It’s been a little over two months of not using an automobile for personal transportation, and in this post I will analyze the financial savings that I have realized in this time. I did my analysis using Microsoft Excel. In January and February I commuted by bicycle or bus a total of 36 days or 72 trips, not counting holidays and vacation days. Of those 72 trips I took the bus 32 times. February was a really cold, wet, and snowy month in Charlotte so I took the bus a lot in February.
Here are the facts:
- The average cost of premium gasoline, which my car requires, for Charlotte in January and February was $2.931
- The distance of my commute by car is 8.1 miles.
- The distance of my commute by bike is 7.4 miles.
- The distance to my closest bus stop is 1.1 miles
- The cost per trip for the bus is $1.05.
- I burn about 66 carolies per mile on my bicycle.
- My car emits .932 pounds of CO2 per mile.
The fixed yearly costs for my car are the following (I own my 2002 Volkswagen GTI without a loan payment):
- Vehicle Registration: $32
- Property Tax: $137
- State Vehicle Inspection: $30
- Regular Maintenance: $204 (Performed at Volkswagen dealership)
- Automobile Insurance: $400 (We have two cars on our policy and this is the difference if one were removed)
- Depreciation: $1646 (straight line depreciation from my cars purchase price to it’s current BB market price).
Assuming I commute to work 220 days per year, these fixed costs translate into about $0.78 per mile cost.
In two months I have had the following impact:
- I’ve saved $47 in gasoline expenses and the equivalent of $457 in fixed costs for a total savings of $471.49 when accounting for bus costs.
- Burned 22,356 calories which if I had been eating a normal diet is the equivalent of 6.4 pounds of fat!
- I have kept 543 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (19.546 lbs per gallon and my car gets an average of 21 MPG).
Simply multiplying these numbers for the year would equal 3260 pounds of CO2 kept out of the atmosphere, $2542 dollars saved, 134,000 calories burned, and 38.3 pounds of fat. If I had a car loan payment for a $20,000 the savings jumps to $7900!
I knew I was benefiting myself and the environment by commuting without a car, but to see the real impact is very amazing. These numbers don’t take into account the savings because of improved emotional and physical well being I am getting because of the exercise. They also don’t take into account the benefit to my community from interacting with my neighbors and fellow commuters. These numbers don’t measure the impact of the 40,000 people every year who’s lives are cut short because of car crashes. These are dry,raw, facts, and figures, but if you consider how these facts scale year over year for an individual, or scale for the United State, if just 5% of the people who commute by car switched to walking, bicycling, or public transit, the numbers would be astounding.
Download my spreadsheet to crunch your own numbers.
Carfree
| Vehicle Registration | 32 |
| Property Tax | 137.81 |
| Vehicle Inspection | 30 |
| Regular Maintainance | 203.73 |
| Insurance | 400 |
| Depreciation | 1646 |
[...] Carfree.US analyzes their financial and environmental impact of commuting by bicycle after their first two months of living Car-free, concluding that [...]
[...] you've ever wanted a breakdown of the benefits of commuting by bike versus commuting by car, Carfree.us has got it for you. The writer of this Streetsblog Network member blog, a resident of Charlotte, [...]
[...] you've ever wanted a breakdown of the benefits of commuting by bike versus commuting by car, Carfree.us has got it for you. The writer of this Streetsblog Network member blog, a resident of Charlotte, [...]
Nice chart. Don’t forget the costs of congestion; by taking your car off the road, you are speeding up everyone else’s trip by a not-insignificant amount. Other motorists therefore save on fuel and time.
Also, once you get rid of your car, you have the parking space at home available to use for other purposes.
[...] you've ever wanted a breakdown of the benefits of commuting by bike versus commuting by car, Carfree.us has got it for you. The writer of this Streetsblog Network member blog, a resident of Charlotte, [...]
Very nice breakdown!
One question: You state: “I’ve saved $47 in gasoline expenses and the equivalent of $457 in fixed costs for a total savings of $471.49 when accounting for bus costs.”
How are you saving money in automobile “fixed costs” like registration and insurance if you still own and maintain your car? Just the fact that you are not driving it does not mean you are not paying your registration and car insurance.
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Yeah – great point that I didn’t make clear. I guess what I’m pointing out are the theoretical savings, especially as I make the case to my wife that the hunk of steel sitting in our driveway has no value. I haven’t driven the thing since mid-November and the battery died. I didn’t realized I should have disconnected the battery. I can’t wait to be rid of it.
With 5 bikes that need space in our two car garage, it’s like our suburban house was made to live car-light
Good luck! I have lived in Charlotte 15 years, and it’s a horrible place to commute on bike. Often, I get honked at by angry drivers just because I’m on the road on a bike. Any tips on some roads that you use more than others or safety precautions that you take?
I ride predominant in Charlotte’s older neighborhoods, and when I do club rides I head down to the towns south of Charlotte like Mathews, Waxhaw, Pineville, and Indian Land. I’ve found secondary streets in South Charlotte to be quite hospitable to bicyclists, and the drivers are regularly quite considerate. I live near the Cotswold neighborhood and my commute takes me through Grier Heights, Elizabeth, and the center city. I take Charlotte bicycle route #9 to work. You have to be a hearty soul and seasoned vehicular cyclist to venture onto Charlotte’s main arterials. I sometimes ride on Fariview road, Randolph road, Providence Rd and others. However, generally, I don’t feel very comfortable cycling on roads where the normal speed of traffic is more the 15 MPH faster than my average speed. I feel a little more comfortable when it’s a two lane road and traffic is light enough for motorists to use either lane to get around me. The key for me is that I got lucky/smart where I live. I will not in the future choose to live in a neighborhood without non-motorized access to places I need to go. I have access to the majority of destinations via secondary roads because of the older neighborhoods and established grid streets in South Charlotte. If I lived South of HWY-51, or in another part of the city more than 5 miles outside of the city center things would be much more difficult. Real estate developers have gotten whatever they wanted in Charlotte for over a quarter century, which means very few liveable necessities like mixed-use developments, density, sidewalks, bike infrastructure, or grid streets.
Congratulations on starting this project, it takes commitment to attempt something like this. I am just finishing up my own experiment with living carfree, and writing about it at my blog, for a year… only three weeks left, so I find your timing funny.
Once you get into a routine its pretty easy and eventually you wont even think of it as anything special. You significant other will also adjust… it took about three months for my fiance to see that it really wasn’t a burden for me not to drive and actually join me on a bike often during the good weather. Also expect how you ride and interact with traffic to change… how I ride now and how I rode a year ago are completely different.
Some other advice from my own carfree year…
– your idea of backup transportation is essential, if there is any bike maintenance you don’t yet know how to do yourself its a good time to learn because you’ll need em.
– weather appropriate clothing and rain gear makes riding in bad weather a lot easier
– FENDERS!
– don’t be afraid to take up friends on their offers to help out if you get in a jam.
– be flexible
– Eye contact is the best way to make a motorist respect your place on the rode
– and remember to have fun with your project, I have.
Good luck
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[...] It’s no secret that riding a bike instead of taking a car is good for your health, wallet, and the planet. But just how good is it? One number crunching cyclist decided to find out. [...]
Keep up the great work! My friend just sent me your blog. I’ve gone car-lite in previously years too. The winter always gets me back in the car unfortunately. I plan to use your blog to remind me of my similar goals.
I am the mom of a 26 year-old man who decided to live car-free for a year. He began his journey last April so his year is rapidly coming to an end. At first, his fiance was not very happy about the project. I think she was envisioning a lot more lifting and hauling etc.on her part. But, once my son worked out the kinks and got himself a good cargo trailer for his bike, almost all trips are by bike, bus or train. Actually, she has ended up riding alot more herself and finds it faster than commuting by car in their city. So, good luck with your year. There will be incredible rewards ahead.
I like your life cycle analysis type calcualtion here. It seems to me that you need to add in cost of the extra food you need to eat to fuel your body. Food is not free, and depending on where you buy it, more expensive per mile than the gasoline for your car. You would burn 1 gallon of gasoline or 1320 calories per 20 miles. Some cheap 1320 calories takes 4.5 lbs of baked potatoes which cost about $2.32+prep cost. Other food is more expensive.
Nice post, website, and congratulations on being car free. I’ve been car free for 6 years now, sold my Tahoe in 2004 (my wife has a minivan I drive <once a week). I've calculated the savings and I'm well north of $50,000 (assumes a $300 monthly payment). I live in Iowa so bicycling in the winter is very dangerous (ice), I usually resort to the city bus. But in the summer, there's no better way to go. My commute is 28 miles round trip, I can't imagine going back to a car. I actually feel sorry for all the people stuck in their cars smoking cigarettes at stoplights…those activities seem to go together…keep updating, I'd love to read more in the future maybe about your first flat tire or wipe out (they will both happen – trust me).
Another consideration is the increased risk of injury or death cycling. You are exposed on a bike and accidents do happen (a friend of mine was hospitalised with severe head injuries whilst cycling home from work). Wearing a filter for fumes may also be a consideration as breathing in fumes from exhaust is increased depending on the surrounding traffic. The positives out weigh the negatives, however the negatives should be considered. Places filled with bicycles like central Amsterdam are great, the difference is very noticeable when you are in these environments.
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[...] “I burn about 66 carolies per mile on my bicycle. My car emits .932 pounds of CO2 per mile…” – A by-the-numbers post at CarFree blog [...]
There is certainly a risk in cycling, but the data is not so clear cut. The risk per mile may or may not be higher for bicycling vs automobile. If you drive an on an interstate highway, or above 55PMH, I would argue the risk of driving is greater. The air quality on the side of the road on a bicycle, is actually better than the air quality inside of an automobile.
Where do you find a DETAILED map or description of Charlotte bike routes? I live in Cotswold and I’m seriously considering the biking option. My commute would be to Uptown. Actually I’ve been car-free for four years; I’m a scooter commuter, and like you I have ratcheted up some serious savings.
My Vespa gives me speed enough to go down main roads (Monroe and Randolf etc.), but to bike I really do want to figure out some good side routes.
Other considerations will be 1) where to (safely) leave the bike which I cannot take into my building, and 2) when the warm weather comes can I get to the office without needing to shower uptown?
Good luck my car-free friend. Ride safe!
I’ve always wondered about a scooter or motorcycle as a serious means of transportation. It’s cool to see someone else thinking outside the box. I ride to uptown on what is the Charlotte #9 bicycle route. Google maps now has a bicycling option which is pretty good tool, but from where I am takes me on Monroe road. No thanks. Here is a link to a google map of the approximate route that I take most days: Map
One option for riding uptown is to shower at the Childress Klien YMCA. At one point they would allow bicycle commuters to use their facilities for free, just by showing your bike helmet. There are also some good bike racks in the 1 Wachovia building. From there, you might be able to walk to your work location.
There is also an on-going initiative to install 100 new bike racks at commercial locations in Charlotte. You can find more information, and make a suggestion via the Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance Blog at http://charlottebikes.org/2010/02/21/wanted-100-bike-racks/ .
I have another reason to live carfree – I have no choice. I have limited sight, but currently am very functional, so far. I have never driven in my life, ever. Fortunately, I was born in Manhattan, New York, and never realized until I was in my twenties that ewveryone elsewhere drives to get from point A to B. I have lived in DC and Chicago as well, both cities with major mass transit systems. But now I’m looking for a warmer climate, particularly after this past winter, and don’t really know how to find carfree, pedestrian friendly cities that are not in major metropolitan cities like New York, Chicago or DC. Any knowledge of such cities in the south would be great!
Have a look at walkscore.com. One point that sites makes is that every city has more walkable neighborhoods. Charlotte, is not a very bike or pedestrian friendly city, but has areas which are quite walkable, and would enable one to live carfree.
Hey–I’m a writer for Halogentv.com and we are wanting to interview you for a piece on bike commuting. Could you shoot me an email and let me know if you’re interested or not? The story is due in about a week, but I could get an e-interview to you soon. Thanks so much!
Hi – you’ve done good so far – - getting through winter is hard, I know. But having the bus available is helpful in bad weather.
I’m going into my 3rd year of being car-free. After a while, you get used to it taking longer to get places. I sometimes like the slower pace of biking or public transportation – it gives me time to read or zone out. 
I do rent a car and/or get a Zipcar from time to time, to go to places beyond my local area. But I am able to get to a lot of places on my bike, and it’s adventure. You might want to look into getting a B.O.B. trailer to carry things – it comes in handy. Or you could make your own. 
Good luck and keep up the good work – both in saving a lot of money and getting your exercise! 
[...] not a sci-fi fantasy. As a blogger from Charlotte, N.C., is showing, you can do all of those things at once. All you need to do is drive a little [...]