In November last year ABC Melbourne radio 774 demonstrated something that we've always suspected: "It is often quicker to commute on a bicycle than using motorised road transport during peak hour."

And now it's been proven again in Auckland. In a "Bike to Work Day" commuter challenge

Cyclists won three of the four legs, and organisers claim they could have swept the field if only Transit New Zealand allowed them to pedal over the harbour bridge.

Yay to the cyclists!

Oh yeah, and boo to Transit New Zealand:

Transit says there is no room for bikes on the bridge, and it will take until the end of the year to assess whether an extra structure can be loaded on to the outside "clip-on" lanes.

Update

The day after this post pedaller made another comparison and found that

the time I took to get to Marrickville on my bike was identical to the time taken by the 423 bus (22 minutes according to the bus timetable) and I saved .80 on a bus fare!

I'd call that *another* victory to two wheels!

Comments

BIG Mike In Oz

I had a similar experience recently when I finally dusted off the bike for the trip to univeristy. Half the time of using the car - no parking problems - save fuel - burn calories.

http://spaces.msn.com/bigmikeinoz/blog/cns!878B727D594CB5D2!1422.entry

Treadly&Me

Hi Mike,

Yeah I do remember reading that - I just wished I'd remember to include it on this entry!

It reminded me of a similar experience I had in January - because the streets were quiet (and I was probably feeling lazy) I decided to drive the car to work. Even on quiet roads it was a hassle from start to finish, including the whole parking thing. I only tried it on one day and immediately went back to the bike.

On your observation, one thing I've noticed about universities that aren't well covered by public transport is that they need to have vast wastelands of car parks. It's certainly true of the Melbourne campuses of Monash, La Trobe, and Deakin. Mind you, stinging thousands of students for parking must do good things for general revenue! It's like that rumour that there are private hospitals out there whose only operating profit comes from car parking fees.

cfsmtb

As one of the participants in the 774 Commuter Challenge last November, the whole thing was an absolute blast. Got down to Southbank a full 11 or so minutes before Jeremy Lee. Listen to the mp3 and read the report here.

I'm also helping to organise the Aeolian Ride with Jessica, plus there's another benefit gig on this Friday 10th at Glitch Bar, more details on my blog.

Treadly&Me

Hi Chris,

Thanks for those extra links. And thanks for being so persistent while my spam filter kept chucking you off - sorry about that!

I'm looking forward to the Aeolian Ride - it should be a real hoot.