, I eat everything in sight! Somehow I can justify a bag of Doritos and a corn dog when I am putting in the miles. It is hard to eat organic nuts and berries when I am burning an extra 800 or so calories!! :cryin:


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

I have a similar commute. 15 by car, 20 by bike. No bike paths but fairly safe city/burb roads. The ride is about 5.6 miles and at 20-21mpg in my car, that's roughly 1 gal of gas in 2 days, so in 10 days I've saved 5 gals of gas which, at this point, is $17.50 saved.


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Jul 15, 2005)

I haven’t actually done any calculations yet, but my commute is 34 miles round-trip, and I average three commutes via bicycle per week.

My car uses super unleaded (as all things turboed should) which I saw the other day for over $4.00 per gallon, so that will be a determining factor in how much driving I will be doing. Thanks to the cycling I haven’t had to put gas in the car for over a month, but the last time I had to I paid “only” $3.49 per gallon for super unleaded.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Extra crashes*



FatTireFred said:


> but you'll have to factor in a few more getting hit by cars and/or crashing and their medical costs


While self-inflicted crashes will go up, the data show that car-bike crashes go down as more bikes are on the road. Something about the drivers actually LEARNING how to deal properly with bikes in the mix. Hard to believe, I know . . .


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

My diet doesn't seem to change whether or not I commute to work. The only real difference is Gatorade, which is small change. When I'm club riding, or riding tours/invitationals, etc. that's different. But no real change for my daily 36 mi. round trip to work.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

jay1097 said:


> I plan on commuting to work this summer and i think I will save about 100-200 dollars on gas (not including any possible speeding tickets  ) I only live about 10 minutes away from work but the bike ride will only be about 15 minutes so it's not that big of a deal. The best part is that just about my entire commute can be done on bike paths.


Why on _Earth_ have you not been bike commuting already? 15 minutes all on bike paths? You won't even break a sweat. Get thee on your bike!


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## slowrider (Mar 12, 2004)

Every year I lose 10 to 15lbs commuting, then gain it back during the four months I take off. One year I watch my diet a little bit, and to my surprise, I still had abs. But they did not stay around for very long. 

This may sound crazy? But I have what I call "No drive days" on days that I commute, and on some of my days off. This week I'm commuting Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So my car won't move on those 3 days. I will try to get everything done on my way home today, or it won't get done until friday. When the weather gets nice, I shop get everything done on sunday, then park the car until saturday.


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## Zero Signal (Feb 8, 2008)

I figured around $100/mo savings and that includes a $38/mo gym membership to pay for showers. That does NOT include savings on maintenance and tires which is significant on my vehicles.


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## gutfiddle (Apr 27, 2006)

i've been carless for about a month (truck was totalled in an accident). By not purchasing another vehicle I figure i'm saving atleast $500 a month. Old payment was $356 + $105 insurance + registration and maintenance. If you throw fuel savings into the mix it's more like $700 a month. I rent a car when I need one, about one weekend a month and commute via bicycle leaving a nice purse left for the extra food consumption.


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## undies (Oct 13, 2005)

I really like food, so if bicycling means I get to spend less money on gasoline and more money on food, I'm okay with that.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I spend most if not all of the money I save from bike commuting on bike parts and gear. But I would rather send my money to bike companies than oil companies and oil-rich countries that support terrorism and abuse human rights. To me, conserving gas is the most patriotic thing we can do and it's a lot less expensive and harmful than fighting wars.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

tarwheel2 said:


> I spend most if not all of the money I save from bike commuting on bike parts and gear. But I would rather send my money to bike companies than oil companies and oil-rich countries that support terrorism and abuse human rights. To me, conserving gas is the most patriotic thing we can do and it's a lot less expensive and harmful than fighting wars.


Plus, you get to use all that stuff you buy for your bikes for regular rides too. Not to mention you're not burning that gas you paid for and polluting the air. You're also not buying tires as often, needing the oil changed, new brakes, using washer fluid, etc., etc.

Right now, the standard reimbursement rate is $.505/mile. My truck probably costs more than that. So my measly 20 mile round trip equates to at least $10/day in total cost to drive my truck.

Oh yeah, and lowering your annual auto mileage lowers your insurance premiums (to a point).


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## Chain (Dec 28, 2006)

Don't expect to be seeing this anytime soon....









Double what most are spending on gas and they will still drive.


I'm hoping to eliminate my commute next month. Go from a 64 mile round trip to zero for 9 out of 10 workdays. Figure it will save me about $2500 a year in car and drycleaning costs alone. I'll spend the savings on setting up a home office.


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## trek7100 (Jan 1, 2008)

Gas went from $3.41 to $3.70 a gallon today.


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## gutfiddle (Apr 27, 2006)

trek7100 said:


> Gas went from $3.41 to $3.70 a gallon today.


really?!? i dont notice as much since biking to work


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Jul 15, 2005)

I had to drive the car today, since I had to get the groceries (bike won’t fit them nicely). Here is a rundown of the receipt:



> Super unleaded: 13.468 gallons
> Price/gallon: $4.099
> 
> Fuel total: $55.21
> ...


Suddenly it dawned on me that my 21-year old turboed Eurowagon doesn’t really get much better than 26MPG when driven like a grandma.  DAMN!


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## KenS (Jan 28, 2004)

*Henry Chinaski report in....*

Henry has a quote from Karl Ulrich in his sig. Ulrich (no relation to Jan AFAIK) is a member of the faculty in the Wharton Bus. School. About a year or so ago, Ulrich reported that about 90% of the energy savings from switching to bike commuting was used up by the longer life of the bike commuter.

But since capitalism is build on self-interest, then the rational consumer should switch to bike commuting.


PS -
Ulrich is also the developer of the Xootr scooter that was once described as the Rolls Royce of scooters.


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## Fredke (Dec 10, 2004)

Tjoiwr said:


> I'll bet that the money saved on gas by people switching to bike commuting will pale in comparison to the reduction in health care costs incurred by a more active society.


Actually a more active society might increase health care costs. Inactive people tend to die younger & quickly (heart attack, etc.), but if they get all healthy and live longer, more of them will get Alzheimers or other chronic nonfatal diseases and require years and years of full-time institutional care.

Some studies of smoking found the same thing. Dying young of lung cancer or heart disease costs a good deal less than all the medical care you rack up if you make it to your late 80s or beyond. (http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/14799.ctl)


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## Chain (Dec 28, 2006)

Two of my coworkers that have never commuted before have started in the last week. One drives a big pickup and stated that gas savings is part of it. The other is he's signed up for a duathalon. The other just got a road bike from his brother-in-law and wants to start riding again. His has nothing to do with the price of gas. He drives a honda civic.


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## Schrödinger's_Fridge (Jul 5, 2006)

I put $110 into the Jeep Cherokee that I borrowed to pick up my sons new bedroom furniture. The thing only gets 26L/100 kilometers.

The Government should allow people to salary sacrifice good bikes. 

The Price of oil might possibly be the best thing that every happened to the human race.


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## Becky (Jun 15, 2004)

Schrödinger's_Fridge said:


> The Government should allow people to salary sacrifice good bikes.
> 
> The Price of oil might possibly be the best thing that every happened to the human race.


Salary sacrifice?  Is that like a tax deduction? I would be so thrilled if I could write off my bike commuting supplies! There are transportation benefits (e.g. pay expenses with pre-tax $$) for transit and vanpooling, but nothing for bikes yet.


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## Schrödinger's_Fridge (Jul 5, 2006)

Over here in Oz you can 'sacrifice' pre tax pay to buy things like Laptops/Cars etc. If we could only pre tax a bike


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

I'm starting to see a slightly different shift to the used bikes coming in for repairs where I help at part time. Last night I was working on one that has obviously sat for a good many years, but wasn't in all that bad of condition. Looked like it had a lot of miles on it, good long miles, not abused miles. Was a decent bike in it's day. Got a couple of new components on it and is set up as a decent little MUT/commuter bike. Did not look at all like a "hey the sun's out so let's dust off the bicycles" tune-up, looked more like a "time to tune up the bike and put another 6,000 miles on it this summer" type of situation. I don't know how to describe it, but it just felt like a paradigm shift sort of thing of some sort, call it a new demographic shift or something.

I've wandered off into my thoughts now so I'd better stop talking, hard to put words to the pictures in my head and observational feelings in my mind. I see what I see but find it hard to say what I see. Calvin & Hobbes, where is dad now, probably off cycling to work while you play in the trees.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*keep gov't out*



Becky said:


> Salary sacrifice?  Is that like a tax deduction? I would be so thrilled if I could write off my bike commuting supplies! There are transportation benefits (e.g. pay expenses with pre-tax $$) for transit and vanpooling, but nothing for bikes yet.


I think I'd rather just have the government keep it's stinking hands out of my cycling. With any deduction, comes regulation. Also, govenment subsidies have a way of making costs go up, and then if you can't use the dedection, it is worse than no one having it. 

I ride because I like to, not because I want a tax incentive.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Chain said:


> His has nothing to do with the price of gas. He drives a honda civic.


I drive a Honda Fit (30 mpg) and I started commuting to save $$. In another life, I used to be a light smoker. I said I'd quit when it was over $4 a pack (and I did). 

Now, I have quit driving about the time gas is expected to be (and is, in some areas) over $4 a gallon


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## moto loca (May 4, 2008)

FlintPaper said:


> I would like to think that my bike commuting will help with general health. I know that my last Dr's appointment didn't show the expected high blood pressure and cholesterol that my genetic legacy would indicate. I also have noticed that I'm not getting sick as much, and tend to get well faster.
> 
> I have to wonder about food though. The riding is forcing me to eat more food at regular intervals and has made me much more concerned about the health of what I'm eating. I would wonder if eating 3 healthy meals a day is doing as much or more for my health than the riding.
> 
> And on cost, the riding is causing me to not drive to lunch every day at work. I was spending 10-15 bucks a day on lunch. The savings from that have been huge, far greater than the gas savings from my Sentra.


No you need to eat 6 times a day small meals:thumbsup:


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