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Someone on Reddit asked what you'd do If someone gave you $1000 a day to only ever ride a bicycle to work.
While that amount is obviously crazy, if you think about it: If commuting is your main use of the car, and switching to biking would let you get rid of it, then someone would actually give you quite a lot of money to switch. Namely you!
How much?
You would get roughly $51 pr work day – and save yourself a lot of time and hassle
Here's how:
1/x
Børge
According to this website the average cost of owning a car in the US in 2023 was $1015/month
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/total-cost-owning-car
Let's round it down to 1000
According to this website, a common number of working days in the US, if you get 12 days vacation (12 days!? What are you doing!?) and take 4 days sick leave, is 235
1000 USD x 12 / 235 = $51/working day
The first link has a car cost calculator, if you use it I'd love to hear how much you would get pr working day to drop the car!
But there's more!
Børge
These numbers are very easy to calculate, but there are tons of other benefits, both in terms of quality of life and economics, that are easier to forget.
Owning a car means you need to find parking spots regularly, maintain it regularly, sit in traffic regularly. All of this costs money, yes, but also a ton of time and stress. Then there's the stress of worrying about something happening to it, theft, breakdowns, and the risk of hitting people.
Quality of life suffers, and your health suffers
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Bad health is terrible for your quality of life, but also for your wallet. This is not a part of any cost of car ownership calculator.
Have you heard the phrase "sitting is the new smoking"? It might not be exactly true, but there's very much something to it. And what do you do while commuting in a car? You sit, you deteriorate your health.
What do you do when you bike? You move, you elevate your heart rate, you build muscles, you're engaged in your surroundings.
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All in all, you will probably get a lot more than $51/working day if you're able to get rid of your car if you start biking to work. And a lot more than money!
Of course, you might not be able to keep all that money. Even if your commute is how you mostly use your car, you might also need it for other stuff some times. Stuff you can do with a taxi and a rental car. This will eat some of the profit, but maybe far less than you think. And you can probably find ways to reduce this over time!
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And yes, of course this is not possible for everyone. But maybe it is for you? Think about it.
Many people in the comments on Reddit do understand what is needed to make this more accessible to more people, though: creating more jobs closer to where people live!
Maybe you can't get rid of your car now, but you can vote/ask your politicians to allow mixed zone development and say no to urban sprawl, so that people can get shorter commutes. And you can join organizations working for the same!
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@matias Yes, exactly! There are so many hidden costs in owning a car, both for your wallet, your time, and your stress levels and quality of life! I get a bit into that in my thread, but really appreciate the real life examples! :)
Matias
@forteller@tutoteket.no We had an EV for about 2 years while living in the middle of nowhere. I no longer have to spend time on writing damage reports and getting it fixed whenever someone bump into it at a parking lot and leave without a notice - and for me that's enough of a reason not to own a car 😅
And where I live now you'd have to travel really far in order to save time by driving compared to walking, due to traffic congestion. I got that verified two days ago, when we were 3 families that traveled from a playground in the city centre to a friend's house. I walked, one friend went by car and the other friend went by electric bike. He came first, I was second, and the car came last (just a few seconds after me though).
BowserNoodle ☦️
vic
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@vic Um yes, try reading the whole thread.
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@vic > An idiot
Of course you're an idiot, with no thinking skills. Maybe even very lacking reading comprehension too, since I very clearly say this isn't possible for everyone right now, but it is for more people than believe it is and if it isn't for you you can still work to make it more realistic for more people. Carry on then.
Or try getting out of your bubble and get a clue and some manners. Good luck!
vic
vic
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@vic Have you heard the phrase "every accusation is a confession"? That's you right now. Best of luck with building some self awareness, and please gtfo of my mentions in the mean time.
Matias
@forteller@tutoteket.no Oh, and don't forget: People often talk about a car being an "investment" - but if so it's a really bad investment, because it drops in value over time, while if you put the money you save by not owning a car in a savings account you'll get an interest! 🥳
In our case we only need to take taxi a few times a year, and maybe rent a car for 2-3 days a year. So we save quite a lot!
Sean
@forteller I live 5 km from my workplace. I have walked when roads haven't been cleared after a snow, but I ride my bike everyday. 15min twice a day for 5 days a week is great exercise and the handful of times I've had close calls doesn't compare to the constant anger/anxiety of driving.
I use to drive 1.5 hours/day to/from my old job. Didn't get paid for that time, plus I didn't get any exercise on that commute. Lots of $ saved plus I feel better every single day.
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