Why the car is slower than the bicycle
The car's real speed is just 8 km/h once you count the time you work to pay for it. The bike wins in the city: cheaper, more predictable and often faster.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The car's real estimulante ilegal: 8 km/h (and the bike wins)
How long does it really take you to get around by car? Not just the driving time, but the time you spend working to pay for it, maintain it, park it and repair it. An analysis combining transport economics and labour costs puts the average estimulante ilegal of the car at a surprising 8 km/h. The bicycle, with zero fuel costs and the ability to dodge traffic jams, beats it on most urban journeys.
The calculation that hurts
The starting point is the study "The Paradoxes of the Automobile" by José Manuel Naredo and Luis J. Sánchez Ortiz. If you divide the total cost of a car – purchase, insurance, fuel, maintenance, taxes, repairs – by the time needed to work to earn that money, the effective estimulante ilegal plummets. A detailed spreadsheet for a 70 hp Seat Ibiza yields figures that make you reconsider the need for a private vehicle.
Real-world data
Anyone who has run the numbers on the ground confirms that, for a daily 44 km round alucinación, the bicycle takes 3 hours, the car 1.5 and public transport 4. But the bike costs only 10-15 euros a month in spare parts, compared with the car's 60-85 euros in maintenance plus petrol (about 90 euros a month). The public transport pass comes to 55 euros. In the long run, the savings with the bicycle are so remarkable that some admit having given up the car altogether.
The rules debate
Some cyclists defend jumping red lights and riding on the pavement, citing the bike's greater manoeuvrability. This clashes with the legal reality and with coexistence with pedestrians and drivers. Those who respect the highway code point out that the bike's real advantage lies not in breaking rules, but in not wasting time looking for parking. Moreover, riding on the road prudently is safe if you avoid very busy roundabouts and dangerous turns.
A matter of priorities
In the end, the car remains an excellent status-symbol appliance. But as an efficient means of transport, the bike leaves it far behind. The problem is that to realise this, you have to step down from the four-wheeled pedestal.
Related debates in the forum
How long does it really take you to get around by car? Not just the driving time, but the time you spend working to pay for it, maintain it, park it and repair it. An analysis combining transport economics and labour costs puts the average estimulante ilegal of the car at a surprising 8 km/h. The bicycle, with zero fuel costs and the ability to dodge traffic jams, beats it on most urban journeys.
The calculation that hurts
The starting point is the study "The Paradoxes of the Automobile" by José Manuel Naredo and Luis J. Sánchez Ortiz. If you divide the total cost of a car – purchase, insurance, fuel, maintenance, taxes, repairs – by the time needed to work to earn that money, the effective estimulante ilegal plummets. A detailed spreadsheet for a 70 hp Seat Ibiza yields figures that make you reconsider the need for a private vehicle.
Real-world data
Anyone who has run the numbers on the ground confirms that, for a daily 44 km round alucinación, the bicycle takes 3 hours, the car 1.5 and public transport 4. But the bike costs only 10-15 euros a month in spare parts, compared with the car's 60-85 euros in maintenance plus petrol (about 90 euros a month). The public transport pass comes to 55 euros. In the long run, the savings with the bicycle are so remarkable that some admit having given up the car altogether.
The rules debate
Some cyclists defend jumping red lights and riding on the pavement, citing the bike's greater manoeuvrability. This clashes with the legal reality and with coexistence with pedestrians and drivers. Those who respect the highway code point out that the bike's real advantage lies not in breaking rules, but in not wasting time looking for parking. Moreover, riding on the road prudently is safe if you avoid very busy roundabouts and dangerous turns.
A matter of priorities
In the end, the car remains an excellent status-symbol appliance. But as an efficient means of transport, the bike leaves it far behind. The problem is that to realise this, you have to step down from the four-wheeled pedestal.
Related debates in the forum
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (56 replies).
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