Inspired by this post from Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme, I decided to do some calculations comparing different methods of transportation. The purpose is to rationally consider which method of transportation costs me the least in time and delivers the greatest benefit.
I'm going to use the concept of 'life-energy hours' from the book Your Money or Your Life? (read more about the idea in this review). Basically, it's the idea that when you spend money you've earned, you're really spending the hours of your life you spent working for that money. So, if you make £10 an hour, and you buy an ivory backscratcher for £1000, that's 100 hours of your life.
Transportation
My transportation needs include commuting to work, going to the grocery store and making the odd trip elsewhere in town. I'm not including large trips like holidays, only ordinary, every day travelling.
Comparing different methods of transportation, if I only walked, or only drove, etc.
Distances involved:
Time at work need to pay those costs:
Ok, now let's consider how much time I need to work to pay these costs, I'll use 3 salary ranges to compare. Remember this is using the idea that your time is money.
One thing we haven't considered is exercise.
If I drive but want to gain the same benefits in exercise that I would have had from using muscle power, I'll have to recalculate.
I'm going to use the concept of 'life-energy hours' from the book Your Money or Your Life? (read more about the idea in this review). Basically, it's the idea that when you spend money you've earned, you're really spending the hours of your life you spent working for that money. So, if you make £10 an hour, and you buy an ivory backscratcher for £1000, that's 100 hours of your life.
Transportation
My transportation needs include commuting to work, going to the grocery store and making the odd trip elsewhere in town. I'm not including large trips like holidays, only ordinary, every day travelling.
Comparing different methods of transportation, if I only walked, or only drove, etc.
Distances involved:
- 221 work days x 16.5 miles +
- 52 weeks grocery shopping x 1.5 mile +
- 12 monthly extra trips x 20 miles
- ~= 4000 miles.
- Walking: at 3.25 mi/hour = 1200 hours
- Running: at 6 mi/hour + showers = 727 hours
- Cycling: at 12 mi/hour + punctures + showers + maintenance = 420 hours
- Driving: at 30 mi/hour + maintenance + trips to petrol station = 185 hours
- Public Transport: at 18 mi/hour + waiting + walking + extra distance since route isn't direct = 360 hours
Just looking at the times, it seems like a no-brainer, drive and save time.
But, let's look at the costs for each method of transportation.
Costs:
Costs:
- Walking: Let's say two pairs of shoes a year + Rain gear that you replace every 10 years: £50
- Running: 4 pairs of shoes and appropriate clothing: £150
- Cycling: Bike purchase cost amortized over 15 years + repairs and parts: £100
- Driving: £2000 (based on this calculator)
- Public Transport: Annual Pass: £880
Time at work need to pay those costs:
Ok, now let's consider how much time I need to work to pay these costs, I'll use 3 salary ranges to compare. Remember this is using the idea that your time is money.
Minimum Wage + Full time Work (Net ~ £6.70 / hour)
- Walking: 7.5 hours
- Running: 22.4 hours
- Cycling: 14.9 hours
- Driving: 298.5 hours
- Public Transport: 131.3 hours
Average Salary: (Net ~ 13.60/ hour)
- Walking: 3.7 hours
- Running: 11 hours
- Cycling: 7.4 hours
- Driving: 147 hours
- Public Transport: 64.7 hours
High Salary: (Net ~ 27.30/ hour)
- Walking: 1.8 hours
- Running: 5.5 hours
- Cycling: 3.7 hours
- Driving: 74 hours
- Public Transport: 32.2 hours
Total Times (Travel + work):
Now let's add the travel times to the times needed to pay for them. Remember this is considering the total amount of your life you spend on each form of transportation:
Minimum Wage:
- Walking: 1207.5 hours
- Running: 749.4 hours
- Cycling: 434.9 hours
- Driving: 483.5 hours
- Public Transport: 491.3 hours
Average Salary:
- Walking: 1203.7 hours
- Running: 738 hours
- Cycling: 427.4 hours
- Driving: 332 hours
- Public Transport: 424.7 hours
High Wage:
- Walking: 1201.8 hours
- Running: 732.5 hours
- Cycling: 423.7 hours
- Driving: 259 hours
- Public Transport: 392.2 hours
It looks like Driving wins in every case except if you make the Minimum wage - in that case, Cycling clearly wins.
Are we done, should we all give in to the almighty automobile?
One thing we haven't considered is exercise.
If I drive but want to gain the same benefits in exercise that I would have had from using muscle power, I'll have to recalculate.
Estimated Calories burned:
Cycling: 200,000 Cal, at 50 Cal/mi
Public Transport: 20,000 Calories? I'm including walking and standing to and from bus stops as well as standing on the bus.
Now let's assume you, as a driver want to match the lower value of 200,000 Cal for cycling. Let's also assume you take the most effective form of exercise to do it, running.
That works out to 303 hours of running, or about 50 minutes a day.
If we now add that total to driving times we get:
That works out to 303 hours of running, or about 50 minutes a day.
If we now add that total to driving times we get:
Minimum: 786.5 hours
Average: 635 hours
High: 562 hours
Comparing Cycling and Driving over a 45 year career
Finally. let's look at the driving and cycling numbers from another perspective.
If they only drove for the 45 years of your working life, the average Briton would need to spend £180,000 (average annual cost of a car in the UK is ~£4000).
What if you only cycled? Let's be generous and double the amount spent on cycling to £200 a year - that works out to £9000.
With an average salary (of £26,500), a driver spends ~8.5 years of their working life JUST PAYING FOR THE CAR!
The cyclist, on the other hand spends about 5 months of their working life paying cycling costs.
That means a driver earning an average salary could retire 8 years earlier if they cycled instead!
As a bonus, the lifetime of exercise could add 3 to 7 years to your life.
Comparing Cycling and Driving over a 45 year career
Finally. let's look at the driving and cycling numbers from another perspective.
If they only drove for the 45 years of your working life, the average Briton would need to spend £180,000 (average annual cost of a car in the UK is ~£4000).
What if you only cycled? Let's be generous and double the amount spent on cycling to £200 a year - that works out to £9000.
With an average salary (of £26,500), a driver spends ~8.5 years of their working life JUST PAYING FOR THE CAR!
The cyclist, on the other hand spends about 5 months of their working life paying cycling costs.
That means a driver earning an average salary could retire 8 years earlier if they cycled instead!
As a bonus, the lifetime of exercise could add 3 to 7 years to your life.
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