Great Article On Why Driving Is The Worst Way To Get To Work.

[Bicycleman]

It's the opposite here. People commute to work by bike to reach the place of work on time. Heavy traffic would eat most of your time when you are in a car. However, the Philippines is a tropical country and Metro Manila is a very dusty place so office workers like me cannot consider riding to work. Most of the morning riders I see are messengers and laborers who don't need to look at their best at work.

What you do in your case is have an extra set of clothes at your place of work with a deodorant, and if you don't have a shower that you can use to freshen up, maybe you could freshen up at the sink, not strip down all the way, but do enough so you're presentable to work all day with your coworkers.

 

[Bicycleman]

You rode your bike 20 miles one way to work in the snow? How long would that take you? You won't catch me riding in the snow, I hate the cold regardless what my forum name may imply, which means something else anyways.

I won't ride in the snow, except I did one time, after getting caught in snow, but I ride all winter. I just put on 5 to 7 layers. I have many riding jerseys I can wear.

 

[Jcycle]

All BS written by a leftist person trying to put a scientific spin on their BS. Sure setting a car isn't exercising but so what? Most people don't exercise anyways! And besides the average commute is 20 miles one way, I doubt any of you here except maybe one would want to commute 20 miles to work and 20 miles back stretching your 9 hour work day to 12 or 13 hours. Add on top of that most of America lies in a cold belt which eliminates the possibility of riding 20 miles to work in the snow!! I'm lucky I'm only 4 miles from work, but what about those that commute 50 miles to work? Yeah, complete and utter nonsense from some leftist, I guess in the ideal world where everyone just drives no more than 5 miles and with beautiful year round 70 degree averages then it would make sense, but most Americans that simply isn't true.

I understand the sentiment, but I don't think you can justify the 20 mile commute statement considering that the urban areas comprise most of the population in the United States, and they certainly don't all fall within a "cold belt".

 

[BikeBikeBikeBike]

All BS written by a leftist person trying to put a scientific spin on their BS. Sure setting a car isn't exercising but so what? Most people don't exercise anyways! And besides the average commute is 20 miles one way, I doubt any of you here except maybe one would want to commute 20 miles to work and 20 miles back stretching your 9 hour work day to 12 or 13 hours. Add on top of that most of America lies in a cold belt which eliminates the possibility of riding 20 miles to work in the snow!! I'm lucky I'm only 4 miles from work, but what about those that commute 50 miles to work? Yeah, complete and utter nonsense from some leftist, I guess in the ideal world where everyone just drives no more than 5 miles and with beautiful year round 70 degree averages then it would make sense, but most Americans that simply isn't true.

I am guessing you have never heard of Mr. Money Mustache have you?

 

[oportosanto]

This is very much true, driving is bad for a number of reasons, but it's more practical so many do it. With small kids it's a need to be honest.

 

[9lines]

Cycling to work can make you avoid heavy traffic jams. In a city where there are more cars, you have to wake up much earlier to drive to work if you do not want to get late. Cycling is also a part of exercise which is beneficial to your health.

 

[sharkantropo]

It is such a hassle driving a car to work. Because transit can be a hell to dealt with at rush hours. You can even lose more time than expected waiting for the clearance of long car queues. So yeah, It can be stressful more than convenient to ride a car in order to get to work. Only is convenient If you have to kick the highways for commuting.

 

[Froze]

I understand the sentiment, but I don't think you can justify the 20 mile commute statement considering that the urban areas comprise most of the population in the United States, and they certainly don't all fall within a "cold belt".

It's a average of 25 minutes for an American to commute to work and that figure is actually growing. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...d-hellish-but-at-least-it-hasnt-gotten-worse/ Combine that with two in a household all commuting an average of 25 minutes each to their jobs.

Most of America in the winter is 30 degrees or below...on average of course, see: https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temperatures-in-winter.php You only have 16 states (if you include Alaska and Hawaii) that has averages of over 35 degrees in the Winter, and the last I checked my math 50 minus 16 is 34 thus 34 is more than 16, so thus again most of America is in a cold belt region. But more importantly per square miles is even greater than the state issue that lies in a cold belt area.

 

[Jcycle]

It's a average of 25 minutes for an American to commute to work and that figure is actually growing. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...d-hellish-but-at-least-it-hasnt-gotten-worse/ Combine that with two in a household all commuting an average of 25 minutes each to their jobs.

Most of America in the winter is 30 degrees or below...on average of course, see: https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temperatures-in-winter.php You only have 16 states (if you include Alaska and Hawaii) that has averages of over 35 degrees in the Winter, and the last I checked my math 50 minus 16 is 34 thus 34 is more than 16, so thus again most of America is in a cold belt region. But more importantly per square miles is even greater than the state issue that lies in a cold belt area.

Holy January... Took you a long time to respond. It doesn't matter how much of the land mass falls in these areas. Where is the population distributed? How long are the areas with the most population even subject to the temperatures? Most of America may not equal most Americans.

 

[oportosanto]

Driving is the worse way for many reasons. One thing that always makes me laugh are those ads that say, if you were riding a bike you'd be there by now lol and people stuck in traffic.

 

[Froze]

Holy January... Took you a long time to respond. It doesn't matter how much of the land mass falls in these areas. Where is the population distributed? How long are the areas with the most population even subject to the temperatures? Most of America may not equal most Americans.

hmmm, that's where Chicago, New York, Denver, Boston, Cleveland, Seattle...etc, yeah you're right, those are just one stop light towns.

 

[Jcycle]

hmmm, that's where Chicago, New York, Denver, Boston, Cleveland, Seattle...etc, yeah you're right, those are just one stop light towns.

Seattle doesn't spend much time at or below 30. Most of Western WA doesn't

 

[oportosanto]

Yeah, when the weather is too cold or with snow is rather hard to cycle, many cities are like that.

 

[Froze]

Seattle doesn't spend much time at or below 30. Most of Western WA doesn't

You are right about Seattle, but the point is that most of the population of the use lives in colder states as one can tell by looking at the map I provided.. Even though California has the largest population of any state in the US the problem with that state is the average commute in the large cities where most of the people live is in excess of 50 minutes which makes in highly impractical for commuting to work on a bike. So you have to consider the weather that is mostly cold in the 5 months of winter across much of the US, but then you have to consider the largest cities have horrible commute time by car which can't be done on a bicycle.

Like I said before we don't live in a perfect world where large percentage of population can't simply jump on a bike and ride a mile or two to work in 70 plus degree days.

 

[Jcycle]

You are right about Seattle, but the point is that most of the population of the use lives in colder states as one can tell by looking at the map I provided.. Even though California has the largest population of any state in the US the problem with that state is the average commute in the large cities where most of the people live is in excess of 50 minutes which makes in highly impractical for commuting to work on a bike. So you have to consider the weather that is mostly cold in the 5 months of winter across much of the US, but then you have to consider the largest cities have horrible commute time by car which can't be done on area a bicycle.

Like I said before we don't live in a perfect world where large percentage of population can't simply jump on a bike and ride a mile or two to work in 70 plus degree days.

I wasn't disagreeing with most of what you said in the post of yours that I had initially responded too. Just the part about most of us being in a cold belt. A lot are, but more aren't. Point in fact, the entire west coast (WA, OR, CA) has their largest population centers in the warmest parts of their states. I noticed you left out the largely populated cities in the gulf coast as well. I think if you add up the population of the areas in the temperate (Western WA and Western OR being temperate) to warm climates in the United States you will find that more people live in the warmer parts of the nation. Sure, there are major cities in cold regions and heck New York City is the largest city in the nation and it get's cold in the winter, but they aren't representative of where most of the nations population as a whole is distributed.

That all said, I think the warm temps are a deterrent as well. I don't think there is an issue nationally for most with being in places too cold to commute. A large amount of people, but certainly not most. I think you would be more likely to be able make a cold belt argument for nations further north than you could for the USA because of the vastly varied climates and population distribution. I think if you want a national look at things you are going to find weather at both ends of the scale that make riding difficult for commuting year round. For example, I lived in Denver and much of the year is pretty dang hot as well, in fact I would take the winter rides over the summer ones commuting if it weren't for the snowfall. In the winter I can add layers and take steps to get warm, in the summer I can only do so much to cool off before it just doesn't help anymore.

Until recent years, the climate in the Pacific Northwest, where I live, had been fairly ideal year round. Now we are warming up in the winter, which makes winter a little more tolerable for riding, but we are warming up in the summer months as well. We are still in a decent temp range for most people to ride, even in the summer, but July, August and September are getting a little difficult for me. A few years ago, when we started to push triple digits I was helping some guys frame a house at work site in the Seattle metro area. I got heat stroke, and have been less equipped to deal with heat than I used to be. We didn't used to get temps like that even in the summer so we just weren't prepared properly for the job in that heat.

 

[Froze]

The good thing about the earth finally beginning to warm up and hopefully returning to the era of the tropics that is the norm for this planet, that people who live in the now colder climates with lessor commutes than those that live in the warm areas of the USA might, note I said might, opt to ride the bike more since it would makes sense. But we have a long ways to go before we find out if this current warming trend is the long awaited return to the tropics or is it just a blip of warming that will go away and take us back into being cold or even worse - a deeper ice age. Unfortunately for you and me, we'll be all dead before we find out for sure, it will be perhaps our great great great grandkids who will find out.

The USA has always been about the car, even if fossil fuel car go the way of the dinosaurs and electric cars take their place, people will simply keep taking their cars.

 

[cycle93]

I mean of course there are several healthy and more environment friendly ways to communte to work, but to say that driving is the worst is a little bit one sided opinion.

There are a lot of people who works in certain circumstances where they cant use public transport or ride a bike, or even walk. Also driving in several countries is the fastest way.

 

[Froze]

I mean of course there are several healthy and more environment friendly ways to communte to work, but to say that driving is the worst is a little bit one sided opinion.

There are a lot of people who works in certain circumstances where they cant use public transport or ride a bike, or even walk. Also driving in several countries is the fastest way.

Exactly. Americans have another problem too, they always leave for work late so they're in a rush to get to work, riding a bike, assuming weather and miles isn't an issue, means they would have to get up earlier and that could kill them right there, and if they leave late and are in a rush but then have a flat they could be fired, or are in such a rush they run lights and get smacked by a car. The American public also isn't too aware of cyclists in general, heck they can't even see a motorcyclist not a lone a cyclist, so there is that potential of a serious accident on very busy rush hour streets that stop a lot of people from riding.

There's more to cycling to work then most realize or are willing to admit in America.

 

[cycle93]

Exactly. Americans have another problem too, they always leave for work late so they're in a rush to get to work, riding a bike, assuming weather and miles isn't an issue, means they would have to get up earlier and that could kill them right there, and if they leave late and are in a rush but then have a flat they could be fired, or are in such a rush they run lights and get smacked by a car. The American public also isn't too aware of cyclists in general, heck they can't even see a motorcyclist not a lone a cyclist, so there is that potential of a serious accident on very busy rush hour streets that stop a lot of people from riding.

There's more to cycling to work then most realize or are willing to admit in America.

I am not a US resident, but heard from a lot of people that sidewalks and bicycle driveways are not so big in america, right? mean in cities I guess, but in smaller towns?
Also heard that walking to places is quite uncommon, for example you can only get your kid from school if you are with a car, or else you are very suspicious looking walking away with a kid?

I mean these are mostly rumors, stereotypes I heard, but I understand what you saying.

 

[Jcycle]

I am not a US resident, but heard from a lot of people that sidewalks and bicycle driveways are not so big in america, right? mean in cities I guess, but in smaller towns?
Also heard that walking to places is quite uncommon, for example you can only get your kid from school if you are with a car, or else you are very suspicious looking walking away with a kid?

I mean these are mostly rumors, stereotypes I heard, but I understand what you saying.

You don't understand. Maybe you understand what he is saying but not the reality of the situation. First of all in most places in the nation where there are sidewalks, people actually aren't supposed to ride on them even if they do. If hearsay allows you to understand an argument somebody wants to make, maybe you should question the argument as well as your source.