bike vs. car in costs

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
ok... the article/essay (whatever you want to call it) in this link has holes - i mean in some spots i would call them major holes, but it talks to some interesting points - mainly about how much money you save if you ride a bike versus a using a car.

being an accountant (and i actually dig cost accounting - i know there IS something actually wrong with me because i just said that) i find this pretty interesting. the discussion of taking into consideration the extra costs of a car versus a bike are pretty interesting. i think few people think about the 'actual' cost of a car, for example: annual insurance, annual registrations, annual repairs and maintenance, etc. all of which drive the actual cost of the car up and usually just consider the cost of their car the price paid at purchase.

some of the stuff i chose to ignore while reading: the tax calculations (when the author talks to pre-tax income calcs/costs, the calcs are pretty far off, especially considering the state of NJ taxes). also, including higher property taxes in the cost of a car because you need roads fixed - that's a little overboard IMHO, because we would still need roads to be maintained with bikes... and honestly americans aren't dropping their cars anytime soon...

but its a pretty cool read here and there - definitely left of center and a little 'lofty' at times if you will, but worth a read if you have the time.

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/autocost.htm
 
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