#133659 - 05/24/08 11:05 PM
commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
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Old Hand
Registered: 07/10/05
Posts: 763
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Has anyone start commuting by bicycle or motor scooter?
I am starting to commuting by bike since gas cost is horrendous.
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#133662 - 05/24/08 11:21 PM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: ]
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Old Hand
Registered: 08/18/07
Posts: 831
Loc: Anne Arundel County, Maryland
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I am seeing a lot more scooters on the roads around here. I considered it for my commute, but ran the numbers and don't see a pay off. In my case, the commute is 7.5 miles one way, 15 a day. I assumed I could commute on the scooter 90 days a year (good weather, a big assumption), scooter cost of $1000, and gas cost of 5.00/gallon, and 100 mpg for the scooter. Even at a 20 mpg for my car (I get around 23), it takes 3.7 years to save the cost of the scooter in saved gas. Doesn't seem worth it for me.
Different assumptions will give different results. YMMV.
_________________________
"Better is the enemy of good enough."
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#133678 - 05/25/08 03:23 AM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: bws48]
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Old Hand
Registered: 02/08/08
Posts: 924
Loc: Toledo Ohio
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Won’t work for me, I clean carpet for a living, no way can I get all that on a bicycle, heck I have enough trouble getting it all in a minivan.
_________________________
You can run, but you'll only die tired.
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#133681 - 05/25/08 04:19 AM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: bws48]
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Geezer
Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
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Don't forget to factor in the cost of insurance and reg for the scooter. I went thru the same thing back in the late '70's with a gas crunch, and came to the same conclusion, it just don't pay off...
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OBG
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#133689 - 05/25/08 10:59 AM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: OldBaldGuy]
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Icon of Sin
Addict
Registered: 12/31/07
Posts: 512
Loc: Nebraska
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It makes me wish we had public transportation around here though.
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#133697 - 05/25/08 02:28 PM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: ]
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Newbie
Registered: 03/11/08
Posts: 42
Loc: VA
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Im a college student and use my bike to commute to classes but its only about a mile one way.
_________________________
Sweat saves blood.
Erwin Rommel
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#133700 - 05/25/08 02:47 PM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: picard120]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
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and you will be in good shape!
teacher
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#133703 - 05/25/08 05:24 PM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: ]
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Addict
Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 449
Loc: Texas
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For years the state has been trying to get elevated rail subway style transit
"Elevated" "subway" systems are generally extremely expensive to build and operate, perhaps the most expensive approach, though it does look elegant in artists' drawings. It's not surprising that those who don't have to pay for it like such systems but that those who would foot the bill are less enthusiastic... In many of the areas of the US the problem is low population density and lack of centralization - there isn't a any "downtown" to concentrate the workers. It's not that hard to move workers to and from dispersed suburbs to the big factory in town but in a city like Houston with no central work area and spread out over more than 3,000 square miles it's a lot harder to come up with a system useful to very many people.
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#133705 - 05/25/08 05:45 PM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: EHCRain10]
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Addict
Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 449
Loc: Texas
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Im a college student and use my bike to commute to classes but its only about a mile one way. The most important factor to middle class Americans in choosing where to live is the quality of schools because of their children. Another difference in post-college living is that two-worker families are the norm and it's not always practical to live close to both jobs, even if the local schools aren't an important choice in home location: one of them probably going to wind up too far away from work for a bicycle. I advocate fixing urban schools rather than exotic mass transit systems to best way to address commute problems. In many areas of the US suburban parents would consider moving into the urban school district a form of child endangerment. Making cities more attractive to live in would get more people to live near their jobs, and fixing the schools is the place to start. It doesn't solve everything (see two-worker families above) but it would make a big difference.
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#133709 - 05/25/08 06:52 PM
Re: commute by bicycle or motor scooter?
[Re: ]
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Carpal Tunnel
_00544-1061044638.png)
Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2986
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
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It makes me wish we had public transportation around here though. Bingo! You hit the nail on the head. They really need more public and mass transportation across this country. My city, DeLand has about 25,000 people. We've got a really good County run Votran Bus system. It's a mainline type system that doesn't go onto side streets, but down main and major roadways and a lot of people take advantage of it. Sadly here "normal" people don't take it because the people who take the Votran are usually sex offenders and psychiatric patients who ride for free (Yep...free) and make the atmosphere very dangerous. For years the state has been trying to get elevated rail subway style transit to run from the surrounding counties into Orlando and around Orlando. As I understand it it took them ten years to approve how much to spend and every time they go to approve when to begin no one shows up to vote. Most likely because the "Speed Pass" people tell them not to vote on it. Speed Pass being this RF Tag you put into your car so you can go through toll booths and billed later, but they're finding out the Speed Pass people are ripping everyone off under the table. If you are able, get involved! City council meetings, city council workshop meetings, different board meetings. My city council woman knows me by name. I live in a major metropolitan area where we already have a transportation system and our city council wants it expanded. Some businesses are for it, some against. I know who is for it and who is against so I "vote" with my my bank card. I encourage others to do the same. There are some buses I don't get on, meaning the ones which goes through the bad parts of town. And while the system needs some improving there are still opportunities to save on gas and "contribute" to the fare box, which is another way to "vote." Jeanette Isabelle
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I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday
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