Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The size of the city/metro is probably a key point here. Cycling to work when you live in Harlem and work on Wall Street is probably not going to work for 99.99% of people, and for good reason. Small and mid-sized cities may be better, because the distances are not commonly as bad (I realize there are extremes). You can, however, work in the burbs and live in the city and have it be a grueling ride.
Bicycling to work isn't really much different from the dynamics of taking public transportation to work. With biking, you need to be close enough to a reasonable route and you probably don't want to be too far from work. With transit, you need to be close enough to a station/stop and you probably don't want to be too far or deal with a route that requires too many transfers.
Yeah my Father in law's commute is around 15 minutes. He didn't do any prior planning as far as job location / home location, he just lives in a small-ish suburban city. I think my Dad's is pretty long, probably an hour... but again I don't think he is motivated by time (maybe money? or car wear-and-tear?)
When I was up in Richmond, CA (where my company is based), almost all of the warehouse workers bicycled to work from the surrounding area, and I don't think their commute was very long - they were most likely motivated by financial reasons.
Yeah my Father in law's commute is around 15 minutes. He didn't do any prior planning as far as job location / home location, he just lives in a small-ish suburban city.
That's nice that it was that way without planning. I was driving 23 miles in each direction and decided that I couldn't stand it anymore, so I found a job 3 miles away in the city and haven't looked back. I looked for 6 months before I found something I was willing to accept.
Now, it takes me 15 - 20 mins to bike, 30 mins for bus or 10 - 15 mins to drive (only done it once in the past year).
That's nice that it was that way without planning. I was driving 23 miles in each direction and decided that I couldn't stand it anymore, so I found a job 3 miles away in the city and haven't looked back. It takes me 15 - 20 mins to bike, 30 mins for bus or 10 - 15 mins to drive (only done it once in the past year).
My wife works in downtown LA and her drive is around 30 minutes getting there, around 40-50 coming home (we live 7.5 miles on the road from her work). She has found that she prefers to take the subway in because even though she loses some time in the morning, she makes it back up on the way home (subway takes ~30 minutes). And like I said, she can work on the subway (or just zone out, something else you should not do while driving). So far she has been able to use the subway about half of the time.
Oh and she has free valet parking, so obviously the incentive to drive is fairly high.
My wife works in downtown LA and her drive is around 30 minutes getting there, around 40-50 coming home (we live 7.5 miles on the road from her work). She has found that she prefers to take the subway in because even though she loses some time in the morning, she makes it back up on the way home (subway takes ~30 minutes). And like I said, she can work on the subway (or just zone out, something else you should not do while driving). So far she has been able to use the subway about half of the time.
Oh and she has free valet parking, so obviously the incentive to drive is fairly high.
A 30 min ride on the subway would definitely be my preferred choice. My wife loves riding trains, but isn't so crazy about the bus. She typically drives to work (same commute as me, working across the street) and likes the concept of the bus, but just doesn't plan to catch it at the right time. It's funny though, when I (rarely) ride with her, she seems all stressed out with the traffic, finding a parking spot, etc.
The size of the city/metro is probably a key point here. Cycling to work when you live in Harlem and work on Wall Street is probably not going to work for 99.99% of people, and for good reason. Small and mid-sized cities may be better, because the distances are not commonly as bad (I realize there are extremes). You can, however, work in the burbs and live in the city and have it be a grueling ride.
There are only so many cities in the United States that even have commuter rail. And outside of the major cities in the Northeast, ridership and/or access is poor. Minneapolis, for example, only has six stations. I don't see how riding a train to work is practical for anyone but a small handful of people lucky enough to live in close proximity to a station.
Bicycling to work isn't really much different from the dynamics of taking public transportation to work. With biking, you need to be close enough to a reasonable route and you probably don't want to be too far from work. With transit, you need to be close enough to a station/stop and you probably don't want to be too far or deal with a route that requires too many transfers.
How do you cycle into Downtown DC from Tantallon, Maryland?
Why even concern yourself with such a ridiculous example? Nobody from that area is riding into downtown DC.
How is that ridiculous?
A lot of people commute into DC from Bowie, Clinton, Accokeek, Waldorf, Upper Marlboro, Mitchellville, Temple Hills, Briggs-Cheney, Gaithersburg, Brandywine, Manassas, Gainesville, Nokesville, Stafford, etc. In fact, those people are more the rule than the exception. People living in tree-lined, Pre-WWII, heavily left-leaning suburbs that are within easy-peasy walking and/or biking distance from a train station is not the norm in America.
A lot of people commute into DC from Bowie, Clinton, Accokeek, Waldorf, Upper Marlboro, Mitchellville, Temple Hills, Briggs-Cheney, Gaithersburg, Brandywine, Manassas, Gainesville, Nokesville, Stafford, etc. In fact, those people are more the rule than the exception. People living in tree-lined, Pre-WWII, heavily left-leaning suburbs that are within easy-peasy walking and/or biking distance from a train station is not the norm in America.
And nobody is saying otherwise.
Still missing any point you are trying to make. Yes people in exurbs would have a very difficult time commuting to the center-city without a car. In other news, I cannot walk to Japan from Los Angeles.
Still missing any point you are trying to make. Yes people in exurbs would have a very difficult time commuting to the center-city without a car. In other news, I cannot walk to Japan from Los Angeles.
First, Tantallon, Bowie and Upper Marlboro are not exurbs of Washington, DC. Second, you can live in an inner ring suburb and still have a very difficult time commuting to the center city without a car. It's only a small minority that have the money to live in suburbs that offer that type of access. It's like telling someone to just send his kid to Princeton if a bright future for his child is really what he values. It's not that easy.
There are only so many cities in the United States that even have commuter rail. And outside of the major cities in the Northeast, ridership and/or access is poor. Minneapolis, for example, only has six stations. I don't see how riding a train to work is practical for anyone but a small handful of people lucky enough to live in close proximity to a station.
Sorry if it wasn't clear, but I was referring to cycling not riding rail.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
