BIKE: Cars versus bikes

[Michael Bluejay]

I ran a similar article in Car-Free World which concluded that a car 
actually goes only about 5.35mph once you consider the amount of time 
needed to earn money to pay for it:

	http://bicycleuniverse.info/newsletters/2003-12-05.html

-MBJ-

On Nov 12, 2004, at 10:53 AM, Roger Baker wrote:

> See the spread sheet link and text at bottom.
>
> The problem with using these numbers in a place like Austin is that in 
> Austin, which is the fourth most car-addicted city in the world, it 
> probably isn't possible to substitute a bike for a car in most cases, 
> due to both that fact and poor bike safety because of bike-hostile 
> road design. In Texas, to begin with,  it is illegal to sue the 
> governmental entity that built the road (commonly TxDOT) for building 
> a dangerous road.
>
> Do you know that the roads built by TxDOT include a calculation for 
> the value of the life of a motorist (maybe a million dollars or 
> something) as a calculated tradeoff against spending their money on a 
> safer road?
>
> The corresponding worth-of-life design factor used for bike riders 
> when TxDOT claims that they are building wide shoulders for the safety 
> of bikes must exist on paper somewhere. They must calculate a 
> trade-off of some kind. I don't think TxDOT would be very willing to 
> reveal this information, since I think their calculation for the 
> biker's life value would be shockingly low if there were any bike use 
> at all.
>
> The reality is probably that TxDOT builds wide shoulders for improved 
> safety for cars and then claims improved bike safety as a freebie. 
> TxDOT would probably try to claim that they have no numbers of the 
> modal split for bikes.  But I think CAMPO does have such numbers, as 
> estimates anyhow.
>
> I suspect TxDOT doesn't much want bikes on their roads.  I think the 
> bike safety design-tradeoff numbers would show that just by marking 
> the outer lanes of their roads for bikes would show appreciably 
> greater safety for the mere cost of the paint used to mark outer bike 
> lanes.  Also, I think a few signs to inform motorists that they should 
> share the roads for alternative users would probably have a large 
> safety impact, and would tend to encourage more bike use. I suspect 
> this would be bad news for the road contracting lobby, especially when 
> high gas prices are encouraging greater bike use.
>
> Anyone care to ask TxDOT for their road design tradeoff calculations 
> associated with the calculated value of the lives of their bike 
> riders? -- Roger
>
>
>                        ************************************
>
>
> 	From: 	  larso
> 	Subject: 	[RunningOnEmpty2] The car is not faster than the bike
> 	Date: 	November 12, 2004 4:04:37 AM CST
> 	To: 	  RunningOnEmpty2
> 	Reply-To: 	  RunningOnEmpty2
>
>
>
> I read a note in one of my Human Ecology university books, that a car
> isn't faster than a bike, if you take all time spent earning the money
> to spend on the car, fuel costs, parking, maintainance etc into
> account.
>
> So I did my own calculation. The Excel spreadsheet is available at
> http://www.olofzone.se/RoE2/Car_vs_bike_speed.xls Please don't spread
> it further, since this is a preliminary calculation.
>
> I took three examples, my (somewhat expensive) bike, my car (Citroen
> Xsara Picasso) and a Volvo XC90 2.5T (not being a patriot). I assumed
> that the owner of the bike had lower wages, average wage for "my" car,
> and above average for a XC90 SUV.
>
> It turns out that "my" car is slightly faster than a bike, 18 km/h,
> while both the XC90 and the bike ended up at around 14 km/h.
>
> The purchase cost of the car is the most significant factor, and I made
> the assumption that you took a loan to pay for the car, except for a
> 10% deposit.
>
> Also if you happen to be an athlete and be able to keep an average
> speed on you bike of 20 km/h instead of the assumed 15 km/h, then the
> bike will be the fastest vehicle.
>
> Otherwise, the good news is - you can travel as far on a bike each
> year, as you can on a car, just work less, bike more. In the end you
> will have just as much money left at the end of the month.
>
> But, lo and behold, what would happen with the economy if people
> started riding bikes, not buying cars and worked 25% less?
>
> People would be healthier, possibly happier, but the economy would
> suffer a lot.
>
> Does anyone have any references to similar conclusions?
>
> --
> Lars Olofsson, Härryda, Härryda, Sweden, 57d43.58' N, 12d16.08'E
> larso +46-301-31160 +46-708-996439
> GPG/PGP key available
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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