Doing the math

So I ride 70 miles a week riding to and from work alone. Never mind going grocery shopping, going to friend's places, shows, riding for fun, etc. I'm curious how much money I am saving by biking instead of other using other modes of transportation. Join me as I do the math.

The car option
Disclaimer: I am just going to guess on what an average car costs. My Jeep that I used to drive cost me 3,000 when I bought it and only gets 14/mpg on average, but whatever. Let's just assume I want a car on the cheap. The gas price is also a generous underestimation. It fluctuates too much for me to confidently say $3/gallon. As for the insurance number, I asked my roommate how much he pays for insurance for his Jetta, which is registered and insured in Brighton, MA. Now onto the math ...

Car: $2,000
Car insurance/month: $150
Cost to fill 20 gallon tank: $2.90 x 20 = $58
Avg mpg for a car: 17 miles
20 gallons x 17 mpg = 340 miles per tank

Assuming I only drive to and from work makes the car usage 70 miles a week, meaning one full tank would last 4.8 weeks.

So monthly, I would be spending $208 dollars on my car, not including other random stuff like paying for parking meters, repairs, windshield wiper fluid, oil and whatever else comes with having a car.

So if I bought a car in January 2008 and drove it only 70ish miles a week, I would spend, at the very least, $4,400 dollars on having a car. Assuming I already had a car, that's still $2,400 a year.

The public transportation option

The MBTA's monthly pass for unlimited bus and subway use is $59. Yearly, that would cost me $708. Not to mention taking the T (the Green line specifically) is an exercise in futility and that I beat the T down Beacon Street on my bike, twice a day.

The bike option
For this one, I am going to give the actual amount of money I have spent on my bike. I got this frame for free, but I did convert it from a road bike into a single speed and made some upgrades. I haven't had to do any major repairs since then, other than fixing flats.

Bike frame: Free
Converting to single speed/upgrading parts: $250
Messenger bag: $150 (yeah, I know)
Tubes/patch kit: $40
Lights (batteries included): $50
Boston bike map: $12

So, for the year, that would bring me to $502. Assuming I already owned everything, the bike only costs what I need to get fixed or upgrade, which so far, is $0. All that stuff in the list are one-time purchases. I don't need to pay to put air in my tires every month or something.

I think it's important to add that it doesn't seem like too much of a difference between the T and the bike money-wise, remember this: I can take my bike anywhere anytime that I want and definitely get there faster. I also can take direct routes and make multiple stops without having to wait 15 minutes each time for a train to appear. Another thing is that I'm not spending a certain amount of money a month to ride my bike like I would be with the T. The money that I have spent so was just start-up. I'm not going to have to pay that much again unless I upgrade things or get a new bike.

I suppose here I could say how awesome biking is and bore you with that tired lecture, but I won't. Instead I will say this:

Ride on and save $$$!